The new practice facility for the St. Joe’s men’s and women’s golf teams in the Maguire Athletic Center was completed Aug. 25. Immediately when entering the facility, there is a lounge area and hightop tables and lockers along the right wall. Toward the back of the room are two hitting bays with two Trackman launch monitors.
The Trackman equipment used in the facility is considered by men’s golf head coach Terry Scollin ’97 to be the number one launch simulator in the golf world. When an athlete hits the ball into the simulator, the simulator combines infrared, radar and high-speed imaging to provide real-time ball and club analytics, such as 3D, spin and axis, distance, curve, range and multiple options to set practice games.
Sophomore Hanna Mitchell said sometimes the team will break down the swing with coaches, and other times, they will do so individually. Being able to visualize and dissect the swing has helped improve their overall performance.
“There’s a lot of components to a golf swing, and there’s certain numbers that you want to hit in terms of angle and club speed swing,” Mitchell said.
The women’s team leaves campus around 7 a.m. to practice at the Llanerch Country Club in Havertown three days a week, so having a lounge area for athletes to unwind and do homework is crucial to their demanding schedule. Women’s golf head coach Theresa Luu ’22 said this addition is going to have a positive impact on the social aspect of the team.
“It’s our locker room [and] our lounge area,” Luu said. “Using the space for both a place for them to hang out, talk, strategize, talk about their upcoming tournaments and a place to meet, I think is going to be an amazing change.”
In the previous golf room, there was only one launch simulator, making it difficult for athletes to find time to train. Junior Olivia Cooper said having more equipment has motivated the team in their training.
“Last year, we didn’t really have the ability to get in there because it was taken up by one or more people, but now I feel like it’s really changed our aspect on working hard,” Cooper said.
Luu said being able to have two bays that service both the men’s and women’s teams makes it more user-friendly and far more accessible.
Junior Noah Moelter said being able to visualize where the ball would have landed if it were outside will be especially useful when weather conditions do not accommodate for a typical practice.
“It’s almost as good as being outside because it shows you where the ball goes, how it curves, how far it goes,” Moelter said. “You can see numbers like ball speed and club speed and the spin rate, and it’s super helpful.”
Scollin said having a state-of-the-art facility while being in the Northeast gives the team the opportunity to continue practicing through the offseason.
“They won’t really skip a beat between the fall, the winter and getting out in the spring because they’ll be able to train right through the winter months,” Scollin said.
