Want to improve your golf game? Want to play St. Andrews without traveling to Scotland? A new business in Colchester — The Golf Garage — might be your answer.
Just as some bands got their start in a garage, owner Blake Denney opened his golf instruction business three and a half years ago in his home garage. He called it Golf Garage. He was able to handle several clients with one simulator bay and a few fitness machines while providing golf lessons. But he really needed a bigger facility.
That's when he got the opportunity to purchase the Moore Building at 201 E.
Depot St., on the corner of Depot and Fulton streets, across from the Lions Den in Colchester, and thought it appropriate to retain the name Golf Garage. Months of renovation inside and out has converted the building into a state-of-the art facility for helping seasoned as well as casual golfers improve their game.
While the Garage was open briefly during 62326 Day in Colchester last June, Blake and his wife Devyn held a more formal open house July 24. An official open-for-business date has not been established because some tweeks to the equipment are needed and because the business is awaiting action from the Colchester City Council in order to serve containerized beer, wine, and soft drinks. He's prepared a petition to present to the council at their Monday, August 3 council meeting to act upon the amended license. Members of the community are encouraged to attend.
When the 'garage' doors do open, hours will be from 6 a.m. - 8 p.m., seven days a week. Given that workload, Devyn will assist in the operation, and as he gets settled, Blake plans to hire additional personnel to help with the 14-hour (and longer if by appointment) work days.
A workout facility with gym accessories and an office is being created in another section of the building most recently used for apartments. Use of the gym will focus on golf-related exercises. At present, the main floor will be utilized for this training.
A native of Colchester, Denney's interest in golf came in stages.
'Both my grandpas were avid golfers, and we would go out a little bit when I was younger. But I never really got the bug until my freshman year in college. I started playing golf with my roommate and then got the fever and decided to make a career of it.'
He was living in the Chicago area after college and got the opportunity to do an internship with Callaway Golf Academy (not that Callaway). The owner was the first physical therapist on the PGA tour back in the 1980s.
'I did that for four months and then moved back home and started working in construction and did that for over two years and got sick of it. I started looking back into golf and ran across a guy up in Chicago and worked with him for eight years as his first employee. It was pretty cool to watch him grow the business into three locations in the west suburbs.'
Addition growth plans in Colchester for Golf Garage include an outdoor artificial putting green, with potential for terrain options and multiple hole locations. It will also include a fire pit and some outdoor lounging facilities. Long range plans also call for major repair and improvement of the outdoor facade areas.
While Denney has several years experience as a golf instructor, he doesn't carry a PGA card as a certified golf pro. He gives about 30 to 35 lessons a week. He's thought about trying to get his pro certificate, but it's not really practical for this area where there aren't high-end golf courses.
'It would also keep me from playing in local tournaments and golf scrambles with friends,' he said. As a certified pro, he'd be ineligible to compete.
One of the intriguing features of the golf bay simulators is that Denney can call up 2,581 golf courses from around the world. Foursomes can 'walk' through a virtual reality presentation of those golf courses, hit their shots into the screen, and track ball movement and location. When asked whether this method of playing golf would speed up the game, he said, 'Not really. From what I've seen, people chat a lot more when they're in here. It'll still take four average golfers three hours at least to play a full course.'
Denney pays a yearly subscription for access to these simulated courses but currently has only 53 up and running. When necessary, he can add any course in the system without having to overwhelm his computer's storage space. The closest virtual reality course is Pekin's Lick Creek.
A second feature is that the simulators can record and analyze a golfer's swing, then provide instant feedback on mechanics as specific as club head speed, club head angle to the ball (for those hooks and slices), ball spin/rotation, projected ball path and altitude. Denney will also soon install back view and side view video cameras to record swing mechanics.
One would think that with all the construction work in retrofitting a building to a golf instruction facility, as well as all the technological requirements for the simulators, Denney would have little time for anything outside his business. However, he was recently hired as the head golf coach for the fledgling West Prairie boys and girls golf program. 'My wife and I talked about that a little bit,' he said. 'I've always wanted to coach golf and have the opportunity to start a program from scratch.'
Plans are still forming about training and playing location for the teams. Denney wants to be sure to practice at a course with a driving range. 'In order to have a successful program, in order to practice correctly, you just can't go out and play. You need to be able to hit balls in a controlled environment.'
Since playing golf is a seasonal sport in this area, what about when temperatures and weather conditions turn inclement. 'Once we get done with the high school golf season, starting probably in October, I'm going to have winter leagues and do a lot of group training,' Denney said. 'We'll have up to 12 people at a time in here working through circuits and practicing on different skills in the three bays. And then they'll do some exercising and putting on the green. I'll try to limit my one-on-one sessions to 25 or 30 per week and then focus on the groups.'
There aren't many opportunities in the immediate area for golf practice and instruction, so Golf Garage plans to provide that need for area golfers of all skill levels. Contact can be made at 309-550-3074, at thegolfgarage2022@ gmail.com on Facebook.
