Progress continues on construction of Ferris State University’s new 9,555-square-foot
Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center – a facility designed to accommodate opportunities
for year-round skill development for casual and competitive golfers.
Physical Plant Project Manager Kara Pellerito said professionals from across the industry are collaborating with the university to develop this $3.5 million project.
“Our vendors include the distributors of Trackman golf simulators, an indoor putting green with a synthetic surface, protective netting and a ball dispenser for range practice,” Pellerito said. “Year-round use will be a reality as players will be able to take full swings in hitting bays with overhead doors, with netting to gather the practice balls in inclement weather.”
Pellerito said the university has contracted with Kalamazoo-based Tower Pinkster as the architecture and engineering firm for the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center and Saginaw-based Spence Brothers to serve as the construction management firm.
“Crews had to wait out the snow this spring to begin construction work,” Pellerito said. “We expect that we can still meet the timeline of a January 2019 completion of the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center.”
The facility will also serve as the home for the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. The MGHOF designation was made in November 2013, due in part to Ferris’ establishment of the PGA Golf Management program, which was the first to be sanctioned by the Professional Golf Association in 1975.
“There are plaques, portraits and memorabilia from more than 100 hall-of-famers that will be brought from the Katke Clubhouse and the Knollcrest Commons to the Janke Golf Learning Center,” Pellerito said. “We are working to define the scope of a digital display that will also be located on the second floor of the center so MGHOF visitors and those coming to the center for practice or lessons can access it.”
The Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center is located adjacent to the practice facilities
of Katke Golf Course, a short distance from the northeast corner of the clubhouse.
PHOTO CAPTION: Ferris State University’s future Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center is taking shape as the start of the 2018-19 academic year is nearly upon us as classes begin Monday, Aug. 27.