Golf driving range set to re-open

The Moor Park Family Golf Centre at Gulberwick which has been closed since last summer is to re-open soon.

The owners, Jeffrey Ma and Jonny Shing, have invested in new equipment and are looking forward to attracting people to the range throughout the coming months.

Mr Shing said the site would be “tidied up” and new golf balls had been bought – many having “vanished” thanks to crows picking them up when the site opened for a short time last year. New targets and tees have also been acquired.
The driving range has been “quite busy” in the past, said Mr Shing, especially before golf tournaments when people would come to practice. Various tournaments were hosted at the range.

It has always been a popular venue for families and schools, with the benefit that it catered for complete beginners, although tuition has not been provided by the club since golf pro Greg Abel left. However school or other lessons were able to be delivered there by other tutors. The driving range can accommodate around 10 players at once and users have to provide their own clubs.

Moor Park Family Golf Centre was built and opened in the mid-1990s, and was originally owned by Dennis Leask and Kevin Denvir.

It has provided much-needed practice for players of all ages and abilities since then, being used for anything from a fun day out for a group of friends to serious stroke practice for dedicated golfers. It was open all the year round with a floodlit range for evening practice.

One of those who used the range welcomed its re-opening, saying: “It was ideal for giving lessons, and for beginners or golfers of a good standard. The general feeling among the golfing fraternity is that it has been a much-missed facility.”