‘Not just a shack’: Oregon’s new home for its golf teams is loaded with latest technology

CRESWELL, Ore. — Despite not being 100 percent complete, the latest Oregon athletics facility upgrade already has a nickname.

The Ducks men’s and women’s golf teams will officially have a home of their own on Friday with the opening of The Peter and Jan Jacobsen Oregon Golf Teaching Facility at Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell.

“That’s a mouthful, right?“ joked Justin Fisher, Oregon’s associate athletic director of development, Thursday morning as he gave media a tour of the new building, which will be known as “The Jake,” a nod to Jacobsen, who played for Oregon before embarking on a long and successful career on the PGA Tour.

The Jacobsens were among the more than 130 financial donors who contributed the funding of the facility, which Fisher said would have a final price tag of approximately $2.3 million.

The Jake is roughly 6,000 square feet, 4,000 of which is indoors and features interactive putting systems, state-of-the-art launch monitor systems, a nutrition center, lounge area with a fireplace for the athletes and three hitting bays that face the backside of the EVGC driving range.

It will also soon be home to the 2023 U.S. Open trophy won by former men’s player Wyndham Clark in June. It will sit alongside the NCAA championship trophy won by the men in 2016 and the 2022 NCAA runner-up trophy earned by the Oregon women.

Outside features nine covered and heated hitting stations, as well as uncovered putting and chipping practice areas.

There are some final touches being put on the building and the surrounding landscape, but the Ducks will assume occupancy on Friday.

“This is not just a shack at the end of the driving range with some technology, it’s really a weighty, awesome, well-built building, which means a lot,” men’s coach Casey Martin said. “Whether it translates to more birdies, hopefully it will, but it’ll definitely translate to a better experience for the kids.”

Women’s coach Derek Radley raved about the heated hitting areas as well as the bathrooms, which will keep his players from having to drive back to the EVCG clubhouse during practice.

“A lot of the top-50 programs in the country have one of two things — good weather or a facility, and some have both,” Radley said. “So we’re really excited to have this. Oregon has always been the leader in facilities. I guess in my mind, a couple garage doors with some heat would’ve been incredible. And now taking a walk through what everybody has put their heart and soul into, the detail and the technology, I’m so excited that, in my mind, it catches up with everything Oregon stands for.”