Indian River County will soon have a state-of-the-art public golf training center at Sandridge Golf Course designed mainly for children and others just taking up the sport. The idea to build a golf training center in Indian River County for amateur golfers was first proposed almost 20 years ago. Now, Quail Valley Golf Club and championship golfer Paul McGinley are teaming up with the Indian River Golf Foundation to finally make the dream a reality. Plans call for a 5,000-square-foot building and a 3,000-square-foot outdoor pavilion at the south end of the driving range at Sandridge Golf Club at 5300 73rd St. in Vero Beach. The idea is to create a safe place at the public course where novice golfers – children and adults – can increase their skills and continue to practice drives and putts even when the weather is bad. The ball got rolling last summer when Quail Valley managing partner Kevin Given and Don Meadows, the club’s golf director, met with McGinley, whose storied career includes winning the World Cup for Ireland with Padraig Harrington in 1997, and winning the Ryder Cup as a player and captain 13 of the 14 times he participated. Given and McGinley are longtime friends whose families both hail from Donegal, the historic seaport community in Northern Ireland. Off the course, McGinley is a prominent golf analyst and broadcaster for Sky Sports and NBC who owns a home in Windsor. When he mentioned to Given that he was looking for ways to give back to the local community, Given and Meadows resurrected the idea for a training center first proposed by the Indian River Golf Foundation almost two decades ago. Unfortunately, at that time, IRGF’s fundraising efforts failed to gain traction, Given said. McGinley agreed to lend his name and brand to the project and transferred registration of his philanthropic McGinley Foundation from Philadelphia to Vero Beach. He then went on tour – without golf clubs this time – to pitch the project to members of other golf clubs in the area – including The Moorings, Hawk’s Nest, Windsor, Orchid Island and John’s Island – and plant the seeds for a fundraising campaign. Given led by example, donating the proceeds of last October’s Collegiate-Am tournament held at Quail’s golf club. The event raised about $400,000 last year and Given said he expects this year’s tourney, scheduled for Oct. 17-19, to bring in a similar or larger amount. When a Quail Valley member, who wishes to remain anonymous, saw the effort picking up steam, he put up $1 million as a matching grant. Once that match is met, the group will be more than halfway to its $5 million goal, hopefully by the end of this upcoming season, Given said. The indoor portion of the center will have three instructional hitting bays that open to the outside. If rain and lightning become too heavy, the bays can be closed and players will hit into nets, Meadows said. The building will also house a golf training simulator, a Titleist Performance Institute-certified fitness/stretching area, bathrooms, and a small communal office area. The outdoor pavilion will provide shade and rain cover for eight more hitting bays and a covered practice putting green. The Indian River Golf Foundation, which offers a virtual golf academy for kids and hosts junior tournaments and other events, will be the main tenant at the new facility, but it will be open to any novice or youth player, Meadows said. “When you think about the history of Sandridge Golf Club and its commitment to youth golf, this is the perfect partnership because this center will serve all of Indian River County’s youth,” said IRC’s Deputy County Administrator Michael Zito. Once the facility is up and running, Zito said, he wants to explore the possibility of arranging transportation to and from the facility. “You can’t take the golf course to the kids, so you have to get the kids to the golf course,” he said. That will open up the programs to diverse geographic and economic backgrounds, he said. County commissioners signaled their support for the project by approving a resolution in favor of the idea. By committing the county-owned property as a building site, “that should give legs to the fundraising effort,” Zito said, adding that IRGF and the Quail and McGinley charities will also raise funds to cover upkeep of the training center. Sandridge already offers a kid-friendly rate of $1 for greens fees after 2 p.m., said Bela Nagy, director of golf at the club, which has two 18-hole courses. Children also pay just $1 for a bucket of balls at the driving range. “I’ve been here 31 years, and I’ve introduced thousands of kids to golf through Sandridge,” Nagy said. “We’re like the junior Mecca for golf in this whole region, not just for developing kids but for hosting a lot of junior events throughout the year. “There’s no other sport that teaches you so many things about life. Golf teaches you honesty, integrity and perseverance, the ability to communicate well with others and build friendships – things that will benefit young people for the rest of their lives. This building will be the icing on the cake. It will be a defining place where we can extend our programming to local youths throughout the community.” “We are thrilled that Quail Valley Charities has stepped forward to help bring the Youth Golf Performance & Learning Center to reality, working alongside Bela Nagy and Indian River County at Sandridge Golf Club,” said Roger Van Dyke, PGA, founder and president or the Indian River Golf Foundation. Anyone who wants to make a tax-deductible contribution to help fund the training center can contact Don Meadows at dmeadows@quailvalleygolfclub.com or 772-299-0093. [gallery ids="236661,236662,236663,236664,236665,236666,236667,236668,236669,236670,236671,236672,236673,236674,236676"]