From the April 1 Flawprint. Due to the current budget situation, the dome will not include Bluegrass Lane Turf and Landscape Research Facility, as originally planned.
Cornell officials have announced that the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course on Warren Road will soon be enclosed by a climate controlled dome. Installation will begin this fall and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2012.
“This is incredible news,” said RTJ pro and men’s golf coach Matt Baughan. “Ithaca’s golf season is much too short. This will allow us to play year round. The golf teams are ecstatic. The members are ecstatic. In fact, I think this will boost membership which, in turn, will boost revenues.”
Baughan says the dome will also improve course conditions by allowing the temperature and humidity to be controlled, reducing the need for water in the heat of summer. It will also keep out deer, skunks, woodchucks, insects and other wildlife that can cause severe damage to fairways and greens. With winter no longer a threat, Baughan will also install palm trees and other trees and shrubs native to Florida and other southern states.
An avid environmentalist, Baughan plans to take advantage of the dome’s greenhouse effect to install vegetable gardens that can produce a year-round supply of produce for Cornell’s dining halls. He will also open a roadside produce stand in front of Moakley House.
Baughan does concede that the dome may create a few problems, requiring a set of “local” rules. “We know that shots that would be out-of-bounds on a conventional course will bounce off the dome and back into play,” he said. “We need to decide whether they should be assessed a penalty stroke or let them be played where they lie. Believe me, I know some guys who will start deliberately playing shots off the dome once they figure out the angles. This is a golf course, not a pool hall.”