In the swing at The Club at Old Hawthorne.

For golfers at Old Hawthorne, life is good and getting better since the Club found a solution to the game-stopping temperatures of sweltering summers and bone-chilling winters. They call it “The Stable” and when it opens in the winter of 2024-2025, the 1800-square-foot structure will be the first indoor golf facility on-site at a Columbia country club. 

“Having the ability to offer advanced technology in an indoor environment that shields players from the unpredictable weather of mid-Missouri will provide endless possibilities and represents the next step in our growth as a Club,” says Max Frericks, the Club’s head golf professional. He touts Old Hawthorne as a dedicated and passionate golf community where competitiveness is reflected by the level of play and tournament participation that continues to grow.  

The Stable will enhance player performance through year-round, state-of-the-art launch simulator technology that provides precise data to hone players’ swings and best utilize their equipment.  

“A lot of times golf is viewed as a hobby or a recreational activity, but our members understand that golf is a sport and they love to compete,” Frericks says. 

The robust local golf membership, which hovers around 350, already enjoys one of the larger driving ranges in the state. 

“It’s used sunup to sundown with players practicing and working on their game to get ready for the next tournament,” Frericks reveals. The Club typically hosts about eighteen annual member tournaments, weekly golf leagues, and fifteen outside golf events. Old Hawthorne is also the home course of the University of Missouri Tigers golf team where the student players have their own practice and driving range and headquarters.  

The Stable will provide a new hub for members to improve their game. Two hitting bays will be used for lessons and instruction and house the gear necessary for efficient club fitting as both Frericks and Kevin Stull, Director of Instruction, are master club fitters with Callaway Golf. Junior golfers can be taught with the new technology and adult players will also be able to use the simulators without an instructor. Centrally located across from the clubhouse, between the upper- and lower-member driving ranges, the new structure will house a snack shop and seating area, and will likely become a waypoint for the community. 

“We take club fitting very seriously and the numbers from launch monitors are essential these days as we can use the information to fine-tune a player’s game and shrink their dispersion, so that will be really neat,” says Stull. Within The Stable, the Club is looking at upgrading its instructional technology to the Foresight Sports built-in GC Hawk launch monitor which mounts above the hitting bays. The GC Hawk harnesses the same object-sensing and image-capturing technology found in the mobile GC Quad used by Old Hawthorne for the past two years but represents the latest technology. 

The GC Hawk will take a couple hundred photos per second within impact with the ball to show how the club reacts to the swing. 

Frericks says, “It shows us what we cannot see with the human eye and the data tells us precisely what is causing inconsistencies in a player’s game.”  

The GC Hawk collects information from both the golf club and the ball. Club data includes club head speed, smash factor, angle of attack and the club swing path while the ball data captures ball speed, face angle, impact location on the club face, loft and lie at impact, horizontal and vertical launch angles, spin, side spin, and carry distance. 

Frericks reflects, “We won’t have to wait for it to be above 50 degrees to obtain accurate ball flight data with the climate-controlled environment of The Stable.” From this information, teaching lessons can be fine-tuned to instruct each golfer to swing properly and yield the best performance from their set of clubs. If a player opts to have a fitting and purchase new equipment, Frericks says the launch monitor data “allows the player to see that they are making improvements and that there is progression rather than buying a new club because it looks and feels good.” 

In addition to the launch monitor, Old Hawthorne is also looking to install motion plates into The Stable. Analysis systems like Swing Catalyst use 3D motion plates to read swings and detect inconsistencies. 

Stull explains, “When you are talking in terms of instruction after you get your fundamentals down, motion plates are very important when you are working on your footwork and groundwork and adding power and connecting the body with best swings.”  

With golf as the centerpiece of the social and sporting lifestyle at The Club at Old Hawthorne, its enjoyment is paramount and when golfers play well, they have more fun. The Stable is thus intended to serve players’ ability to keep their competitive edge all twelve months of the year. 

“You can’t take four months off from the gym and go back and expect to lift the same amount of weight. With winters in Missouri, we have to keep our players conditioned and keep them accountable to the things that they are working on in their game,” Stull says. 

Speaking of enjoyment, The Stable will be the latest in many facilities and amenities at The Club at Old Hawthorne. While golf is a huge draw to the community, everyone in the neighborhood of Old Hawthorne maintains a minimum social membership at the Club. Ariana Schneider, membership and marketing director, says the total membership numbers are just under 1,100, including student, regional, national, social, athletic, and golf members. 

Depending on the type of membership, Schneider explains that members can use the golf practice facilities and a championship-level eighteen-hole golf course designed by architect Arthur Schaupeter; a racquet sports facility which includes tennis and pickleball; a pool complex comprised of a junior Olympic size and infinity-style pools, the wellness center/ gym, and enjoy club events and the bar and grill within the clubhouse.

The Club at Old Hawthorne
Ariana Schneider
Membership and Marketing Director
573-442-5280 ext 5000
Ariana@OldHawthorne.com