Power Tee Helps Royal Oak Golf Center Expand
By Tom Lang
A popular Detroit area golf practice facility – Royal Oak Golf Center – set a record last year that still stands, of more than 68,000 golf balls hit on its range in one day.
The increase happened just days after general manager Glenn Pulice worked with vendor Power Tee to add to the number of heated and under cover tee boxes (from 33 to 45 tees) at the facility off Coolidge Road. There are an additional 57 tee boxes not under cover at Royal Oak.
Power Tee, as the name implies, is an automated system that automatically feeds the next ball to each golfer, to a tee that each golfer can determine the height they want. It keeps players from bending over, which according to Pulice, some Detroit Red Wings who practice there say they love that it saves them from more wear and tear on their backs by not having to bend over to tee it up.
“What we like about Power Tee is what the customers like about it,” Pulice said. “It’s an incredible convenience, a ball delivery system that lets you pick the exact height of tee you want. And the mats that come with this system…they are really good. We hope we can find some mats that are this good for the rest of our property.
“Power Tee has helped us grow the game. We’ve had to turn people away before so we had to find a way to maximize; and people like that they can get their swings in, in a little less time. So that’s helped us (increase) our capacity,” by about 20 percent.
Pulice added that a lot of first timers haven’t seen anything like it and want to give it a try. For other customers, they just enjoy the ease with which it can be used.
The term ‘growing the game’ can easily be over-used in some circles, and it’s not always genuine. But that is not the case at the Royal Oak Golf Center, where they supply space for all the Detroit Public Schools that want to add a golf program.
Current Detroit Public School League programs offering boys and girls golf are Cass Tech, Renaissance, Cody and CMA. Pulice said more than 30 area JV and varsity teams from surrounding school districts also use the center, intermingling the various cultures through the game of golf. The Royal Oak property also gives Youth on Course discounts.
“Detroit (schools) is a group that’s been underserved in golf for a long time,” Pulice said. “Golf checks all the boxes. And it’s the kind of thing I can do for the city (where he lives). I’m a one-trick pony and golf is my life. So, what better way to try and improve the city by getting kids to play golf?”
This past fall, the girls’ team from Cass Tech is believed to be the first PSL school ever to qualify for and play at the MHSAA state finals.
