WKU opened the new Phillip Hatchett Golf Facility in late 2019, officially dedicated months just a few months later to the late Hilltopper head coach.
Standing on the edge of WKU’s South Campus, the new 4,000 square foot facility houses equipment and technology that will help WKU golfers develop for years to come. Each program has its own hitting bay, equipped with launch monitors. The systems replicate famous courses as a tracking device simulates the actual flight pattern of the ball.
A light projection system floods a large putting green in the main room, tracing slope and break lines across the surface. The PuttView system found in the Phillip Hatchett Golf Facility is one of very few in the country belonging to collegiate programs.
Off the putting green, there are more spaces for chipping and hitting, in addition to a club regripping station and a loft alignment machine, allowing for quality work and repair outside of the traditional golf course setting.
In addition to several player development elements, the facility holds a players’ lounge that the programs have already used for team meetings and activities.
After playing golf at WKU in the late 80s, Coach Hatchett took the reigns as the head coach of the men’s program in 2010. As the game of golf grew in the collegiate landscape, building an indoor practice facility was a dream of Hatchett’s, and a long-term goal. When Hatchett passed away in June of 2018, dedicating the facility in his honor seemed only right.
