Winters in the Midwest can get brutally cold, which means golf courses and their outdoor practice facilities are forced to close when temperatures drop. The Sanctuary Golf Course, a municipal 18-hole facility in New Lenox, Illinois, started looking for a way to allow golfers to practice outdoors while keeping them warm and comfortable.
As part of a 2.2-million-dollar redesign project, the Sanctuary Golf Course decided to add a heated top-tracer driving range to their practice facility. After months of looking at a number of heating options, they decided to install Roberts-Gordon radiant tube heaters.
Outdoor spaces such as driving ranges are a perfect application for Robers-Gordon heaters. Objects such as floors, equipment and people absorb infrared rays as the heater warms them. They retain the absorbed heat, and then release additional heat back into the space through radiation. The result is an instant warming effect. With the infrared heater operating, temperature is maintained with minimal heat loss.
Under the direction of Roberts-Gordon and our local rep Midwest Environmental Associates, a combination of VANTAGE HEV and GORDONRAY DF heaters were installed throughout the facility. The VANTAGE HEV heaters, which provide long lasting performance in tough environments, were placed over the hitting bays. The GORDONRAY DF heaters, which use two-stage technology to adjust to high-heat loss conditions, were placed in the seating area. This design created a consistent, comfortable environment throughout the building.
“What we’re trying to accomplish out here is to have warm golfers in the winter months using our top tracer facility.” said Bob Schultz, Director of Golf at The Sanctuary Golf Course. “It was -10 degrees here and people were out hitting golf balls…It’s a great product!” Roberts-Gordon radiant heaters helped create a way to provide a unique golfing experience in the cold winter months.