FRISCO, TEXAS | Mark Harrison, the CEO of the Northern Texas PGA section, speaks like a proud parent about the multimillion-dollar junior golf facility he helped develop adjacent to the section’s headquarters.
“An urban golf park, that’s what we wanted from the beginning, and it’s succeeded better than we ever thought,” Harrison said.
Known as The Ronny Golf Park, the facility opened in January 2023 and is named for longtime Texas professional Ronny Glanton, a recent inductee into the PGA of America Hall of Fame. Located a good driver and wedge from the association’s national headquarters at PGA Frisco, it is a hub for all manner of junior-golf activities.
The complex is a two-acre, lighted park made entirely of synthetic turf. It features an 18-hole putting course, multiple putting and chipping greens and a flex area with a playground and an obstacle course. The park is adjacent to one side of the PGA Frisco practice range that is used exclusively for junior programming. The staff offers a variety of learning-the-game programs for children ages 3-14, and the facility is free and open to the public when not in use for programs
“Our mission is to service our members and grow the game,” said Harrison, who will be inducted later this month into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. “We are serving the members by hiring a great staff of teachers to work with the kids and we are growing the game by getting kids involved in a game for a lifetime.”
His next mission? Advising PGA sections in different parts of the country on how to develop similar facilities and programs.
“This is a concept that can work anywhere,” he said. “I’m very eager to share how we did it and what it looks like from the inside.
“The first thing I tell them is to find the right city or partner to do it with; second, secure the land either by buying it or [signing] a long-term lease, then you need to raise the money.”
The North Texas PGA raised $2 million for The Ronny from locals who believed in the project and how it could influence the next generation, Harrison said.
The facility serves approximately 1,500 kids a year, director of programming Chad Moscovic said. The demand has prompted Moscovic and his team to add Sunday junior-golf classes along with early-afternoon weekday sessions for home-schooled students.
“This is what I was made to do,” said Moscovic, who added that fun is a big part of the secret sauce. At any given time you might see golf noodles, beach balls, lighted clubs, stickers and blow-up animals utilized in an effort to hook kids on golf. The facility also provides clubs and balls to participants, Harrison said.
On a recent day, Harrison nearly leapt from his office chair to the window to point out a family using the facility. A father and his young daughter putted on the turf while the mother trailed with another small child in her arms.
“Did we kick those people off for rolling a stroller on the greens? No, that is exactly who we want to be here,” Harrison said.
The Ronny is located next to the Texas Golf Hall of Fame’s mobile exhibition, which highlights Texas greats such as Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Justin Leonard and others. The facility also features the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation Carpool Putting Green, near where children are picked up each day, that includes simulations of famous putts by Texas major championship winners, such as Leonard’s 45-footer that unleashed pandemonium at the 1999 Ryder Cup.
“Build it right and do it nice and kids will come from everywhere,” Harrison said of the facility. “We’ve proven that.”