Louisville Cardinals: Investment in golf paying off for Cards, city of Louisville

Louisville golf made the NCAA championship for only the fourth time in program history on Wednesday, but that’s not the only reason Louisville Cardinals fans should be excited.

Mark Crabtree has been the head men’s golf coach for the Louisville Cardinals for more than two decades.

As one of the longest-tenured coaches, he has seen names like Adam Hadwin and Derek Fathauer move on to have success at the highest level on the PGA tour. He has coached conference champions and seen Louisville golf grow from non-existent to a consistent top-40 program year in and year out.

However, under the tutelage of Crabtree, the one thing that has been missing is postseason success. In 19 tries, the Cards had only been to three NCAA championships- well below par for the lofty expectations for Louisville athletics across the board.

Of recent, however, the tides have been turning for Louisville golf. Over the last five years, the University of Louisville has dumped more than $11 million into their home course facilities and rebranded from Cardinal Club to University of Louisville golf club.

Changes to the facilities included new water hazards throughout the course, new tees creating longer holes and more challenging sightlines, new lining in its eighty-plus bunkers, new cart paths, and much more.

"“As we move into the ACC, we want to assure we have an impressive home for our men’s and women’s golf teams as we challenge those prestigious programs,” former athletic director Tom Jurich said. “We will re-invent and re-energize the entire experience at this terrific property. That includes revising the operations of the course from A to Z, lifting the energy around the facility, and tying it directly to the University and our athletic department. It’s an incredible course that is easily accessible and a great gathering place for our supporters.”"

Jurich said that he wanted to create a facility that would be on par with nearby world-class PGA own Valhalla, and facilities that would entice ACC caliber players to come to Louisville.

It was an uphill battle to embark upon to invest millions of dollars into facilities for a non-revenue sport. However, Jurich’s vision and current AD Vince Tyra’s continued persistence have more than paid dividends for the Cards.

That all came to fruition on Wednesday when, for only the fourth time in program history, Louisville golf qualified for the NCAA championships. The Cards did so on their home course, which adaquately challenged dozens of big-name up-and-coming players, but wowed them with immaculate rolling fairways and perfectly manicured tees and greens.

The new ULGC gave Louisville athletics yet another opportunity to wow visitors who had a chance to take in what are now considered some of the best facilities in the country.

The course shouldn’t be overlooked for what it is as well- an unbelievable recruiting tool for Crabtree and his staff. The Louisville regional hosted Oklahoma State- the No. 1 team in the country and defending national champions- along with perennial powers like Auburn, Baylor, Arizona, and North Florida.

Traditionally some of the best teams in the country reside in the south. Oklahoma State, Alabama, Florida State, Texas, and so many other schools have a distinct recruiting advantage in that they are in warm weather states and golfing hotbeds.

Louisville, on the other hand, does not have that luxury. Instead, the Cards took a page out of the playbooks at schools like Illinois and Ohio State: build the facilities and they will come.

“If we can get them here (to ULGC), we can usually get them,” said Crabtree of his new amenities.

Just like many fans have witnessed first-hand on Floyd street- Jurich’s sports mecca that spans more than a mile across the eastern half of Louisville’s campus- when you build the facilities, the coaches, players and fans will come. Though it took a bit longer to make the right changes 20 miles down interstate highway 64 in nearby Simpsonville, the Cards are now among the nation’s elite in facilities.

Everything came together on the same day at the same moment for the Louisville golf program. The Cards hung tough after a rocky start to the first two days and put together a consistent, clutch performance on day three to place fourth in the Louisville regional.

Louisville finally has the horses to compete, and plan to continue down that path. For Crabtree, the moment his team returned to the NCAA championships was long anticipated.

The Cards still aren’t done with their season. They travel to the University of Arkansas to compete in the 30 team NCAA championships beginning May 24th. The competition consists of four days of stroke play, with the field being cut in half after three rounds, and then in half again after the fourth round. The final eight teams square off in a match play format, which will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel beginning May 28th.

Looking ahead to the future, the stars are finally aligning for one of the last programs at Louisville to make the jump to ACC caliber level of play. With world-class amenities drawing high-level events, don’t be shocked to see Louisville golf rise to prominence in the near future.