Indoor range expected to bolster Jayhawks

Ross Randall has taken Kansas University’s men’s golf team to six NCAA Finals in 25 seasons as head coach.

He has tutored pro Matt Gogel and four other All-Americans and also served as head coach of the 2000 U.S. Palmer Cup team.

Sure, there have been many highlights during the 58-year-old’s coaching career.

One, however, rises above all others.

“This is the most important thing we’ve done,” Randall said of the golf program and KU athletic department’s raising about $700,000 toward a $1 million indoor-outdoor driving range facility to be built at Alvamar Golf Club.

“This is something our golfers will be able to use in the dead of winter. It’s like an indoor-outdoor garage. It’ll be heated. The kids will be able to hit balls inside the garage, where the balls will go outside to the driving range.

“We’ll have state of the art cameras and video equipment. It’ll give us a place to hit in the winter instead of having to drive 52 miles to a range in Kansas City.”

Construction of the facility should begin this fall after the remainder of the money is raised.

“For a while we were treading water. Change is really occurring,” Randall said. “A lot of people have contributed to this effort, and this facility will be extremely important in keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak.”

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New Jayhawk: The Jayhawks have landed a talented transfer for next season.

He’s Jon Schram, a junior-to-be from Buffalo Grove, Ill., who had a team-leading 74.59 stroke average at Florida Southern last season.

Schram is a former Illinois state champion. He shot a prep state record 69 in the final round.

“My guys came up to me at the end of the season and said some guys are not playing like they think they should, and we need one more player. I tend to listen to our guys,” said Randall, whose Jayhawks won three tournaments last season — tying for most in a year in KU history — but fell to fifth at league and 16th at the NCAA regionals.

“When Jon decided to leave Florida Southern, he had to get a release in order for us to talk to him,” Randall said. “I’m friends with his coach. He said, ‘I hate to see him leave, but we won’t keep him if he wants to leave.’ We think he definitely has a chance to contribute next year.”

KU also will add Walt Koelbel, a freshman from Cherry Hills Village, Colo. Koelbel is a pupil of John Ogden, a former KU golfer under Randall, who is assistant pro at the Cherry Hills course.

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On tour: Gogel, who earned All-America honors in 1993, is 124th on the PGA money list at $245,420.

“He’s made the cut in six or seven straight events. In five weeks he won almost a quarter of a million dollars,” Randall said. “He got off to a slow start, but has had a good spring.”

Former Jayhawks Chris Thompson, Chris Marshall and Ryan Vermeer are still trying to earn their PGA Tour cards. They have competed on the Gateway Tour for up to $25,000 first-place money each week.

“It’s tough,” Randall said of making the PGA Tour. “Everybody is playing year-round, chasing Tiger. It’s tough to do.”