Turf Solutions Group Completes Facility for First Tee of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Turf Solutions Group is proud to include the First Tee of Pittsburgh among its satisfied clients. Working in conjunction with the Allegheny County Housing Authority and using federal grants from Housing and Urban Development programs, TSG worked to construct a five-acre practice facility in McKee’s Rock, a revitalized area on the west side of Pittsburgh.

"It’s a character-building component for a neighborhood with low-income housing," Bruce Stephen, executive director of the First Tee of Pittsburgh, said of the recreational facility in Stowe Township. "Turf Solutions came in and really helped us out."

FTOP was originally working with another company when it was forced to go in another direction. Jack McGraw, assistant director of development for the ACHA, said he was fortunate to find a company that could get the project back on schedule and meet its budget requirements.

"As we started to draw closer (to the start of the project), they had a falling out," McGraw said of now-defunct Tour Turf. "We found TSG, and through a series of conversations and looking at their product, we decided to go with them."

Scott Pierce, construction superintendent for TSG, took the original design provided for all First Tee facilities and adapted it to the unique needs of the McKee’s Rock location. "From his experience, Scott was able to take the basic design and tailor it to our needs," McGraw said. "And (TSG) did very well, budget wise. They delivered the project pretty close to what we had in the original budget."

The five-acre facility -- completed in July 2008 -- features four synthetic target greens framed by natural bunkers. Three of those play as golf holes, and with three different tee boxes for each, it plays as a nine-hole golf course with natural turf connecting the tees and greens. The fourth green is a large chipping-and-putting area. A 30-station hitting range features a low-maintenance synthetic tee line.

"We wanted synthetic greens and tees to reduce the ongoing maintenance costs," McGraw said. "This is a nice facility, a good thing for kids in this development and the surrounding area."