Greenwich Private School Looks To Add Practice Putting Green To Campus

GREENWICH, CT — Student athletes at Sacred Heart Greenwich could soon have an area to practice their short game.

According to documents recently submitted to the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Department, the private school, which is located at 1177 King St., is looking to install a 3,130 square-foot practice putting green on the eastern edge of its property just north of the existing athletic field.

A final site plan and special permit is being sought.

"The putting green will allow the school's student athletes an area to practice select golf shots when the club they participate at is closed for other events or weather-related reasons," said David Ginter on behalf of the school in documents on file with the town.

Ginter is an engineer with land use consulting firm Redniss & Mead.

The area for the proposed green, which is approximately 280 feet from the rear property line that's shared with Fairview Country Club, was selected because it's already mostly cleared of trees and has been used by the school for years to store stockpile mulch, dirt, stone and other materials, Ginter said.

The putting green would be made of synthetic turf, since natural grass would require more intensive care and upkeep, Ginter said.

To minimize runoff from the green, a rain garden is being proposed along the eastern edge of the area, Ginter noted.

Since the area has been disturbed "for many years" and invasive vegetation has moved in, a 50-foot wide habitat enhancement plan is also being proposed to be installed between the rain garden and adjacent wetlands.

Concurrently with the putting green proposal, Ginter mentioned in submitted documents that the school is also looking to implement a woodchip outdoor classroom with stone seating that would be built into the hillside with a boardwalk to enhance science curriculum.

The classroom would be located adjacent to already-proposed tennis court expansion facilities, Ginter said. The area is already used as an outdoor classroom space, however, it's small and pond/wetland access is challenging for when students "are taking water samples or looking at the flora and fauna," Ginter said.

A boardwalk would allow students access to the water for sampling and observation purposes.

The classroom does not require final site plan or special permit approval, Ginter said, but plans were included in the application to show the overall coordination with the putting green.

The application has not yet been scheduled to go before the Planning & Zoning Commission.