Friday, April 01, 2005

             JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 1, 2005) - The Tri-Cities Branch of the Association of General Contractors of Tennessee recently awarded its 2004 Construction Project of the Year honor to the Warren-Greene Golf Center located on the campus of East Tennessee State University.

From left to right, ETSU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dave Mullins, ETSU men's golf coach Fred Warren, Ken Ross of Ken Ross Architects, ETSU President Dr. Paul E. Stanton Jr., and Burleson Construction Company, Inc., President Tommy Burleson receive the award for 2004 Construction Project of the Year from the Tri-Cities Branch of the Association of General Contractors.

            The $2.4 million Warren-Greene Golf Center, which employed the talents of Johnson City's Ken Ross Architects and Burleson Construction Co. Inc., as well as world-renowned golf course architect Tom Fazio, sits on 14 acres overlooking the ETSU campus.

            "There's nothing like this facility on any other campus in the country," said Tommy Burleson, president of Burleson Construction. "The detail of this building is remarkable and we were glad to be associated with it."

            Named in honor of longtime ETSU men's golf coach Fred Warren and ETSU golf supporter William B. Greene Jr., the site includes six target greens, two bent-grass greens (one for putting and one for short-game work), three tee areas, a fairway bunker and four greenside bunkers. The accompanying 3,000-square-foot, two-story building contains coaches' offices, meeting rooms, the Hal Morrison Hall of Fame room, players' lounge, two indoor hitting bays, and an observation deck.

A number of individuals have observed that without a doubt, the Warren-Greene Golf Center provides ETSU players with one of the best on-campus practice facilities in college golf.

            "This was truly a project that required partnerships," said ETSU President Dr. Paul E. Stanton Jr. "I especially appreciate the involvement of several community leaders in making this a reality. It's an example of what can be accomplished when the university and the local community work together."

            The Warren-Greene Golf Center was selected from approximately nine nominated projects throughout the Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia area. Eight members of the AGC's Tri-Cities Branch, which included contractors, architects and engineers, made up the selection panel and visited the ETSU campus eight weeks ago to get a closer look at the WGGC. They then compared all the nominated projects and selected a winner.

            "Because this award is given by our peers it means even more," Burleson said. "We've been doing this for 10 years and we've won it twice, so it is a special honor."

            Warren said the project has been immeasurably valuable to the ETSU golf program, saying that both the men's and women's programs are now able to recruit some of the best players in the world because of the practice facility.

            "We would not have the team we have today without this facility," Warren said. "And the future looks even brighter because of the kinds of players we can recruit. We are very grateful for all the help."

            For more information on the Warren-Greene Golf Center or on future ETSU athletic facility projects, contact Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Michael White at 423.439.4220 or by e-mail at whitem@etsu.edu.