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Officials recently announced plans to acquire the 150-acre, 18-hole Great River Golf Course and 32,000-square-foot clubhouse along the Housatonic River in Milford. The sale is expected to be finalized next month, university officials said.
Great River, about 15 miles from main campus, will more than double the university's acreage and get the college into the business of running a golf course. About 80 other colleges own golf courses, officials said.
"This is a game-changing opportunity for us," said John J. Petrillo, president of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
Petrillo said university officials will seek PGA approval for a golf management program. If successful, it would be the only such program in the New York metropolitan area and New England.
Owning and operating the PGA golf course will also allow the university to expand programs in hospitality, sports communication and exercise science, as well as give a boost to Sacred Heart athletics.
"And we hope to host national golf camps and regional and national NCAA championships there," Petrillo said.
It will also help attract talented student athletes, said Bobby Valentine, Sacred Heart's executive director of intercollegiate athletics.
"“We believe this will help us sustain what has already become an elite golf program that has been No. 1 in New England and has won three conference championships and participated in three Division I NCAA tournaments since 2007," he said.
Michael Kinney, senior vice president for finance and administration for Sacred Heart, said the purchase was made possible from revenue from college investments.
“I want to emphasize that no tuition dollars will be used to make this purchase," Kinney said. "The cost per acre makes this one of the most value-added purchases the university has made to date.”
College officials said members of Great River, a PGA facility ranked fourth in Connecticut by Golf.com, can expect the same services and amenities in the future.
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