Valley View Golf opens with driving range and putt-putt course
NEWTOWN >> With late fall and winter quickly approaching, local golfers can keep in the swing of the game thanks to the newly opened Valley View Golf Driving Range and Valley View Zoo putt-putt golf course.
Located at the former Olde Masters property, 4600 West Chester Pike, next to Rafferty Suburu, the Valley View Golf driving range offers 42 stalls for golfers to practice their skills, 24 of them enclosed to stave off unfavorable weather conditions and eight are equipped with heat. Golfers can choose from five sizes of buckets full of balls to aim at three chipping targets.
Valley View is managed by partners who have almost three-quarters of a century of golfing experience between them. Pam Mariani, former owner of Edgmont Country Club, and Brian Robinson, former supervisor at West Chester Golf and Country Club, Radley Run Country Club, Waynesborough Country Club and Coatesville Country Club, have teamed up to bring golfing opportunities back to the Newtown/Edgmont area.
“Golfers are really liking what they find here,” Mariani stated. “We basically gutted the place. Everything is freshly painted and new and improved.”
Mariani and Robinson opened the driving range in August and it has been enticing area golfers from Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties ever since. Valley View is open from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. The driving range has many amenities, including southern sun exposure to keep golfers warm, all new golf balls, new grasslike mats, lit stalls for after-dark practice, new LED and stadium lighting, veterans and seniors discounts, a range loyalty card program, a newly renovated snack shack and pro shop and more. Rental clubs are available for juniors and adults.
“I have come here, at least once a week, since it opened,” said Paul Perri of Havertown in between practice swings this week. “I had come to Olde Masters since I was just a kid, so I am happy that it’s up and running here again so I could come back.”
Jack Geraghty, Broomall, agreed.
“I like these new mats,” Geraghty said admiringly before teeing off. “With the bad weather coming, I know that I will be here often. I golf twice a week in the good weather, so this will be a good alternative when the colder, wetter weather arrives. This is my second time here this week. I like the enclosed stalls.”
On Friday, Oct. 19, the owners hosted a grand opening celebration of the 18 hole putt-putt course, “The Valley View Zoo.” The miniature golf course can be played by golfers of any age, but has special components to appeal to the younger set. In addition to the oversized polar bear and other zoo animals at each hole, including live goldfish, the golf area has educational facts about the animals posted there as of well.
“We hope our golfers learn while playing,” Mariani smiled, dressed in a sparkly blue ring master costume and top hat, for the opening day festivities.
She said the golf course would host its very first birthday party Saturday and was taking reservations for more events. Two tents will be erected next to the miniature golf course to accommodate party festivities. Valley View will host parties for any age and any occasion, as well as corporate and team building events.
In only the first two months since opening, Valley View has hosted the Edgmont Business Association, the Delaware County Press Club, the Newtown Square Business Association and the Delaware County Bar Association. Women on Course will also be at Valley View this month.
Two PGA professionals, Jason Westphal and Tori Fitzgerald, will offer private and group lessons to men, women, and juniors on site. The managing partners also plan to hold golf clinics at Valley View in the spring.
Spring will also debut the third phase of the overhaul at Valley View. In addition to the driving range and putt-putt golf course, Mariani and Robinson plan to open Executive Express Golf, a nine hole golf course that will be perfect for corporate golfers, older adults and junior golfers and anyone who is crunched for time and can’t afford to spend an entire day on the course.
“Our course will be ideal for golfers who have limited time or stamina so they can’t golf a full 18 holes,” Robinson, who has been busy overseeing the widening of the fairways, explained. “On the executive course, in two hours or less after enjoying a round of golf, you’ll be out of here.”
The owners said the planned Express Golf course, with a projected opening date in April, will have two par four holes, one par five and six par three holes.
Since opening, Mariani said golfers’ reactions to the new Valley View have been one-hundred percent positive.
“It’s just terrific to be back in the community again,” remarked Mariani, referencing the recently closed family-owned Edgmont Country Club on West Chester Pike in Edgmont, where she was active for decades and met hundreds, if not thousands, of golfers through the years. “We basically just moved down the street. It has been really nice to see so many of my former customers who are coming here now. Even the neighbors here are excited that we’re open. Everyone in the community has been so very welcoming.”
Many special events are planned at Valley View Golf and both Mariani and Robinson invite the community to stop by and attend. On Oct. 28, there will be a Trick or Treat event from 5-8 p.m.; an Eagles tailgate party at 1 p.m., Nov. 18; and Santa Day, from 3-5 p.m., Dec. 2. Customers can like “Valley View Golf” on Facebook to keep abreast of all special events.
“It has been a lot of fun redoing everything here, bringing an old facility back to life,” Robinson said this week. “It has been really rewarding, too, to see how much the golfers coming in here really appreciate what we have done.”
For more information on Valley View, visit valleyview.golf.com or call 610356-1810.