Driving them Mad

By Bill Aitken While uncertain Spring weather is a pain in the neck if you’re trying to get washing dry, spare a thought for golf professional and entrepreneur, Steve Aisbett, owner of the well underway $5 million Thornleigh Golf Centre at Thornleigh Brickpit in Dartford Road. With some 50,000 tonnes of fill already placed on top of the old tip to create the state-of-the-art golf driving range, Mr. Aisbett and his buider/designer DB and HE Building Services of Ryde are being driven mad as the work falls behind due to rain. “Everything I own, including our home is going into this and any hold up means more cost, Steve Aisbett explained. The former operator of the golf driving range at David Road, Cherrybrook from 1986 until 1993, Mr. Aisbett has dreamt of Thornleigh for over ten years. The last two years have been spent developing the design of the driving range and construction began in February this year. It has provided work for a number of local companies including Ken Coles Excavations at Pennant Hills and there will be more employment for locals as it moves towards completion. Methane is still being extracted from the old land-fill tip site on a daily basis and this will continue separate to the driving range and its on site facilities. Due to contamination from the old tip, the range has been built on top of the ground and will be completely covered with artificial turf. Massive post holders have been erected along both the Pennant Hills Road and western sides of the range. These will enable the creation of the highest fence ever built in the Southern Hemisphere (36 metres tall on the Pennant Hills Road side and 24 metres on the western edge). The wall will be constructed of ultra-violet stable netting which is on order from USA. In the first stage of its development, the driving range will comprise a two storey building housing 56 undercover driving bays over both floors, a meeting room, cafe and a parents’ facility. Balls will be automatically collected and propelled back to the pro-shop via an underground return system. The second stage of the development will see the construction of a 36 hole mini-golf adventure course. Weather permitting, Steve Aishett hopes that the first stage of Thornleigh Golf Centre will be open in the first half of 2012. http://www.monthlychronicle.com/pages/news.htm