BANGOR – Golf Country is thinking outside the box.

The box is the Airport Mall on Union Street and Golf Country, which opened in 2001, is planning to add an outdoor practice facility.

“We’re trying to make Golf Country a year-round thing,” said co-owner Mike Clendenning. Golf Country, owned by Clendenning, his wife Nicole, Bill Curtis, and his wife Carol, put in a golf simulator in 2002 and now has three.

The new facility will be next to the parking lot, behind McDonald’s and the Concord Trailways bus station on Union Street.

Clendenning said they’ve had the idea for a couple of years.

“We started looking into this in 2003,” he said. “We first looked at a piece of property on Broadway.”

They also checked out spots in Brewer and Hampden.

“We were looking all over the place,” Clendenning said.

It turned out the perfect spot was right under their noses.

“We just walked into that one,” said Clendenning.

“We didn’t think there was enough room because the [apartments] are on one side and [the Messiah Baptist Church] is on the other,” he said. “But once we cut down the trees and bushhogged it, we were like, ‘Wow.'”

Negotiations went smoothly.

“We talked to the owner and came to terms,” Clendenning said.

The final Planning Board meeting for the project is July 19.

Plans for the outdoor facility include 30 grass teeing stations, target greens, practice bunkers, and a separate teaching area.

They also plan to have a couple of heated stalls.

“Hopefully, when we’re done, we’ll be able to hit balls year-round,” he said.

The property covers 18 acres and the driving range will be 335 yards deep.

Surprisingly, for a golf facility, there is also a batting area. While batting cages have been included at some driving ranges for many years, this one will be an open-air setup.

Now when batters catch hold of a pitch, they can watch it arc out into the landing area instead of crashing noisily into the end of the cage.

Some of these features won’t be available until next year, said Clendenning, because now it’s too late to start putting them in.

“We’re hoping to open in August,” he said.

GBO update

The Chrysler Q-School Shootout held at the conclusion of the Greater Bangor Open is apparently helping fill the field faster this year.

“That has been a big incentive,” said Clendenning, a member of the GBO board of directors. “I know guys on the Cleveland Tour [formerly North Atlantic Tour] who played last year have told their friends about it.”

Forty-six pros and four amateurs had entered as of June 28. The tourney is July 21-23 at Bangor Municipal Golf Course with a pro-am on July 20.

“Guys last year were saying they were more nervous and feel more pressure in the Shootout than they do the regular tournament,” said Clendenning.

Justin Goodhue of Glastonbury, Conn., last year’s Shootout winner, is back, along with Ryan Ouellette of West Palm Beach, Fla., a GBO runner-up in 2002; Eli Zackheim of Portland, Ore., a Cleveland Golf Tour regular; and John Hickson, head pro at Sunday River Golf Club in Newry and one of the state’s top playing pros.

“A lot of guys are signing up online, which is encouraging,” said Clendenning.

While the GBO will not have Golf Country and Town & Country Realtors as $5,000 sponsors as they were last year, fund raising has gone well, according to director Free Martin.

“We have 12 corporate [$1,000] sponsors this year,” said Martin. “We had four last year.”

Golf Country and Town & Country Realtors have stayed on as corporate sponsors.

The number of sponsors in the $300 and $100 groups is also up, according to Martin, who praised the tournament committee’s efforts this year.

“We have raised more money this year already than we did all of last year,” said Martin.

“We had some [sponsors] call us,” said Clendenning. “They were still talking about the Shootout.”

Length plus accuracy

Rocky Knoll Country Club in Orrington will be hosting a second long drive contest this month – the Pinnacle Exceptional Driver Championship qualifier July 30 from noon to 4 p.m.

The difference between this event and other long-drive contests is that accuracy is also rewarded.

“I think it’ll prove very popular,” said contest director Chris Murphy. “You don’t have to hit it over 300 yards. If you can hit it 240, 260 yards down the middle with consistency, you’ll do well.”

Each contestant hits five balls with points being awarded for distance and accuracy for each drive. The contestant with the highest total advances to the national championship in October in Laughlin, Nev.

The contest is open to amateurs only and there is only one division.

The entry fee is $20 for five balls, and contestants can enter as often as they wish.

Dave Barber can be reached at 990-8170, 1-800-310-8600, or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.