Gift that created facility with state-of-the-art simulators, indoor putting and chipping green honors longtime golfer, family
By Jerry Poling, UW Stout
Women’s and men’s golf team members and students majoring in golf enterprise management have a new, high-tech practice and learning hub at University of Wisconsin-Stout — the indoor Pat Kell Golf Center.
The center, in the Recreation Complex, has two state-of-the-art monitors that provide instant swing and ball data paired with two golf course simulators for year-round practice. In an adjoining room is a putting green, about 35 feet by 12 feet, and chipping area with artificial turf.
Recently, members of the Kell family joined Mike Kell to dedicate the center, built in two former racquetball courts. Mike’s gift in honor of his wife, Pat Kell, who died in 2021, made it possible.
“She would be thrilled, tickled pink about this whole complex,” Mike Kell said.
The idea grew out of Pat’s lifelong love for golf and the multiple benefits that could be realized at UW-Stout. Along with players receiving instant swing feedback — such as ball speed, spin rate, distance — they can practice indoors during winter months and play simulated rounds of golf on holes projected onto a giant screen, a version of the game that has grown in popularity across the country as technology has advanced.
GEM majors, trained to take on management positions at top golf facilities, can use the center as a lab to learn about swing instruction, club fitting, event management and more.
In addition, the center will be available to the general student body, faculty, staff and the community to reserve.
“There are a lot of things we can do that we couldn’t do before,” said Andrew Delong, men’s team coach and GEM program director.
He noted that Blue Devil golfers by the nature of their sport didn’t have a locker room — until now. “It’s such a great opportunity for our kids to experience the highest level of technology.”
The facility includes player lockers and a social area with a TV and couch.
Men’s golf team member Andrew Bauer was on hand for the dedication and was practicing his chipping and putting with other men’s and women’s team members. “This will allow us to improve our games and gain an edge. It looks like a Division I facility,” Bauer said after personally thanking Mike Kell.
Bauer is a sophomore from Chippewa Falls majoring in business administration.
The women’s team recently took second place in the conference tournament, led by first-year player Julia Imai, who won the individual title by seven shots. Imai, from Brookline, Mass., is majoring in food science and technology.
Blue Devil Coach Sophia Connett, who also attend the Kell Center dedication, was named WIAC coach of the year.
Athletics Director Duey Naatz called the center a “top tier” facility and told Kell family members at the dedication that the university was “thrilled you chose to honor Pat in this way.”
Mike Kell is the son of Paul Kell, who founded Kell Container in Chippewa Falls. In 2004, Kell Container was purchased by Great Northern Corp. Kell Container and GNC have a long history of collaborating with UW-Stout and its academic programs.
Multiple Kell family members are alumni, including most recently Charlie Pierce, a 2023 graduate and grandson of Mike and Pat. Charlie graduated in packaging and works for GNC.
“The Kell family appreciates UW-Stout and always will,” Mike Kell said. “Stout made this happen.”
The gift was coordinated through the UW-Stout Foundation and Alumni Association.
The Pat Kell Golf Center is the first of many expected changes at the Recreation Complex, where a renovation supported by students is UW-Stout’s next major capital project awaiting state approval.
UW-Stout is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes. Learn more via the FOCUS2030 strategic plan.
