Northwestern University Athletics
The Gleacher Golf Center
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
On April 22, 1998, Northwestern University announced it had received a $6.1 million gift from Eric J. Gleacher to create a state-of-the-art indoor golf facility and to endow the men's and women's golf programs. The $1.1 million Gleacher Golf Center will be the finest indoor learning center in the collegiate golf world. The facility, built on the site of the University's old swimming pool located in the Patten Gymnasium complex, includes the following features:
"The Gleacher Golf Center gives us unlimited opportunities to practice," said head coach Chris Regenberg. "It is a first-class teaching facility and gives our players an environment they can call home."
The Gleacher Golf Center measures 89x62 feet and its ceilings peak at 25 feet. Construction of the facility began during the summer of 1998 with the demolition of the old swimming complex. Completion of the golf center, available for use only by members of the Wildcat golf teams, is set for December 1998.
Gleacher, a 1962 graduate of Northwestern, is the chairman and chief executive officer of Gleacher NatWest, an international investment banking firm. He also is an accomplished competitive golfer. Gleacher won the Metropolitan (N.Y.) Golf Association Junior Championship in 1957 and was a member of the Western Illinois University golf team which won the NAIA championship in 1959, his freshman year. Gleacher then transferred to Northwestern where he earned a golf scholarship his junior and senior years. Soon after service as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps (1963-66), Gleacher won the first of his 15 club championships. He has claimed titles at Shinnecock (N.Y.), Baltusrol (N.J.), Deepdale (N.Y.), Maidstone (N.Y.), Montclair (N.J.) and National Golf Links of America (N.Y.).
Gleacher was elected to the USGA Executive Committee in 1996. He qualified for the USGA Senior Amateur Championship in 1997 and advanced to the first round of match play after finishing in eighth place during stroke play competition.
