Images Contributed | Bryson DeChambeau (right) will be honoring his late father Jon DeChambeau (left) with the 22.5-acre golf training facility for CUSD students.

One of the first official steps in golf superstar Bryson DeChambeau’s golf-centered community in Clovis is moving forward.

According to Fresno County records, Cook Land Company — DeChambeau’s local development partner — filed a conditional use permit (CUP) application on Feb. 7 for a 22.5-acre student golf development facility at 8207 N. Thompson Ave., located northeast of Clovis, just south of Shepard Avenue.

The first phase of the ambitious project was filed under the name “Jon DeChambeau Student Golf Facility,” named in honor of Bryson DeChambeau’s late father.

Jon DeChambeau died in 2022 at 63 years old after a long battle with diabetes that began in the early 1990s

The facility is envisioned as a practice spot dedicated to Clovis Unified School District students on the golf teams. Before becoming one of the most successful golfers of the 2020s, Bryson DeChambeau attended Clovis East High School, where he graduated in 2012.

The latest revisions to the plans were updated on June 3, according to Sonja Dosti, Fresno County communications director.

The plans include a modern practice range with wedge control turf, target greens, fairway bunkers and putting greens with varied slopes. It’s estimated the facility would see a maximum of 90 students per day, according to the CUP application, and would employ 2-3 people.

No goods — except for drinks and snacks — would be sold onsite. An estimated 750 gallons of water per day would be used at the clubhouse, supplied by an existing, on-site well.

An existing 2,160 square-foot, single-family home at the site will be retrofitted to serve as a maintenance facility. A new, 5,000 square-foot portable building — identified as the “Academy Building” in the application — will be installed as a meeting room, gift shop and restrooms.

About a 10-acre portion of the landscape area will have irrigated grass, with the balance consisting of five acres of synthetic turf.

Garrett Takeuchi, a former four-year varsity golfer at Clovis West, spoke on the importance of having a facility like this in Clovis to prepare the next generation of golfers.

Takeuchi played golf from 2021 to 2025 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa before graduating this spring.

At the start of his senior year at Clovis West, Takeuchi was awarded the Bryson DeChambeau scholarship by the Junior Golf Association of Northern California. Over six months later, Takeuchi tied DeChambeau’s course record at Copper River Country Club with an 11-under-par 61.

He noted that while Clovis West was fortunate enough to have access to Fort Washington Country Club, not every CUSD school was equally lucky in having access to a golf course every day for practice.

Takeuchi said that the features of the practice range, target greens, fairway bunkers and putting greens with slopes are going to make a huge impact on the younger generation of golfers. He said that many of the courses in Fresno are fairly straightforward, and that attending tournaments in Monterey or even when he started at Hawaii was a change.

“This facility will give the high schoolers or intermediate schoolers a chance to see the different terrain or slopes in the green and just get used to it,” Takeuchi said. “So when they travel to different tournaments, and they see these big slopes, they won’t really get worried. So it’s a little confidence booster and having that little extra mental edge with the greens can make a huge difference in your golf career.”

In a January podcast with sports business analyst Joe Pompliano, Bryson DeChambeau stated his desire and plans to transform more than 200 acres near Clovis into a multi-sport complex, golf academy, residential community and community center designed to make golf and recreation more accessible and affordable.

“Making it economically viable and more accessible are two massive things,” DeChambeau said. “It’s a strategy that essentially brings people from off the street, to the driving range, to lessons and then to the golf course.”

Takeuchi echoed DeChambeau’s sentiment.

“CUSD has a wide range of income levels, and I feel like a lot of kids from lower-income families don’t have access to golf or even consider it because it’s too expensive,” Takeuchi said. “This facility is going to help grow the game among the younger generation and make it more accessible to kids who are interested but might not have the means. It gives them a place to explore the sport and see if they enjoy it. I think what Bryson is doing will help kids chase their dreams of playing golf.”