Peyton Sliger isn't a huge fan of studying for quizzes, exams or finals at Lee University.
He'd rather be working on his golf game.
The same goes for Lady Flames golfer Bernadette Little.
Both would rather be at Cleveland Country Club improving their full swings, their short games or their putting.
"Once school starts up, I'll spend 10-12 hours a week out there, and nothing less than eight hours for sure," Sliger said.
He's not referring to the entire course.
Sliger is talking about a new Lee University short-game facility located to the right of the 15th fairway.
The university and the country club had been in talks about such a facility for some time before the physical project began last summer after Lee committed the money. Its full potential will be reached this summer when the new Bermuda-grass green grows in and the project is completed in time for the Tennessee Junior Amateur.
"It's something that I'd been wanting to get done and had vision of for quite a while," CCC general manager Lamar Mills said. "It opens so many avenues for our club and our future membership and enhances what the Lee teams will have access to.
"There are endless things that can be done with a short-game facility that we'll have."
It's a huge bonus for the Lee men's and women's teams as the entire Flames athletic program becomes a full-fledged NCAA Division II member for the 2015-16 school year.
It helps the players already wearing the Flames logo and should entice better players to wear the logo as well.
"There are a lot of Division II teams in Florida that have great courses where they play, but for a school to have a practice area that they can use for themselves -- a place where golfers can practice their short game -- is a huge plus," Lee coach John Maupin said. "I don't know of any D-II schools in Florida that have something like this. If there are, there are very few."
The two-tiered green is about 6,500 square feet and has been planted with TifGrand Bermuda, which is different from the bentgrass greens on the course and the existing practice area. The area also features two bunkers -- one greenside trap and one for longer shots. The plan is to extend the area out to allow for wedge shots from about 60 yards into the green.
Maupin said Lee made the initial investment of about $60,000, and the club will pay for the maintenance so it can be used for tournaments and clinics and by members.
And Lee golfers can take a couple of steps up from the green and hit into the opposite direction of members using the traditional practice range to alleviate congestion.
"We can really work on any shot," Little said. "It expands the opportunity that we have to improve our game without limitations. Once it's 100 percent ready, it's going to be fantastic."
The project began by clearing some trees. Then superintendent Jeff Travis brought in a friend with a bulldozer -- a friend who has worked on projects for fabled course architects Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer and Bob Cupp.
"We shaped it out as we went," Travis said. "I love doing that kind of stuff.
"It's an extra benefit for the members, and for Lee it gives them a special short-game facility."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.