MERIDIAN — If the competitors in this week’s IGA Men’s Amateur at The Club at SpurWing allow their eyes to wander, they’ll notice a series of construction projects that are transforming the place.

Counting construction recently completed, ongoing or about to begin, the club is adding a nine-hole putting course, a massive practice facility that provides dedicated areas for every facet of the game, clubhouse and non-golf facility upgrades, a new 17th hole and the most eye-popping addition, a nine-hole “challenge” course — a slate of par-3s that will test even the best golfers and serve as the centerpiece of a small neighborhood.

It’s all part of a wave of improvements by new owner Roger Anderson, who assumed control of the private club July 1, 2011.

“(The Men’s Amateur) not only showcases our course, it showcases some of the cool stuff we have coming up,” head pro Adam Martens said.

SpurWing has added 125 members in the past year, topping 370 total, club officials say. The cap is 450.

The most notable changes:

• A new practice facility has been built on property adjacent to the club purchased by Anderson. It opens this fall.

The double-sided driving range includes some unusual features, such as three real greens so golfers can get true results from their shots of less than 100 yards, a fairway bunker, a chipping complex that will offer a wide variety of shots and two skinny trees placed downrange to illustrate the average width of a fairway.

“If that’s not world class, it’s pretty darn close,” said Damian Pascuzzo of Pascuzzo & Pate Golf Course Design, SpurWing’s architect. “… If your game doesn’t improve out there, you might want to look at tennis or something.”

• The challenge course is a new concept to the Treasure Valley. The nine par-3s each will feature two tee boxes and two flags. One combo sets up for an easy shot, with no forced carry or severe undulation. The other creates a difficult shot over trouble to a small, undulating target.

The course will have three ponds that come into play on six holes. It will sit on the old driving range and the new property purchased along Chinden, and will be surrounded by 23 home sites. It’s scheduled to open in spring 2014.

• The par-4 17th hole, which is an awkward and unpopular dogleg, soon will be replaced by a new drivable, risk-reward par-4. Work begins this fall.

• A nine-hole putting course adjacent to the primary putting green has been carved out by mowing the “fairways” shorter than the rest of the green. Next year, the grounds crew can simply mow the green a different way to create a new layout.

Chadd Cripe: 377-6398, Twitter: @IDS_BroncoBeat