Tee Times August 2018

August 2018 Keeping Golfers Connected in TN, KY, MS, AL, NC

August 2018

Humble Hero Greenwood’s golf

exploits are legendary Pages 2-4

Inside!!

Salute to the military: Military 8 Tee Times opens new doors to golf Happy trails: Thelma Ewell says 12 good-bye to The First Tee Habitual offender: Johan Kok makes a 19 habit of playing in the PGA Championship

Bobby Greenwood

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Humble hero: Greenwood’s golf exploits are legendary

By Justin Onslow Tee Times Associate Editor The story of Bobby Greenwood’s life in golf reads more like a Forrest Gump-style narrative than a linear path through the world of tournaments and tours. His career saw countless tees to greens in regulation, but in life there’s rarely been an instance in which a single shot didn’t branch off into a thousand points of contact with some of the most significant figures in the history of the sport.

Greenwood is a legend in Tennessee.

His name, along with those of Mason Rudolph, Lou Graham and Cary Middlecoff, tells a story of excellence in representing an entire state alongside myriad giants of the game at a time when those giants were contemporary superstars but still far from cast-inmarble heroes.

On his way to more than 150 tournament wins and a seven-year PGA Tour career, Greenwood rubbed shoulders with the subjects of every worth-itssalt golf history book. He was the last player to beat Jack Nicklaus before his first U.S. Open victory. He was the last golfer to play a professional PGA Tour round with Ben Hogan.

And the real story lies at all the points

in between.

“When I was playing with Byron Nelson and Jack Nicklaus, the fact that those names—there’s people that would give $5,000 to be at pro-am just to be with those players or talk to them,” Greenwood mused. “And I played with them on a daily basis for seven years.”

Greenwood didn’t just play with them. He beat them. At his pinnacle, Greenwood was as good as anyone, and if not for injuries and a dedication to putting family first, he may have ridden his professional career to that very same tier.

Golf history is often examined through a lens of PGA Tour victories, but there’s more to golf than the Tour and there are few golfers with a more impressive amateur resume than Greenwood. Threetime NCAA All-American. FourBobby beckons readers to visit Golf House Tennessee time conference runner-up.

1966 State Amateur and 1968 simply put, Tennessee’s most prolific to be a fighter. You’ve got to be a comState Open champion. The list petitor. goes on, but each item on the list spells amateur golfer during the 1960s.

“When I played Jack Nicklaus in that out one specific point: Greenwood was An Historic Clash of Titans match, I wasn’t worshipping him or the epitome of golf talent at the amaGreenwood’s 1961 Colonial Invita- anything like that. I knew how great teur level.

Twice named to Golf magazine’s top tional match-play victory over Nick- he was. I knew everything about him.”

So much so that Greenwood brought 10 amateurs list, Greenwood was, laus is incredible enough to be the subject of its own full-length only Titleist No. 5 golf balls with him article. Nicklaus would go to that match, knowing that was Nickon to win his first U.S. Open laus’ favorite golf ball. just nine months later, but “You do whatever you can do as a he wouldn’t get the best of good competitor and a good sport,” he Greenwood on that fate- added. “I thought, ‘You may beat me ful day in the August heat of 6 and 5 today, but you won’t beat me Memphis. with your favorite golf ball.’”

Greenwood will never say he But Nicklaus did neither. With an eawas a better golfer than Nick- gle on the 18th hole to laus, but in his heart he knows force a sudden-death he was an even match when it playoff, Greenwood came to competitive spirit. birdied the 19th with “You have to be selfish to what he considers play competitive professional the best shot he ever athletics,” he said. “You’ve got hit and sent Nicklaus

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home in the first round, eliminating the biggest draw of the tournament.

“The shot on the sudden-death playoff hole was probably the best shot I’ve ever hit in my life, it ended up four inches from the cup,” Greenwood said. “The wind was left-to-right and I had to hit a draw back into the wind and the pin is on the right edge of the green. And I hit it absolutely perfectly.

That was the best shot under the circumstances I’ve ever hit.”

It was shot true legends are made of, even if the man it sent packing went on to become the biggest legend the sport has ever seen.

A Career Cut Short

Greenwood was a phenomenal athlete in his youth. At Riverside Military Academy, he was the leading scorer on his basketball team and tallied 10 home runs as a member of the baseball team.

Unfortunately, those sports took their toll on Greenwood. He broke his wrist during that time and in order to continue playing golf, he heavily favored his other wrist, eventually leading to scar tissue build-up. It was those injuries that would flare up later in his golfing career and partially contributed to only playing seven years on the PGA Tour.

Still, Greenwood managed 15 top-25 finishes in those seven years, including a victory at the 1970 Rhode Island Open.

After his Tour days, Greenwood accepted a job as the director of golf at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, which, at the time, was the most coveted club pro job in the country.

But shortly after the club’s selection of Greenwood, they followed through

peat golfers, a point of pride for Greenwood, who set out to build a course every golfer would love to play. His inspiration came in the form of answered prayers.

“I didn’t really know how to build a course,” he admitted. “I would walk that land by myself and I’d get on my knees and pray for God to please help me because I can make an ass of myself pretty quick if you don’t help me build this golf course.

And so I’m looking for visions and I’m trying to tap into my experiences of playing different courses all over the world and God helped me design and get the visions of what to do and that’s the reason the course turned out good. “’Lord, what kind of course do you want me to build?’ and his answer was to build Elma, Bobby and Viola at the 2018 a golf course His people will Players Championship (TPC Sawgrass) love playing. Make it a playerfriendly golf course. It looks hard and plays easy.” with an interview promise to Bob Ross Greenwood went on to help with (the then-director at Sawgrass Country Club) and chose to offer the job to the construction of several other golf courses after that, including a stint as Ross instead.

Greenwood called to congratulate design coordinator for Nicklaus on the Ross and was surprised to learn Saw- construction of courses in both Florigrass was actually the No. 1 club job in da and Japan.

It was in Japan that Greenwood’s the country, at least according to Ross.

“I called Bob Ross to congratulate him next—and perhaps most fulfilling— and I asked how good Sawgrass is,” chapter would begin in earnest.

Greenwood recalled. “He said it was The Family Man the No. 1 club job in America because After being single for nearly 20 years the Tour players come in there and play their championship. So I called following his divorce, Greenwood beHarold Staub and he said I’d already gan corresponding with his now wife, been vetted through the Baltusrol job, Elma, a native of the Philippines who Greenwood was able to visit fairly freand I got the job.”

It was a dream job for a man so in love with the game of golf, but love Sittin’ for a spell at Golf is what ultimately cut that career House Tennessee, reflecting short as well. on a long happy career “I got that job and I was there for two years and I went through a divorce,” he said. “I had two children and so I chose to give up the No. 1 club job in America at the time to come back to Cookeville, Tennessee and raise two kids, to be a part of their life. That meant more to me than being a head pro at Sawgrass.”

The Next Chapter

Greenwood wouldn’t be out of the golf industry for very long. In 1978—the same year he moved back to Tennessee for his son, Robert, and daughter, Gena— Greenwood tried his hand at golf course architecture, overseeing the design and construction of Dorchester Golf Course at Fairfield Glade.

Dorchester is the most popular course at Fairfield Glad by re-

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quently during his time traveling to Japan to work on construction of the New Augusta Golf Club.

“Two weeks at time I was miserable and I had a great time visiting Japan,” he said. “I’d take a week and go to the Philippines and I’d stay with Elma and we’d go around have great fun. So I asked her to marry me.”

The two have been married for 20 years and are blessed with a 19-yearold daughter, Viola, who undoubtedly inherited her father’s talent for golf.

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“Raising a daughter is a great joy in my life,” he said. “Viola is a wonderful person. She loves the Lord; she’s a super student a great daughter. She’s a blessing me to me, especially as I am 80 years old. She helps me a lot and we have fun.”

In sitting down to discuss his career in the golf world, the conversation always comes back to that.

There’s no ego. There’s no regret.

There’s simply a man who has lived the life of a legend with the humility only faith and family can bring.

“Golf is the most difficult of all games to play correctly,” Greenwood said. “It may be the greatest game. You can tell a lot about a person (by playing with them). I could learn about your character and your personality and ego and confidence pretty quick.”

But one doesn’t have to play golf Bobby and daughter Viola share a look of mutual love and respect Viola Greenwood started golfing at the age of 12 when, after tiring of team sports, asked her father to start teaching her to play the game. In six years since, she has amassed 39 tournament wins and has been offered eight scholarships to play collegiate golf, all of which she has turned down due to an elbow injury that has prevented her from playing golf for over a year-anda-half.

But Viola’s ultimate goal isn’t to play collegiate golf. She wants to play on the LPGA Tour and use her talent to do something even more meaningful.

“My goal is to hopefully become successful enough to get an agent and then have him contact different civic clubs so that I can go and speak and tell about Jesus and the miracles that have happened in my life,” she said.

“And of course getting on the LPGA Tour would be a miracle. I would love to do that.”

Viola’s talent on the course and her faith in life are true testaments to Greenwood’s legacy as a father and a teacher. She also has a tremendous teacher in Joe Hallett, 2013 Tennessee Section PGA Teacher of the Year and coach of several LPGA golfers including superstar Stacy Lewis.

Hallett recognizes Viola’s talent and the man from whom it originated.

“About four years ago we did a thing with Golf magazine and it was kind of a top-100 summit,” Hallett said. “For lunch they

broke us out into about five tables so you have a table with 12 guys who I’m humbled to call friends now but they’ve always been mentors. Chuck Cook says, ‘here’s a topic we can talk about: Who’s the best ball striker you’ve ever seen?’

“There’s a gentleman sitting next to me named David Glens who was PGA Teacher of the Year at one point. He says the best ball-striker he’s ever seen none of you guys have ever heard of. He says Bobby Greenwood. This guy could do things with a golf ball that you can’t believe. Bobby was an artist.”

Recognition, Finally

It took decades for the artist to truly earn the recognition he deserves for the masterpiece that was his golf game.

In 2002, Greenwood was inducted into the University North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame, followed by an induction into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Riverside Military Academy Centennial Sports Hall of Fame the very same year. He was also awarded the Distinguished Career Award by the Tennessee PGA in 2010.

And despite the late recognition, Greenwood doesn’t hang his hat on his on-course accomplishments or the awards he’s won. Even more important to the faithdriven family man is his pride in his family.

Joe Hallett

Ben Hogan

with Greenwood to learn those things about him. Just a simple conversation can reveal so much: passion for the game of golf, love of his family and his faith, character through all of life’s ups and downs.

All things true legends are really made of.

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From tHE Editor

By Gregg Dewalt

Tennessee golfers continue to post impressive results of Tennessee Women’s Open ChampionSo much news, so little time.

Let’s call this month’s musings the “Well ship at Stonehenge.

Kim shot a 54-hole total of 4-under-par Played, Everyone” edition, simply because a lot of golfers from around the state have 212 to edge Ashli Bunch and Maria Fernanda Lira Solis by one shot. Kim shot 72 in enjoyed some phenomenal results. the final round to hold off Bunch, First up, the senior citizens. By my who shot 66 in the final round, count, five of Tennessee’s best and Lira Solis, who dropped out senior players are headed of a tie for the lead with a threeto Eugene, Oregon later this putt bogey on the next-to-last month to tee it up in the U.S. hole.

Senior Amateur ChampionBefore arriving in Tennessee, ship at Eugene Country Club.

Kim opened her pro career Steve Golliher, of Knoxville, with a win in the Illinois State shot 67 at Laurel Springs Open as she builds momentum (Georgia) Golf Club to finish for this fall’s LPGA qualifying third and earn his way into the school.

Senior Am. • It’s been a really good sumIn Memphis at The Grove, is mer for Manchester’s Ashley Memphians Mike Albonetti Buzz Fly - Memph Gilliam. and Buzz Fly each shot 72 to grab spots in the 156-man field, while Jeff Walker, of Springfield, got in with a 73.

Collierville’s John Fisher traveled to Indiana for his qualifier, and his 73 at The Club at Chatham Hills earned him a berth into the event that begins on Aug. 25 with the first of two rounds of stroke play before switching over to match play.

• Recent Northwestern University graduate Hannah Kim’s professional career is off to a good start. Playing in only her second professional event, Kim outlasted the field to win the 20th Golf Capital

PUBLISHER Joe Hall pgegolf@bellsouth.net EDITOR Gregg Dewalt ASSOCIATE EDITOR Justin Onslow SENIOR EDITOR David Widener widecard@aol.com

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Carol Hall teetimescarol@bellsouth.net

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jon Hamilton jrhdesign@att.net

CONTRIBUTING WRITER Grayson Kirkham TECHNICAL ADVISOR Jimmy Phillips

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Susan Lawrence

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First, the 17-year-old made a nice run at the U.S. Girls Amateur at Poppy Hills in California. Gilliam shot 70 to qualify for the 156-girl field. Once in the field, Gilliam had rounds of 75-73 to make it into the match play field of 64.

From there, Gilliam advanced to the quarterfinals before bowing out 4 and 3 to Gina Kim, of North Carolina. It was the second straight year Gilliam qualified for the Girls Am. After that excursion, Gilliam traveled to Lawrence, Kansas, where another 70 got her into the U.S. Women’s Amateur

Ashley Gilliam

Rachel Heck being played at The Golf Club of Tennessee.

She was joined in Kynadie Adams the field of 156 by Memphian Rachel Heck, Jonesborough’s Addie Baggarly and Kynadie Adams, who was the lone Nashville resident in the field.

Gilliam was the only one of the four to make the cut, shooting xx to tie for 15th place and easily reach match play. Baggarly missed the 64-person match play portion by one shot with rounds of 73-73, while Heck was three shots off the cut line with rounds of 74-74. Adams had rounds of 7975 and also missed the cut.

Adams is 14, Heck is 16 and Baggarly is a sophomore at the University of Florida.

Heck will represent the U.S. this fall in the Junior Ryder Cup in France.

• On the boys side of the ledger, Shelden Barina, of Champions Run, and Evan Woosley-Reed, of Riverbend, each qualified at Old Fort Golf Club for the U.S. Junior Amateur at famed Baltusrol in New Jersey.

Neither player made it out of stroke play qualifying, but it’s still a great achievement to make it that far.

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Around Nashville Fairways Wayne Evans

Superintendent of Sports/ Golf Clubhouse Operations

Lee roars to MUNI win; Ted Rhodes close to reopening We’re in the dog days of August, school is is on the brink of opening up with new about to back in session, and that means Tifeagle bermuda grass putting greens. tournament season for the city is coming up, It’s the latest renovation to a Metro with one MUNI tournament down and two Parks course, following re-dos at Two to go.

Rivers and Harpeth Hills.

“We felt Ted Rhodes was the natuThe Metro Parks Municipal Amateur Championship, named in honor of James H. Fyke, ral next course to move forward with has just concluded, and it was no contest. converting to Bermuda,” Phil Luckett, Phillip Lee ran away from the competition Metro Parks’ Superintendent of Golf to a 12-shot win to become a two-time win- Maintenance said. “The large greens ner of the event. should be perfect for bermuda.”

I can’t help but reflect upon the tournaLuckett said Ted Rhodes was due for ment’s namesake, James H. Fyke, who loved Nashville, its city parks and golf. The former director of Metro parks, Fyke created a tournament that would reflect the Metro Parks champion golfer. On hand for the trophy presentation and representing the Fyke family was Mr.Fyke’s wife, Becky. Retired Metro Parks Director of Operations Danny Gibson presented Lee with the Danny Gibson Trophy and his plaque. The MUNI tournament is presented by Brandt & Haymes Snedeker.

Here’s an update on the greens renovations at Ted Rhodes GC. The course is close to rePhillip Lee, accepts the Danny Gibson Trophy, preopening. sented by retired Metro Parks Superintendent of Golf The course closed June 11 Operations, Danny Gibson. Becky Fyke, wife of James H. for a greens renovation projFyke on hand to congratulate the two- time champion. ect, and two months later it

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

Results

Phillip Lee John Tymiski Travis Womble Tyler Farrar John Swobota

203 215 216 216 217

renovations, the last of which came in 1995 when the new nine was built.

The greens weren’t the only improvement, according to Luckett.

“We also went in and did an irrigation improvement along with addressing the greens,” he said. “We felt that it was important to convert to an electric irrigation head and new greens loop to give better reliability and performance of the irrigation system.

The old heads were hydraulic and the performance and reliability had gotten pretty bad.”

We hope in the future to upgrade the rest the course with better irrigation and install a new pump station that would be environmentally friendly and waste less energy than the present station does.

“For now, we are glad to get the new greens

loops and be able to offer Tifeagle bermuda putting greens just like Two Rivers and Harpeth Hills have,” he said. “We hope the patrons at Ted Rhodes enjoy them. The greens will only get better with time and as usual with bermuda they may be a little hard the first few years, but will soften up over time.”

In the past, the greens at Ted Rhodes were bentgrass, a less heat tolerant strand of grass. The old greens were aerated and verticut to remove the bentgrass thatch before the Tifeagle was installed.

As with all projects, some greens will tend to be more mature than others, but all should round into shape by the fall,” Luckett said. “When we open the greens the grass on them will only be 8 to 9 weeks old. That is not very old when you think about it. We think for the times of the year when we receive the most play this playing surface will be superior to bentgrass for a longer period of time.”

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We Love Our Golfers!!!

Harpeth Hills

2424 Old Hickory Blvd. • 615-862-8493

McCabe

46th & Murphy Rd. • 615-862-8491

Percy Warner

Forrest Park Dr. • 615-352-9958

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20th & Fatherland • 615-862-8474

Two Rivers

Two Rivers Parkway • 615-889-2675

Ted Rhodes

1901 Ed Temple Blvd. • 615-862-8463

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Checking out the “new greens” produces all smiles and thumbs up from (L-R) James McCarty, Superintendent of Ted Rhodes, and Phil Luckett, Superintendent of Metro Parks Maintenance.

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Military Tee Times opening new doors for military members, families to enjoy game of golf

By Justin Onslow Tee Times Associate Editor Kevin Sullivan spent more than two decades serving and protecting his country as an aviation officer and Black Hawk helicopter pilot.

Now 51 years old and retired from active service, Sullivan is continuing his mission of serving others through a fairly new venture aimed at giving military members, veterans and their families a new way to discover and enjoy the game of golf.

Sullivan didn’t grow up playing golf. He learned how to play as many of us do and for many of the same reasons—with close friends in search of a little extra camaraderie and some time to blow off some steam, usually on Saturday mornings as part of what he calls the “Commanding General’s Gaggle.”

“The camaraderie and the fraternal piece of that were wonderful,” Sullivan said. “Whether you played great golf or not, the ability to take it from the flight line or the trenches and be able to share in that same brotherhood on the golf course was a remarkable thing I looked forward to on a regular basis.”

Sullivan started his own consulting business in 2008 while still on active duty, shortly before retirement, with a focus on building military programs for corporations like Costco, LifeLock and UNTUCKit. Dubbed Leading Points Corporation, Sullivan’s consulting business essentially paves the way for corporations to create or expand on their special

offerings and programs for military members.

But Sullivan also had an urge to incorporate golf into his company’s mission and after approaching the military about his idea to create an on-base tee times system similar to GolfNow and receiving little buy-in, he decided to take his concept to the decision-makers at the Golf Channel.

“I decided to take my efforts directly to Orlando with the Golf Channel,” Sullivan said.

“December 2012, I packed up the family just before Christmas. Worst case they say no but at least we can take the family to Disney World. But the commitment from the Golf Channel came at that time and we decided to essentially build out the military discounted golf platform in Military Tee Times.”

Working alongside Golf Channel develop-

Kevin and Orla Sullivan at the 2018 Phoenix Open

ers, Sullivan’s team helped build out a standalone platform for booking tee times, similar to how GolfNow functions. Military Tee Times, however, caters exclusively to military members, veterans and military families.

“A lot of golf courses give a deeper discount to military,” Sullivan said. “But for a great amount of them we highlight a super deep discount for the day. You’ll see times highlighted with dog tags to the side. If you see a course that you like, search by military discount and pricing and you’ll find some remarkable tee times. You could have a $140 round at Arrowhead golf course in Colorado going for $44 on Military Tee Times.”

In addition to offering massive discounts on tee times, Military Tee Times sends $1 for every round booked to David Feherty’s Troops First Foundation and through a new partnership with the VFW, all tee times booked through vfw.golf result in another contribution directly back to the VFW. As Sullivan is quick to point out, Military Tee Times is not a business intended to make a lot of money—it’s all about giving back.

“We had to get it out there in front of folks,” Sullivan said. “We had to make sure that people understood that the real mission is not a self-generator of capital or revenues. We’re putting the biggest discounts back into the military.”

Military Tee Times’ partnership with Golf Channel has been a monumental part of the program’s success, as evidenced by some of its newest partnerships and initiatives. As a veteran-owned small business, Military Tee Times needed Golf Channel’s talent and resources to expand its reach.

“We had to prove to Golf Channel we’re real,” Sullivan said. “They had to know it was truly going to be successful and make the mission we put behind it. I’m very comfortable in saying that we’ve achieved that.”

The two largest recent successes for Sullivan and his business have come in the form of a partnership with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service or AAFES (pronounces AFEES), which is the largest retailer for military installations worldwide, and a new venture with Golf Channel in 2019 that will include a military division for its World Long Drive competition.

“When we went live on AAFES, that was kind of like the Super Bowl partnership,” Sullivan said. “We know there’s potential for AAFES alone to bring us hundreds of thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of tee times for military members and their families.”

Sullivan also sees the World Long Drive contest as another opportunity to introduce golf to military members—with a little incentivizing built in.

“Next year we’re going to do 12 military qualifiers for long drive on the military base,” Sullivan said. “Those winners will be sent to Fort Hood, Texas, and we’re going to do a live twohour Golf Channel special for that event and put them in their own wing for competition.

The winner of that military championship will be given $10,000 and a reserved spot in the championship.”

These are all pieces of a bigger puzzle and it seems Sullivan is well-suited for looking at the bigger picture. Ultimately, his mission is one of giving, whether it be through discounts, experiences or the same kinds of opportunities that contributed to his love of the game of golf.

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It’s always a special Father’s Day for this group Tee Times Report

service in the restaurant, all 75 plus employees throughout the Resort feel the same way. There are 8 different departments, front desk, housekeeping, dining room, kitchen, golf maintenance, ground maintenance, recreation and golf shop and there is a business manager at the park to handle all the paper work.

The Father’s Day Golf Association has stayed and played at Springdale in North Carolina twice, Fairfield Glade in Crossville three times, Cherokee Ridge in Alabama once, and now at Dale Hollow Lake Resort, a part of

To borrow a phrase from The Masters, the Father’s Day Golf Association has “a tradition like no other.”

It starts in the days leading up to Father’s Day. Each year since 2008, a group of 16 golfers begins its annual buddy’s golf trip. Three co-workers were the brains behind the association, when that season they decided a golf trip was in order. Invitations were issued to some friends and family members.

It works like this: Every year, a different member takes charge of securing the golf destination following Sitting out back of the lodge, relaxing after 36 holes of play at Dale Hollow Lake GC certain criteria. Food and lodging must be are (L-R), Mike Ireland, Dan Ellis, King Lamons, Eddie Shewmaker, Steve Brown, Chris on premises. No flying; and the destination Tidwell, Wallace Cartwright, Todd, Hilbert, Lou Ullrich, Jerry Cochrane, Terry Scoles, must not be more than a 5 ½-hour drive.

Brad Graves, and Bill Livingston. Not pictured are Stacy Bell, Tom Hicks, and Joe Hall.

The group plays 18 holes on Thursday, followed by 36 holes on Friday and Saturday.

On Father’s Day, everybody must be back home to celebrate by 2 p.m.

Why Father’s Day? “Why not?” the guys said. “It is our day.”

However, a compromise was struck with spouses that the guys would be home in time to celebrate with their family.

This year was no exception. Lou Ullrich was in charge of setting up the trip. Having visited and playing at Kentucky State Park’s Ron Roberts,PGA, and head golf Dale Hollow Lake, he worked with his professional and assistant Debbie Cash are group of 16 to stay and play at the facility. delighted you choose to play their course It not only met, but exceeded expectations. The Inn’s Restaurant provided deliJenny Moon and just a few of the Kentucky cious meals, almost like home- cooking and friendly 75 plus staff: (L-R) Amanda Allen, Crystal Williams, Jenny Moon, Ruth the lodging offered killer views of the scenic Thacker, Nicole Ferguson. lake.

Ron Roberts, the head golf professional, made sure the group received VIP treatment the Kentucky state parks system. The group on his fun, challenging course. The course plans return visits to Cherokee Ridge and was in tip-top shape, thanks in large part to Dale Hollow Lake.

Superintendent Marty Walden and his hard Sadly, the group lost two original members working crew. in 2016 - Bob Taylor and Dale Smith. Both Jenny Moon, Resort Park Manager sets the are missed, especially when the Father’s tone for southern hospitality and how each Day Golf Association assembles for its anguest should be treated. Beginning with nual outings and when the group is sitting Group staying n’ playing at Springdale in North Carolina that inquiry phone call or email, to great around, recounting the day’s rounds and telling stories of their past trips.

Lodge & Restaurant view of Dale Hollow Lake

No. 15 challenging par three Breathtaking surprise awaits you!

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Opinion

By David Widener

Member Golf Writers Association of America

Doing it his way paid off for Lietzke

F

rank Sinatra’s 1968 hit song ‘My Way’ 1998 cover story on muscle memory and how sums up the life of Bruce Lietzke, it works.

“I can’t define it,” he said. “I don’ think about who died July 28 of an aggressive mechanics. I just know through proof by taking form of brain cancer.

He did not follow the norm when it came to 6-8 weeks off and not touching a club that my golf, yet excelled because of muscle memory. swing is the same as when I left it. I am totally Putting his family first, he played a limited num- content with my swing and that kind of makes ber of tournaments, no more than 25 a season. me a freak. I don’t want to make it better and Still, he managed to win 13 PGA Tour events that goes against human nature. I respect the and seven on the Champions Tour, including the game of golf so much that I don’t think the word 2003 U.S. Senior Open, while earning almost perfection has any business being collated with it. Golf is no where near a game that strives for $14 million.

Lietzke had no agent, no golf coach (his broth- perfection. It’s kind of a torturous game. It can er taught him the game), no sports psychologist, drive people crazy.”

If you find his muscle memory hard to beno swing therapist, and stayed with the same equipment company (Tommy Armour) for 26 lieve, the well-reported banana story proves years, using only three sets of irons during that it is true. After the 1984 season he told caddie period. He never hit balls after a tournament. Al Hansen to remove everything from his bag He preferred fishing, hunting and muscle cars except his clubs and put it in the garage until he resumed his schedule to golf. next year. Hansen stuck Two lyrics in the song a banana in the bag to best described Lietztest if Lietzke was telling ke’s life: “I did it my the truth. Three months way” and “I’ve lived a later at the first tournalife that’s full.” ment of the year, Lietzke “Golf was probably finally opened the bag on about the 10th most the practice range to an important thing in overwhelming stench. As his life,” says nephew expected, the bag went to and Beaumont (TX) the trash dump and HanCountry Club pro Rob sen became a believer.

Lietzke.

Lietzke considered the “Lietzke grew up to greatest moment in his become the world’s life his first PGA Tour vicgreatest hourly wage tory which came at the golfer,” sports colum1977 Tucson Open. The nist Ed Fowler wrote in victory dinner consisted 1996. of a Whataburger digestIn 2004, golf writer ed in his parent’s hotel Steve Campbell wrote: Bruce Lietzke room after he rolled in “Bruce Lietzke has setan 82-foot putt to beat tled on a working title Gene Littler in a playoff for the championship, for the autobiography he’s never going to write: Golf Is Getting In The then a long car drive by himself to San Francisco for the next stop on the tour.

Way Of My Life.”

So it was off to San Fran in his 1976 Trans-Am Other pro golfers were envious of Lietzke, who was a member of the winning U.S. Ryder Firebird listening to an 8-track tape by Lynyrd Cup in 1981 and was voted into the Texas Golf Skynyrd that included his favorite song at the Hall of Fame in 1991. Who would not be? When time, Free Bird.

“That became a special moment in my life, he showed up at a tournament they would say “what’s the matter, you buying a new house or driving that car about 80 mph with the tape going full blast.” Lietzke says. “There were tremenanother muscle car and need some money.”

I first met Lietzke while working for the Beau- dous emotions and ultimate justification for evmont Enterprise newspaper as assistant sports erything I had done as a kid. It wasn’t when I editor. Although born in Kansas City, Missouri, made the long putt, it wasn’t when they gave me he spent 17 years in Beaumont after his parents the check and trophy, and it wasn’t the attention moved there when he was nine. He would put I got. It was just me really, patting myself on the on clinics there for junior golfers after graduat- back and saying, ‘boy, you’ve done okay.’ Playing ing from University of Houston and joining the golf was the greatest thing that ever happened PGA Tour. After he moved to the Dallas area, I to me.”

And, you did it your way. met up with him while working in Houston as RIP Bruce. managing editor of Golfer Magazines to do a

Coach Majors and the tournament’s winning team: Roger Frazier, John Davis, Chip Fisher and Sam Krakoviak

Johnny Majors Invitational another success

Tee Times Report

Lake Tansi Village Resort hosted the 18th.Johnny Majors Invitational in mid-July. The gathering of Johnny’s teammates, coaches and players going back to his high school, college and coaching days was again a very special event. Coach Majors kept everyone entertained with stories of past victories and heroes. Tim Irwin and The Chillbillies provided music during the Saturday night catfish fry. Pictured below is Coach Majors and the tournament’s winning team: Roger Frazier, John Davis, Chip Fisher and Sam Krakoviak.

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Planning your Financial Legacy

By Jonathan Scott and Glenn Price

Jonathan

We hope you have been enjoying your summer with your family and loved ones! Now that fall is near and the kiddos are getting ready to return to school, we are looking forward to some cooler weather and enjoying some golf. We hope that you are as well.

We realize how important it is that we continue to encourage our clients to develop and maintain a written plan for retirement that includes growth strategies, income planning, long term care and a legacy for the future. The freedom to enjoy a well-earned and well-planned retirement is our goal for each of you.

In keeping with our commitment to inform and prepare our clients for the retirement they have planned for and dreamed of, we are including for your consideration the following article that describes a pitfall of fully 1/3 if American retirees. It also explains why a proposed retirement budget is central to all of our retirement planning.

The Lowballed Retirement: Why Americans underestimate what they need Time for a little thought experiment: Take a moment and think of the savings you will need in retirement.

Got it? Good. Now here is the hard truth: That number is likely low.

That is not a personal judgment of your standard of living, your income, your savings or your ability in math. It is just probability.

The Employee Benefit Research Insti-

Glenn

tute recently put out its annual Retirement Confidence survey, a kind of national state-of-the-union about where our savings stand. What it found: 37 percent of retirees say that their overall cost estimates turned out to be low.

“A lot of people assume they will spend far less in retirement than when they were working,” says Craig Copeland, senior research associate with EBRI. “But in many cases, that is just not true.”

This is not just a minor math error. It is a potentially catastrophic one.

If your entire retirement plan is based on one particular assumption – how much you will be spending every month – and that figure turns out to be way off, then you have just lit some TNT under the last quarter of your life. And by that point, it is largely too late to do anything about it.

However, if you are still in your prime working years like Gen X and younger Baby Boomers, or entering the workforce like Millennials and Gen Z, then there is still time for a course correction.

Here is what the experts advise: DO THE MATH If you have not actually sat down and calculated what you will need every month – granular stuff like mortgage,

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utilities, food and so on – then you really have no idea what you are talking about.

So put together a retirement budget. Even if those numbers have to be adjusted later, at least you are getting closer to a real picture of what daily expenses are going to look like.

FACTOR IN INFLATION Factor inflation into your projections because if you save a buck now, that buck will not have nearly as much purchasing power in 2040, or whatever your projected retirement date happens to be.

BE REALISTIC ABOUT DAILY EXPENSES Many retirement plans employ the assumption that you will spend 60 percent or 70 percent of what you do during your working years. But is that realistic?

The

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“I ask clients, ‘Do you typically spend more money on a Tuesday or a Saturday?’” says financial planner Andrew Houte of Brookfield, Wisconsin. “They usually answer Saturday. Well, every day in retirement is a Saturday.”

Throw in some major one-time expenses – particularly in the early years of retirement when people tend to be more active – and suddenly your retirement outlook looks very different.

RETHINK MEDICAL COSTS Healthcare is the single most underestimated cost category, according to the EBRI study.

For the record, a healthy 65-year-old couple retiring this year will encounter $280,000 in medical costs through their retirement, according to Fidelity Investments – over and above anything covered by Medicare.

STRATEGY

Guys

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August 2018

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The First Tee of Tennessee bids farewell to Thelma Ewell

By Justin Onslow Tee Times Associate Editor

following eight years.

“One of my first challenges was they directed me to expand the program, to add more locations,” she said. “So we first went with our location, the First Tee of Nashville, the First Tee of Clarksville and the First Tee of Tri-Cities; and then a few years later we expanded to the Middle Tennessee area and we merged with Smyrna. Just this year we became The First Tee of Tennessee where we have all counties in Tennessee except Knox and the surrounding counties because those are under The First Tee of Knoxville.”

Ewell’s successor and current program director for Middle Tennessee, Joshua McDade, has big shoes to fill, though Ewell has been training McDade and knows he’s ready for the challenge of carrying on the momentum she has generated for The First Tee. McDade said Ewell has been a frequent confidant during his time at

After a long and successful career with The First Tee, Thelma Ewell has decided it’s finally time to focus on golf.

Sure, golf has been Ewell’s primary focus as executive director for The First Tee of Tennessee, but in doing such a tremendous job in various roles with The First Tee since 2001 she’s gotten away from the aspect of the game she desperately misses: playing.

“With my work schedule I really don’t have time to play golf much,” Ewell said. “And so that is kind of going to be more the priority and everything else is going to go around it. I’m going to do things that can fit into my playing schedule.”

Ewell took to golf later than most, especially for someone so talented at the game.

She began playing at age 30 and in just a few years started playing the sport competiHer many hours of dedication to First Tee kids cannot be measured these 12 years! tively, spending nearly five years competing in amateur events in Jacksonville The First Tee of Tennessee. on the Players West Tour “Thelma has been an integral part of my and the Futures Tour.

‘Go To Team’ in regards of the golf busiAnd it is to Jacksonville ness,” he said. “One of the true skill sets that Ewell plans to rethat I love about Thelma, is how she can turn soon. She spent 19 see a challenging situation on the horiyears there before moving zon and have a well thought out strategic to Nashville in 2006 to fill plan in place to solve that particular isthe role as The First Tee’s sue before it becomes a huge ordeal. program director for what “She has truly impacted the lives of was then The First Tee of many young men and women that Nashville. Now, she’s movmight have gone down the wrong path ing back to spend more time through her dedication and sincere apwith her family, including her proach for the true essence of youth deson Charles (who goes by his middle name Thomas) and her grandson Elliot.

A special award for a special person, earned through “I come from Guam and in hard work, always for the good of The First Tee of Guam grandparents are very Tennessee’s hundreds of kids. The staffs that worked involved in their children’s with Coach Thelma deserve acknowledgment as well lives,” Ewell said. “And so I’ve missed that. My grandson is seven years old and I really want to go spend time with him. He’s asked me to teach him golf and it’s hard to do that when you’re seeing him once or twice a year, so we plan to get more involved in playing golf and do some other things together.”

But even in retirement, Ewell has more plans than just playing golf and spending time with family. She also loves the real estate business—remodeling and flipping homes in particular. Between renting out and flipping houses and continuing to give golf lessons, post-professional life for Ewell is “retirement” by name only.

It’s a well-earned retirement, though. After moving up from The First Tee instructor in 2001 to a coach in 2004 and program director for Nashville in 2006 (not to mention “Master Coach” status thereafter), Ewell was Coach Thelma is handing over the reins to Coach Joshua McDade, named executive director in 2010 and overThe First Tee of Tennessee’s new Executive Director saw huge growth in the organization in the

Thelma has been a wonderful leader for The First Tee of Tennessee. She always places the children’s interests first and has had the perfect balance between golf and core value teachings. The success that we have seen is directly a result of her leadership. We will indeed miss her and can proudly say she left The First Tee better today than when she first arrived. - Dick Horton, President, Tennessee Golf Foundation

velopment for young people not only in Tennessee, but all over The First Tee network,” McDade continued. “I wish her nothing but the best in her retirement as well as the future endeavors that await her.”

Senior vice president and tournament director for the Tennessee Golf Foundation, Steve Merrill is confident McDade will pick up right where Ewell left off.

“We look forward to having our program director… Joshua McDade move into the executive director role after Thelma’s departure,” Merrill said. “Joshua has been overseeing day-to-day chapter program operations and moving into this executive director role will be a natural next step for him. We are excited to have him be our next chapter leader.”

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www.teetimespaper.com Merrill also recognizes just how much Ewell did to get The First Tee to where it is today.

“Thelma has been a game changer for us,” he said. “Her 12 of leadership has helped us expand our footprint across Tennessee which, in turn, has brought more young people into the program. Her dedication to the participants and their success both in golf and, more importantly, in life, was para-

mount. Thelma has been recognized as a national leader in both coaching and program administration and her expertise has set us up for future success.”

While Ewell is going to miss many things about living in Nashville—The First Tee, her friends, the food—she returns to Jacksonville knowing she and The First Tee have

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done so much to positively impact the lives of so many young people in Tennessee and beyond.

“My favorite thing about First Tee is the impact we have on the kids,” she said. “I leave with a lot of satisfaction on the kids we’ve

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seen, helped them get through high school and college. I know it’s made a difference in children’s lives and there’s a lot of satisfaction in that. It makes me ready to move on to my next chapter” It’s a a chapter that hopefully includes playing a lot more golf.

Parents Brian & Rebecca Christenson chat with Coach Thelma and thank her for their son Blake’s 8 years at the First Tee of Tennessee

(L-R) Steve Merrill has great appreciation for Joshua McDade, incoming Executive Director, The First Tee of Tennessee

Darren Reese, TGA Manager, Marketing & Communications, Chad Anderson, TGA, Executive Director, and Tony Mulvey, Manager, Rules & Competitions

(L-R) Scottie Ryan (VinnyLinks Golf Superintendent). Standing is Cody Gates (ACE Certified participant and Level I First Tee Coach), and Ron Downing (Level II First Tee Coach)

Busy to the last minute leading up to retirement, her desk strewn with notes to do, and her board tacked with First Tee notices of graduations and marriages, and awards, all thanks to Coach Thelma

Blake Christenson - Graduated from Mt. Juliet High School in 2017. He has been with The First Tee of TN for 8 years. He is a second year Architecture student at UT Knoxville. Shown here recently at the Ace Scholarship Dinner with Coach Thelma where he was awarded his Ace and $3,000 in scholarship funds

Lissa Bradford, PGA, Director of Junior Golf, Tennessee Golf Foundation and Whit Turnbow, incoming President of Tennessee Golf Foundation

(L-R) Scott Flynn, PGA, Director of Golf, TGF, Golf House Tennessee, Lissa Bradford, PGA, Director of Junior Golf, TGF, Trevor Spathelf, Associate Director of Competitions, and Valerie Vaughn ,PGA, Assistant Golf Professional at Golf House Tennessee

(L-R): Carol Harris, super First Tee Mom, Kyle Harris, Coach Thelma Ewell, Carey Ray, and Joseph (Joe) Brown. These three young men are a testament to the good work of First Tee Programs. Successful young men who were mentored by Coach Thelma and the other coaches of the First Tee of Tennessee. More than golf taught here!!!!

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August 2018

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Kass Kovalcheck bringing wealth of experience to new position at Vanderbilt Legends Club at the University South Carolina. He also plays regularly in PGA Tennessee Section events, which allows Kovalcheck to see how Legends Club stacks up against other premier facilities in the state.

If you ask Kovalcheck, though, there’s really no competition at all.

“This is a very, very unique facility,” he said. “We’re owned by Vanderbilt University so we’re home to their men’s and women’s teams. We also have a large membership that is made up of all kinds of golfers and we also take care of the little course next door which is an open-to-the-public nine-hole executive course, which is one of the premier junior golf facilities in the country. We have a huge practice facility—probably the busiest in the state.”

Success begets success when one listens to experience, and Kovalcheck has enough experience to know a good thing when he sees it. As head golf professional, he’s in a position to put that experience to work making a good thing great and a great facility even better.

By Justin Onslow Tee Times Associate Editor Kass Kovalcheck has been at Vanderbilt Legends Club long enough to know that sometimes the best approach is the one that already works.

After serving as assistant golf professional at Vanderbilt Legends Club for 13 years, Kovalcheck took over as the club’s head golf professional on June 11th, his ample experience leading the way for what should certainly prove to be a smooth transition and a huge success for the club as a whole. And at the heart of that success will be Kovalcheck’s desire take an already magnificent facility and simply improve on what works.

“All I’d really like to see us do is continue doing a great job of taking care of our members and making sure this runs as a great operation as one of the premier facilities,” Kovalcheck said. “All I’m trying to do is help us get a little bit better.”

If the club gets any better, you’ll have a hard time finding a better facility in the state of Tennessee.

A private club that boasts 36 holes, an executive nine-hole course open to the public, incredible dining and entertainment facilities and a well-stocked pro shop, Legends Club is as much an experience as it is a golf facility. That fact isn’t lost on Kovalcheck, who believes the club’s members are as passionate about golf as any.

“Our membership is very passionate about golf so they’re always playing,” he said. “If you’re a golf nerd this is an awesome place to be. You can hit every shot, you can hit every club you can think of and you can pretty much do it all.”

Kovalcheck knows well what an awesome golf facility looks like. The Nashville native has been golfing since he was a teenager and has spent time at several golf courses through the years, including Harpeth Hills and the Golf Club of Tennessee in his formative years and multiple other facilities while in college

Aces

Roger Thackston (R) aced Lake Tansi Resort’s No.15 with a #9 hybrid from 155 yards. Julius Jackson witnessed this feat.

Congrats to Perrion Gordon on his recent Ace at Riverside G.C, Old Hickory ,TN using a pitching wedge on the Par 3, No. 14, from 115 yards. Witnessed by: Richard Key Tonya Burrow aced the No. 1 hole on the Executive Course from a 120 yards. Her delighted witness was Jason Gregory.

Congratulations Tonya!

August 2018

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“Best Course You Can Play” - GolfWeek

TEE UP

YOUR NEXT EVENT. Golf Outings • Social Events • Weddings • Complimentary Parking • Corporate Events Retreats & Team Building

For more information or to book a tee time: GaylordSprings.com

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August 2018

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Equipment Corner GolfLogix Putt Breaks app GolfLogix, the most downloaded app in golf, is introducing its innovative Putt Breaks feature, bringing an entirely new level of advanced 3D mapping that allows golfers to see exactly how their putts will break. With Putt Breaks, GolfLogix continues to change the way amateur golfers play golf. With one touch, Putt Breaks instantly provides a precise green read in full-color 3D, with detailed maps that auto-orient based on the golfer’s position.

Putt Breaks gives users a bird’s-eye view of the green’s contours with the ability to zoom and pan to better understand the green. Golfers can easily plan their approach, chart out chip shots, and determine how their putts will break on every green at more than 8,000 courses and counting. For more info visit our website: www.golflogix.com.

Size Matters Sun Mountain is rolling out a new collection of Pathfinder golf push carts that fold smaller than the company’s flagship Speed Cart.

Pathfinder carts are now in stores at $199.99 for Pathfinder 3 and $209.99 for Pathfinder 4.

The three-wheeled Pathfinder 3 folded dimensions are 29 x 13 x 17 and it weighs 16 pounds. Pathfinder 4 has four wheels, folds to 26 x 16 x 14 and weighs 17 pounds Opening the Pathfinder is a very simple process with just one latch to open. Pathfinder has also been designed so the golf bag sits more upright, for easier club removal. Pathfinder comes with bungee cords to secure the golf bag; an adjustable upper bag bracket that accommodates a wide array of golf bag sizes and shapes (including stand bags); a full-featured console tray; and a lined rangefinder bag that comes standard with the cart. Pathfinder 3 and Pathfinder 4 are available in eight different color combinations.

Sun Mountain also offers an ever-expanding collection of golf push cart accessories including: cooler bag, water bottle holder, cigar holder, adjustable umbrella

holder, travel case, and more. Sun Mountain will continue to offer the Speed Cart and the Pathfinder 4 will replace the MicroCart GT. For 30 years Sun Mountain has been a pioneer in the golf industry, revolutionizing golf bags, golf outerwear and golf carts. Sun Mountain’s many innovations, including the first lightweight golf bag and modern stand bag, have made it the top golf bag company in North America. Within golf outerwear, Sun Mountain redefined golfspecific performance first with the windshirt, then fleece, and again with its fourway stretch, waterproof and breathable rainwear.

The Sun Mountain Speed Cart® golf push cart transformed walking carts and created an entirely new category of golf products. Sun Mountain’s “Ahead of Time Design” motto drives the company to continually design and refine golf equipment. For the Sun Mountain retailer nearest you call 800-227-9224 or visit www.sunmountain.com.

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August 2018

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Tennessee Golf Trail earns award, other news T

here has been a lot happening on the Tennessee Golf Trail this summer and we hope some of it has included the readers of Tee Times.

Our TGT Junior Golf Championships are underway and we will have the finals at Montgomery Bell Golf Course on Sept. 22. I hope you have qualified and look forward to seeing you there. There are still a few qualifiers available at some of our courses. Remember, there are two divisions for both boys and girls in the 14-17 and 13-under categories.

On a very nice note, the Tennessee Golf Trail and Tennessee State

Paris Landing State Golf Course, Boys 14-17 Billy Atkins (2nd), Kamaren Cunningham (1st), John Stinson (3rd)

Alex Fansler (3rd), Colin Smith (1st), Garrett Maria (2nd)

Parks will be the recipient of an award from the Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Forum.

We were nominated by Tennessee Clean Fuels for our conversion of 425 gasoline powered golf carts to electric golf carts over the past couple of years. For us, it is not only the environmental aspect of the transition but it is a wonderful benefit to our guests and our wildlife. Most noise reduction on a golf course is a good thing.

Aerification. There, I said it. Don’t we all hate it! The necessary evil of the golf business seems like a disease but in fact is the life’s blood of being able to have good, healthy, and vibrant greens 50 weeks out of the year. Golf courses in general are living, breathing entities and we must properly maintain them or they will slowly, or quickly in some cases, lose their life— and our ability to enjoy them.

We are always

trying to find ways to improve our agronomical practices to not only be diligent about the care of our courses but to also eliminate down time for our guests.

We are always in the process of reviewing all of our practices at each of our courses to try to do things better.

Paul Carter, our Director of Agronomy for all of the Tennessee Golf Trail and the head superintendent at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay in Chattanooga, said his crews are trying to condense the needed maintenance.

“We are allowing more time during the short summer closure of our ultradwarf bermuda grass courses to perform all of our required cultural practices at one time and to be able to perform them with greater care and accuracy, so when we open back up to the public the greens play better and will recover faster,” Carter said. “We will be changing our routine practices such as vertical mowing and topdressing as to not affect the playing surfaces as much as we have in the past so our guests will have smoother and more consistent greens each time they visit our courses.”

All this is to say that we are trying our best all of the time to Paris Landing GC Girls 14-17 make your time spent on one Raven Page (1st), Norah Bass (2nd) of our courses a memorable

experience—in a good way. As always, we appreciate your patronage of the Tennessee Golf Trail and we hope to see all of you very soon.

- Mike

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Forgotten Greats: Bobby Locke, the best putter ever

By Grayson Kirkham Tee Times Correspondent “Drive for show, putt for dough.”

Many golfers are familiar with the saying, but very few actually know where it comes from.

The World Golf Hall of Famer who coined the phrase understood its truth more than perhaps anyone before or since. His name was Bobby Locke, and he was the greatest putter in history.

Arthur D’Arcy Locke, born in 1917, was the first in a long line of great golfers from South Africa (Gary Player, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Louis Oosthuizen, and Charl Schwartzel would excel later on). The nickname, “Bobby,”came from Locke’s admiration for Bobby Jones, the American golfing legend Locke admired in his youth. For Locke, golf came quite naturally and he demonstrated this by winning the South African Open in 1935 at the age of 18.

While he won a great deal of other local tournaments over the next few years, it wasn’t until a meeting with golfing great Walter Hagen that Locke’s game really began to flourish. During Hagen’s South African tour, Locke picked up on the veteran’s method of “hooking” putts, which imparted a large amount of topspin on the ball and allowed it to glide more easily over imperfect putting greens. This was accomplished by setting up to the ball with a closed stance (right foot pulled behind the left for a right-handed golfer) and taking the putter well to the inside on the backstroke. During the backstroke, the face of the putter remains square to the target, rather than opening and closing. Lastly, on the forward stroke, the putter head swings back on the target line and crashes into the ball with al-

Locke greets fans shortly after winning his third Claret Jug

still stands today). Many American golfers began to resent Locke’s success in the states. He was eventually banned from the tour due to conflicts regarding his playing commitments (according to PGA Tour officials). This was seen as a coverup. More than likely, he was kicked out for being too good.

The ban didn’t bother Bobby too much, since he preferred playing closer to home anyway. His greatest successes came at the Open Championship, aka the British Open, where he won on four occasions from 1949 to 1957. At the links style courses of Great Britain, where the tournament

Locke and his most no follow through. Locke took this puthickory shafted ting technique and ran with it, eventually putter prepare mastering it even better than Hagen. for action In 1946, after years of dominating South African golf, Locke played a series of matches with Sam Snead, who was the current British Open champion and one of the most popular golfers of all time. On his home turf, Locke dominated Snead, winning 12 of 16 matches against the legend (two matches were a tie). When the exhibition concluded in early 1947, Snead encouraged Locke to try his hand at the U.S. PGA Tour. Locke listened.

Beginning in 1947, Locke won 11 times on the PGA Tour in the span of just two and a half years. Locke’s pace of play was unbearably slow, but his ability to make putts was unmatched.

His most memorable triumph in the U.S. came at the 1948 Chicago Victory National, where he won by a whopping 16 strokes (a record which

is played, Locke made great use of his ability to play in the wind. Much like his putting stroke, Locke liked to “hook” shots with his full swing.

He started the golf ball a long way to the right and curved it back to the fairway, never allowing the ball to get high enough to be greatly affected by the wind. But he gave the ball more than enough topspin to roll a fair distance down the fairway. His final victory at the Open in ’57 came at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, the most hallowed ground in golf. He was 39 years old.

Two years later, Locke was injured in a serious car wreck. Shortly after, he began experiencing severe migraines and vision problems that would continue to plague him the rest of his life.

His form began to slip and he never played the caliber of golf he’d grown accustomed to ever again.

Bobby Locke was no doubt an outsider. He seemed to be respected, despised, and envied all at the same time. If he hadn’t been banned following his epic streak of play in the U.S., he may have had a legendary season to rival the likes of Nelson, Hogan, and Snead. Instead, he was snubbed by the PGA Tour and he journeyed back to his homeland. When the ban was lifted a few years later, Locke opted out of returning to the states. He was more comfortable playing where he was appreciated. I don’t blame him.

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Kok making a habit of qualifying for PGA Championship

By Gregg Dewalt Tee Times Editor Johan Kok was ecstatic to return to the PGA Championship earlier this month, creaky back and all.

Given that he didn’t play well and missed the cut at the FedEx St. Jude Classic ahead of PGA Professional Championship where the top club pros compete for berths into the season’s fourth major, Kok was pleasantly surprised to play his way back into the PGA Championship field for the fourth time since 2014.

“Playing in the PGA is always my top goal for the year,” the 38-year-old Kok said before heading to Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. “Coming off a bad week in Memphis, I think it was more of a surprise than excitement to get back in the PGA.” Kok rebounded from the disappointment of the FedEx St. Jude missed cut by playing his way into contention at the PGA Professional Championship in Seaside, California. He went into the final round with a shot at the win, but settled for a tie for sixth after finishing at evenpar 288.

Kok was in third place heading into the final round, moved into first place on the front nine and then bemoaned a missed opportunity to win. A pair of three-putts on Nos. 8-9 did him in.

“At that point your mind shifts to just making sure you qualify,” he said.

Kok said he enjoyed playing the Bayonet and Black Horse courses in Seaside on the Monterey Peninsula.

“They are great golf courses,” he said.

“The weather was cold and windy that week, and I think that benefited me – it’s just a grinder’s golf course.”

Settling for a berth in the PGA Championship isn’t bad, said Kok, who is the general manager for Discovery Land Company in Arrington.

“I’d like to win that tournament one day,” he said. “I seem to always come close.”

As he has gotten older, Kok said it has become more difficult to maintain a high level of play.

“There’s no question it has become harder than it used to be,” he said. “I used to know if I was playing good I’d qualify.

Now, I have to balance the mental and physical aspects of it, so it’s harder.”

Kok said he has tremendous appreciation for his fellow competitors who are playing well into their senior years.

“I have so much respect for those guys like Loren Personett, Audie Johnson and Walt Chapman – those guys are so good and they are already in their senior age.

Hopefully, I can do that but I’m not sure

my back will let me play much golf later on.”

Kok followed up his qualifying performance with a dominant effort in winning the Tennessee PGA Professional Open with a 16-under-par showing at Holston Hills in Knoxville. That was good enough for a four-shot win.

“I played really well at Holston Hills, and that tells me my body was feeling OK and I just kind of let it go. I was fortunate to shoot some good numbers, which was nice to see,” he said. “I hope to take some of that to Bellerive and just grind it out.”

Kok took a trip to Bellerive to scout out the course and liked what he found.

“I don’t want to say it’s my favorite, but I think the golf course suits me the best of any of the golf courses I have played yet in the majors,” he said.

Kok said he shot a pair of 71s in his two pre-tournament practice rounds.

“That tells me it kind of suits my game,” he said. “I’m not sure I broke 80 the first time I played Valhalla and Whistling Straits.”

Kok missed the cut at the 2017 PGA Professional Championship by one shot in his first tournament back after labrum surgery, so he was pleased to be able to return to play in another major championship.

Coming off his performance in the Tennessee Open and a new outlook, Kok was excited to again test his game against the best players in the world.

“Hopefully, the combination of rest and kind of letting it go a little bit , maybe I have it figured out,” he said.

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Perry wins 3M Championship Tee Times report Kenny Perry is back in the winner’s circle, capturing the 3M Championship.

Perry’s three-day 21-under par total was three shots clear of Wes Short, Jr. Perry joins Hale Irwin as the only three-time winner of the tournament and comes just five days shy of his 58th birthday, making him the oldest winner in the 26-year history of the 3M Championship.

Perry’s 12-under second round also tied the tournament record low of 60 set by Paul Goydos in 2017, who also went on to a win.

Tom Lehman, who grew up in Alexandria, Minnesota, went to college at the University of Minnesota, and co-designed the TPC Twin Cities with Arnold Palmer, finished tied for tenth.

The team of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino, captained

by Jerry Pate, won this year’s PostIt® Products Greats of Golf Challenge. The tournament within the 3M Championship celebrated its 15th year as an 18-hole scramble format featuring professional golf legends from the PGA and LPGA TOURS. They delighted the crowds on Saturday and signed autographs for fans young and young at heart. Player even told a couple of young fans to “drop and give me 10” push-ups, with Player leading the way.

The 3M Championship will donate $1.3 million in support of healthcare programs at Allina Health and has donated over $26 million to charity since 1993.

Photo courtesy: 3M Championship

Photo Credit: @Chas Anderson Photography

Kenny Perry

L I F E MOVES PRE T T Y FAST Make time to drive one down the fairway at one of our 140 courses, designed — and played — by some of the biggest names in golf. Don’t miss out on your next adventure in Mississippi.

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M O S S Y O A K G O L F C L U B - W E S T P O I N T, M I S S I S S I P P I

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Robertson County GA starts junior program Tee Times Report The Robertson County Golf Association was formed to grow the game with juniors in Robertson and surrounding counties. We want to have as many juniors that want to learn the game go through the program and become life-

long golfers. Hopefully, most will continue to play and improve and play on the local middle school and high school teams.

A total of 18 juniors signed up for the program that included three weeks of junior golf clinics in June. We then played golf on Tuesday afternoons for five weeks in July. The program was free to all of the juniors due to a growth of the game grant from the Tennessee PGA. The program was very successful and we are looking to do something this fall for the juniors.

(L-R) Christian Spicer, Assistant Golf Professional, Isabell, Wesley, Carson, Dawson, Justin, Katya, Andre and Director of Golf, Kevin Holler.

The 1-Iron: A tool of the past

By Grayson Kirkham Tee Times Correspondent

Over the years, the 1-iron has been known as the toughest golf club to hit.

Nowadays, it’s more often referred to as the least likely club to be found in a golfer’s bag.

Full of pride is the golfer who’s good enough to hit the club. In fact, World Golf Hall of Fame member Lee Trevino said, “Not even God can hit a 1-iron.”

The club is long, comes with a very small club face, and possesses less loft than any other iron made. However, with modern technology, forgivable hybrids and fairway woods have deemed 1-irons obsolete. Does that mean golfers of to-

The iconic image of Hogan at Merion

day just aren’t good enough to hit it? I don’t think so. They’re just a bit spoiled.

Some of the greatest moments in golfing history came courtesy of these impossible-to-hit (for most) clubs. In 1950, Ben Hogan was immortalized in the most famous golf photograph of all time, while hitting a 1-iron. The legendary golfer had only recently started playing competitively again, having suffered a near-fatal car wreck the previous year. On the 72nd hole of the ’50 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, Hogan needed a par 4 to secure his spot in a playoff. From the fairway, with well over 200 yards left to the pin, Hogan took out the “1” and knocked the ball to the center of the green. A photographer close-by got a front row seat and

captured the perfectly balanced followthrough of the Hawk, while he stared down his target. Hogan two-putted for par and a spot in the playoff with Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio. In case you didn’t know, the Hawk won.

Another memorable 1-iron moment came in 1972, also at the U.S. Open. But this time, it was at Pebble Beach. And the shot wasn’t hit by a Hawk, but by a Bear.

A Golden Bear to be exact. Jack Nicklaus, the greatest champion the game had ever seen, stood on the 17th tee of the final round with a three-shot advantage. The tough par-3 positioned toward the rocky shoreline, measured 218 yards. Its difficulty was even more amplified by the high wind conditions of that day. However, Nicklaus was not afraid. He pulled out the “butter knife” iron and hit a towering right-to-left shot. The ball took one bounce on the green, hit the flagstick, and settled next to the hole within tap-in birdie range. The Golden Bear played the final hole safely and cruised to a threeshot victory.

While use of the 1-iron is uncommon among tour pros today, there are some who still find the club useful. Jason Day, one of the most popular and consistent players of the last decade, has been known to carry one in the bag from time to time. Day, who has said in the past that he struggles off the tee with his 3-wood, thinks his 1-iron is easier to control.

That 120-mph clubhead speed must be the trick, because most golfers would disagree.

Nicklaus in his trademark Sunday yellow at Pebble Beach

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Lanning repeats as Stones River club champion Tee Times Report Chris Lanning rode an opening-round 69 on the way to a wire-to-wire victory in the Stones River Country Club club championship tournament.

Lanning overcame weather delays and wet playing conditions to finish with a 54-hole total of 213, including 73 in the final round. It was his second straight club championship victory.

(L-R) Jeff Hess - 1st Flt , Ben Leyhew - 4th Flt, Chris Lanning - Championship Flt, Mike Summers - 5th. Flt, Brother Lanning led by four shots over three McCullough - 2nd Flt, Mark Follis - 3rd. Flt (not pictured) players after the first round and then held off James Brannen in the final round.

Brannen closed with a 69, the best round of the day, to finish second at 220.

In the First Flight, Jeff Hess built a five-shot lead after two rounds and finished at 227 to win by one shot over Gary Barton, who shot 75 in the final round Brother McCullough shot 73, the low round in the Second Flight, and finished at 230 to capture first place, edging Clay Faulkner and Dwight Robinson by one shot.

Mark Follis carded a 54-hole total of 231 to win the Third Flight in wire-to-wire fashion. Chad Hickey closed with back-to-back rounds of 76 to fall one shot short of Folis.

Ben Leyhew also became a repeat champion after his 250 total was enough to take the Fourth Flight. James Adcock finished second.

Mike Summers posted a flight best 82 to become the Fifth Flight champion. Robert Whitaker was second.

Championship Flight

1 Chris Lanning 2 James Brannen 3 Lance Strawn

First Flight

1 Jeff Hess 2 Gary Barton 3 Michael Osborne

69 71 73 213 75 76 69 220 73 78 71 222 72 74 81 227 74 79 75 228 78 73 79 230

Second Flight

1 Brother McCullough 80 77 73 230 T2 Clay Faulkner 77 75 79 231 T2 Dwight Robinson 74 78 79 231

Third Flight 1 2 3

Mark Follis Chad Hickey Stuart Fowler

Fourth Flight 1 2 T3 T3

Ben Leyhew James Adcock John Diliberti John Santamour

Fifth Flight 1 2 3

Mike Summers Robert Whitaker Jason Baxter

75 78 78 231 80 76 76 232 80 91 81 252 75 88 91 89

91 81 79 90

84 86 88 79

250 255 258 258

85 91 82 258 87 87 87 261 84 95 84 263

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Train Your Brain

By Buddy Harston

Head Golf Instructor Vanderbilt Legends Club

One of my favorite Mental Game Rules them” or “why did it have to rain today when I states: Know that nothing will bother or up- had a one-stroke lead,” then you’re in trouble. set you on the course, and you will be in a Finally, I believe the biggest distraction, great state of mind for every shot. that one thing that can bother us the most, is Of course, this rule is easier said than done, our score. Whether it is a high score on one but if you set your mind to this task before hole or a few too many bogeys that add up to you step onto the course it will certainly help being out of your comfort zone, our score can when things begin to go downhill. certainly mess with our minds.

What are some things we need to be preConversely, what about the time when you pared for? One thing that might bother us could be our fellow competitors. Am I paired with someone who plays too slow or talks too much? Or maybe they play too fast or never talks at all?

How about the weather? In this game you will have to play sometimes when it’s 95 degrees with 90-percent humidity, so you better be prepared both physically and mentally for the heat. Conversely, someday you will have to play when it’s cold, Let your mind take you to your “Happy Place” windy and rainy, so again prepare yourself.

When you notice your mind is getting a birdie the first few holes and get off little frustrated because your body is hot to a tremendous start? This too can have us and sweaty or it’s so cold you can’t feel your worrying about keeping it together and not hands, a little trick is to go to your “happy blowing it and can certainly begin to bother place.” Let your mind drift to that place where and upset us. We play our best golf when our you always feel good. It might be the beach, minds are calm and not too concerned about your grandmother’s house or your bedroom anything. Having a mind that “rolls with the listening to your favorite music. You can go punches” instead of fighting back and resistthere in your mind whenever you want. ing the ups and downs of golf is a must if you But if you start to tell yourself, “I can’t stand want to play your best. this person, why do I have to be paired with

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