Robservations: I (We) need a local golf course
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Monday afternoon, I got a little taste while watching a field of over 132 hit the McMinnville Country Club wide open for the Motlow College Foundation scramble.
I didn’t get to play in the event, which was a good thing for whoever my teammates would’ve been, but being out on the course gave me a hankerin’ to do some hackin’, if you will.
So Wednesday, along with Southern Standard news scribe Duane “I’ll putt from 150 yards” Sherrill and the brothers Bernhardt, I tackled the Smithville Golf Club for a nine-hole scramble, then took off on my own for 18 more.
Having seen all those shots Monday, then taking even more Wednesday, I’m convinced of one thing.
While we may have nice shopping, great ballparks and other fun places to drag the kiddies on a Saturday afternoon, there’s one thing we’re desperately missing — a public golf course.
This town needs a nine- or 18-hole track like the desert needs rain.
Don’t get me wrong, there is quality golf within reach of every duffer in Warren County.
We’ve got the McMinnville Country Club, a pretty, well-kept course that is pretty challenging for your average Joe. But, unfortunately, most of the “twice-a-month” hackers like myself aren’t really in that league — either with our checkbooks or our golf games.
Then there’s Willowbrook, another good-looking track that is open to the public, but is a fairly good drive from town. Plus, being situated within driving range (no pun intended) of both Warren and Coffee County players, it can get a bit crowded.
That’s of course a plus for the course’s owners, but a hindrance to some of us mediocre duffers. If you’re going to play a round there on a Saturday, you’ve got to get a tee time, and you’d better bring lunch money, because you’re going to be there a while.
Of course, there’s the aforementioned Smithville, which isn’t as difficult as the club or Willowbrook (a fact emphasized by my breaking 100 there Wednesday), and usually isn’t that crowded. But it’s still a 20- or 30-minute drive for most of us, and if you get there on a busy day, you can spend more time waiting between shots than you’d really like. Standing behind the ball for 15 minutes, waiting to hit a 75-yard worm-burner, can get really old really fast.
Now it’s by no means a logistical nightmare to gather a friend or three and head out to any of these courses — or any of the other tracks in neighboring counties, for that matter.
But imagine how nice it would be to be sitting in your office (or my office, let’s say) at 4 p.m. on a Thursday, and say to yourself, “I believe I’ll pop over to the course for a quick nine before supper.” Or wake up one morning and think “It’s a nice day, maybe I’ll call Nunley and we’ll blow off work for a few hours and shoot 18.”
I only wish I was playing (or attempting to play, to be realistic) the game back in the days of that old course at Newtown, or even back when there was a course where the Civic Center stands today. Those must have been great times.
So I put it to you, gentle reader, to help me — and those like me — enjoy the game from a bit closer to home.
Somebody out there loves golf, and has some land. Somebody else out there loves golf even more, and has some cash. Let’s get these two together.
Or, if that doesn’t work, all you lovely “Robservations” readers could get together and pay my way into the country club.
(Of course, if my “Best of the Best” tallies are accurate, I doubt I could pool together enough dough for a decent round of putt-putt.)