The newly-opened Sweetens Cove Golf Course is located near South Pittsburg, Tenn.
Tad King, left, and Rob Collins visit the newly-opened Sweetens Cove Golf Course near South Pittsburg, Tenn. Their company, Collins-King Golf Design, reshaped the nine-hole course, formerly known as the Sequatchie Valley Golf Course.A few signs along Interstate 24 and Highway 72 in Marion County need to be updated.
The placards that direct folks to the Sequatchie Valley Golf Course are outdated. They need to be replaced with directions to Sweetens Cove Golf Club.
The changes made by the Marion County Public Works Department would be much easier than the changes made to the course by designer Rob Collins and architect Tad King. They transformed the former pasture into one of the best nine-hole golf courses not only in the South, but in all of America.
"I think it's the best nine-hole course built in the last 40 years," said Anthony Pioppi, author of "To the Nines," which is a study of nine-hole golf courses released in 2006.
"The most famous nine-hole course is The Dunes Club (in New Buffalo, Mich.), which is private," Pioppi said. "Sweetens Cove is a better golf course than the Dunes Club.
"I"m re-releasing my book just to include a chapter on Sweetens Cove."
Why? Is the course that nice? Is it that special? Is it playable for everybody? Does it measure up to the great courses in the state, in the South, in America?
Yup, yeah, yes and oh, sweet.
"After playing Sweetens Cove last week, I'm seriously considering that, should I reprise that ranking someday soon, it might very well challenge The Dunes Club for the No. 1 ranking," Ron Whitten, Golf Digest's senior editor of architecture wrote in an email. "Without question, Sweetens Cove is already one of the top 10 nine-hole courses in America."
That's high praise from high places.
"All that Sweetens Cove needs is a bit more maturation of its turfgrass so that it truly plays firm and fast on, and from, the fairways," Whitten wrote. "The bunkering at Sweetens Cove is superb, both in adding beauty to each hole and in posing strategies and shot options. The greens are big and bold, which make the holes extremely fun to play."
It hasn't been easy getting to opening day. The partners in the Chattanooga-based King-Collins Golf Course Design Company started the renovation in 2011.
"It's been a huge labor of love," Collins said. "Outside of my family, this has been my life. Tad and I have probably combined to spend more than 1,000 days out here."
The project almost died and the golf course just grew weeds. Then Ari Techner, founder of Scratch Golf -- a golf-club company once based in Chattanooga -- decided to partner with Collins and resurrect the project.
They signed an 80-year lease to care for the course and be the real-life business card of King-Collins Golf.
"I told the owner (of the property) that my goal was to not only build the best nine holes in Tennessee," Collins said, "but to build them as good as any nine holes in the country."
The early reviews suggest that Collins accomplished his goal. In addition, Sweetens Cove will be the home course for the Marion County and South Pittsburg high school teams.
"I can't tell you how thrilled I am," Marion coach Jeff Howard said. "That's where I played my whole life. It was functional for golf but not among the great places in our Chattanooga area.
"We'll have one of the nicest places around. I'm ready for next season to start right now."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP