This inner-city Tennessee municipal golf course is re-opening on Aug. 1 (and focusing on younger players)

The project was described as “building a new course on top of an existing one.”

The Links at Audubon Golf Course is set to reopen for the public on Aug. 1, marking a significant milestone for the Memphis golf community.

Monday’s media preview featured notable speakers, including Mayor Paul Young, Memphis Parks director Nick Walker, renowned golf course architect Bill Bergin, and PGA course professional Bruno Strzalka.

Young emphasized the course’s role in fostering youth engagement in golf, pointing to the collaboration between Audubon and First Tee of West Tennessee, a youth golf advocacy organization, and his projection of over 40,000 rounds to be played on the new course within the next 11 months. He also announced that the new clubhouse, which will replace the temporary one, will be the home base for First Tee after renovations are completed.

Children from First Tee, alongside Young, concluded the event, teeing off the driving range for the first official shots on the renovated course.

Bergin described the construction as “building a new course on top of an existing one.” He emphasized Audubon as the desired and best location for University of Memphis golf teams to practice because of its central location to campus and the relative difficulty of the course.

Photos from media preview event of the re-opening of The Links at Audubon Golf Course. Mayor Paul Young and Memphis Parks Director Nick Walker, amongst others, tested the new putting grounds, hit the first official tee shots, and unveiled the course partnership with First Tee of West Tennessee. (Photo: Josh Crawford/USA Today Network)

Audubon’s embedded beauty, with its rolling hills and natural tree line, was a challenge to maintain while simultaneously ensuring the course was as playable and beginner-friendly as possible, according to Bergin.

The first hole, with its quarters stretched, is now a combination of the previous first two holes and encourages golfers to be less timid on their drives on the opening hole, exemplifying this balance. A new six-hole course is designed for beginners, providing an ideal space to learn and practice.

“People coming back to the course will get a hint of familiarity,” Bergin said. “But they will walk away saying, ‘This is a completely new course.’ ”

According to Audubon’s website, green fees are $35 on weekdays and $45 Friday through Sunday.

You can reach writer Josh Crawford via email @joshua.crawford@commercialappeal.com or via X @JCrawford5656

This Tennessee city honored one of its golf legends by naming new clubhouse for him

Former PGA Tour pro Loren Roberts was among those on hand to honor Hudson.

Golfers and non-golfers streamed into the newly opened clubhouse Saturday morning at the Links at Pine Hill Golf Course in South Memphis on a historic day. It was the dedication of the Cleophus and Charles Hudson Clubhouse, named after towering figures in the Black golf community of Memphis.

Outside the clubhouse, dozens of golfers prepared for a 9-hole scramble on a course, also recently renovated, to draw more attention to the historic naming of the clubhouse and to raise money in what was billed as “Charles Hudson Day.”

Charles Hudson, who started playing at Pine Hill and played golf on a scholarship at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the first Black golf pro at Pine Hill. His father, the late Cleophus Hudson Sr., was a caddy at Memphis Country Club and, after serving in the Navy, he returned home and got hooked on golf. In 1962, Cleophus Sr. made history as the firm minority golfer to tee off at the newly desegregated Pine Hill Golf Course, a moment captured by photographer Ernest Withers and featured in the Tri State Defender newspaper.

More: Out of Bounds: The history of African Americans and golf in Memphis explained

Surveying the crowded clubhouse room, Charles Hudson said the outpouring of support and the naming of the clubhouse underscores his family’s “accomplishments and that we made a difference in the community.”

Hudson pointed to the legacy of his community involvement when Memphis professional golfer J.P. Thornton walked by him in the clubhouse. “There’s a whole lot of history in this room,” Hudson noted. Thornton, who plays professionally, got his start on the Links at Pine Hill working with Hudson before attending Texas Southern University on a golf scholarship. He is now playing professionally.

Loren Roberts, the former PGA Tour pro and board member at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, played in Saturday’s Pine Hill scramble. He noted he had played Pine Hill before the recent course renovations and that the new course is a stern golf test as well as a community asset in the heart of South Memphis. He joked that he didn’t know how much “average golfers” would like Pine Hill.

Golf carts can be seen in front of the golf course after a ceremony took place for the new clubhouse being named after pro golfer Charles Hudson on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at Pine Hill Golf Course in Memphis, Tenn. (Photo: Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal)

“Having a great place to go play and have lunch and be with friends and have a driving range here is great for the city,” Roberts said. “(Until the renovation) Pine Hill never had a driving range, and that’s where you want kids to get out there hitting balls and learning the game.”

He added that Mickey Barker, the city of Memphis golf director, had done a great job of building out youth programs at the city’s municipal courses, including Audubon, Whitehaven and Pine Hill. Roberts said he’s traveled throughout the United States and the Memphis golf program stands out for the way it gets kids involved. “I don’t know of another city that has a program where kids under 16 can play for free,” he added.

On the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Roberts said city leaders need to continue to promote the tournament that starts the FedExCup Playoffs. “We have the biggest sponsor on the tour, FedEx, and we get to see all 70 golfers all four days because we don’t have a cut,” Roberts said. “We need to continue to promote this community asset.” The FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind is Aug. 15-18.

The clubhouse program included remarks by Memphis Council members Jana Swearengen-Washington, other dignitaries and, of course, honoree Charles Hudson.

Mark Russell is executive editor of The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at 901/288-4509 or mark.russell@commercial.appeal.com

Sweetens Cove, the top public course in Tennessee, to close all summer

Sweetens Cove vows to rebound after harsh winter caused sub-standard conditions.

Sweetens Cove, Golfweek’s No. 1-rated public-access golf course in Tennessee, announced Sunday it will be closed all of June, July and August this year.

In a social media post announcing the move Sunday, the course owners explained how the harsh winter included snow, ice and a nearly two-week stretch of freezing temperatures that damaged turf on the course in South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

Their attemped defensive measures to save the dormant Bermuda grass were unsuccessful as it “hit us harder than we could have ever imagined.” Instead of remaining open with sub-standard conditions, the owners made the tough – and expensive – decision to shut it down this summer to focus on returning the nine-hole layout to excellent conditions.

The rural Sweetens Cove has become almost a pilgrimage for many golfers who seek a perfect vibe as well as interesting architecture, and the course has in recent years sold all-day passes that allow players to kick back on the club’s heckle deck before venturing out for more golf.

Besides being ranked No. 1 in Tennessee on Golfweek’s Best list of top courses in each state, the layout is No. 32 on the list of top public-access courses in the country and No. 84 on the list of all modern courses built since 1960 in the U.S. The layout was designed by Tad King and Rob Collins and opened in 2015. The course’s ownership group includes Collins, Tom Nolan, Andy Roddick, Peyton Manning and Skip Bronson.

Collins confirmed the news in a text to Golfweek in which he promised, “We’ll be back better than ever in September!”

The operators’ tweet continued:

“Saying that, is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to shut down the golf course to re-grass everything that Mother Nature took from us. We will be shutting down effective May 27 to August 31 and reopening on Sept. 1.”

Sweetens Cove will give anyone who has booked a pass during the closure first dibs – including a 25-percent discount – for a 2025 pass.

The announcement ended with:

“Please be patient with us as we will work to get you taken care of as soon as possible so pour out a little bourbon with us and toast the future of what will be amazing conditions going forward.

“To new friends. Old friends. And a day a Sweetens.”