Golf News
November in Tennessee is one of the prettiest times of the year, and it's a great time to play golf. This year was warmer than usual, which kept the course green a little longer. We hosted our final major of the year after the original Midway Member Member was forced to be rescheduled due to Hurricane Helene. The long, hard-fought battle was ultimately won by Eric Hoffman and Anthony Moore, who parred every hole during the alternate shot shootout. This year, we decided to raise the excitement level of the shootout by starting all 14 teams together on hole #14. Incredibly, all 14 tee shots found dry land, and by the end of the hole, we had a 7-way chip-off. Chip-offs were required on holes #15 and #17, which eventually would put Eric Hoffman/Anthony Moore up against Wyatt England/Taylor Groth for the championship. Both teams found tree trouble off the tee, but a perfectly played bump-and-run second shot by team Hoffman/Moore put their ball only 20 feet away from the hole, allowing them to two-putt their way to victory. Well played gentlemen!
November also saw the return of the Battle of Williamson County which is an interclub match between BCC and Temple Hills. In 2023, several of our members decided to join Temple Hills while BCC was under construction. During that time, a relationship sparked, bringing forth the idea of an interclub match between team BCC and team TH. Last year, BCC won the event hosted at Temple Hills in dominating fashion. This year, team TH was out for revenge and revenge they got. They built a massive lead after the first round of matches, which proved to be insurmountable even after a strong comeback effort by team BCC. We look forward to the rubber match next year.
Now that we are finished with the first round of holidays, we turn our eyes towards Christmas. The Golf Shop will be hosting its annual holiday sale, and this year, we are featuring our "12 Days of Christmas" theme starting on December 3rd, where each day will highlight a different category of items that will be slashed in price. Be sure to stop by and take advantage of these great savings.
The Golf Shop is already putting together the tournament calendar for 2025, so be on the lookout for that coming soon. From all of us in the Golf Shop, we would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Tommy Baxter Head Golf Professional
Coach’s Corner
Part 2 – Up to Par, Inaugural Junior Member-Guest, and Fall Clinics
The future of golf begins with the junior golfers at BCC! In 2024, we took a big step for our young golfers, by introducing a new player development program, called Up to Par. The program is designed to develop golfers for life and provide an objective curriculum that will replace the prior Certified Junior program. The BCC Junior Golf roadmap begins with full-week camps as an introduction to the game in a group learning environment, then progresses to Spring and Fall clinics for more consistent practice time and development of skills, followed by the PGA Junior League program, allowing for more playing opportunities and competitive golf experience in a low-stress environment. As each junior develops a greater passion and understanding of the game, Up to Par is the next step in the learning and developmental process.
Up to Par is based on playing golf and learning how to score. Each participant starts 50 yards from the green, with the goal of shooting 36 or better for nine (9) holes Once the student passes the 50-yard assessment, he or she moves back to 100 yards, then 150, 200, with the final assessment at the new Hayes (teal) tees, which is a great tee for our more advanced junior golfers. For the first year of this new program, Up to Par was integrated into the 2024 PGA Junior League. Three assessment dates were offered to the more experienced Travel Team, and the Instructional League participants had two opportunities to go through the assessment It was a pleasure to watch the juniors competing against the course during the assessments, and it introduced a new dynamic of the game many of the players had not experienced before. It was a very successful first season, with the majority of the Travel Team and a few from the Instructional League passing the 50-yard assessment, several players went on to pass from 100 yards, and we had three players pass the 150 yard assessment! All of our PGA Junior League players are now a part of the Up to Par program, and they are on their way to becoming the next crop of successful middle and high school golfers from BCC!
Speaking of high school golfers, 2024 was a historic year for our older junior golfers as we held the Inaugural BCC Junior Member-Guest! Graham O’Neal, a junior at Brentwood High School, served as the first tournament chairman, and he worked extremely hard to help plan a great event for his fellow high school golfers The field was comprised of 14 BCC high school age golfers and their guests, for a field of 28 players. The day started with registration, lunch, and warm-ups, and ended with a steak dinner and the awards presentation in the McGavock-Hayes room. The format for the one-day event consisted of 6 holes of Team Scramble, Best Ball, and Alternate Shot. Prizes were awarded to the Overall Gross and Net Champions, 1st and 2nd place Net in each of the formats, and skills contests during the round
Inaugural Junior Member-Guest
Overall Gross Champions: (-9) 62 - Jack Doyle & Will Pinson
Overall Net Champions: (-5) 66 - Luke Purifoy & Laird Williams
The Junior Member-Guest tournament committee would like to thank all BCC members and staff for their support of the junior golf program! We look forward to building on the success of the event and creating a wonderful tradition for our high-school aged golfers!
The 2024 Junior Golf program wrapped up with the “Fall Semester”. All twelve spots in the “class” were full, and we had a good mix of girl and boy golfers! The semester consisted of six weeks of 1-hour clinics on Monday evenings, with the following curriculum:
Week 1: Putting 101
Week 3: Putting/Chipping 201
Week 5: Full Swing 201
Week 2: Chipping 101
Week 4: Full Swing 101
Week 6: Let’s go PLAY!
On the final clinic night, parents were encouraged to come out and watch their juniors play a few holes! It was a great way to end the Fall Semester as the golf course was in pristine condition and the weather was rather pleasant!
I want to send a huge shout out to all of the parents, family members, and BCC staff members involved with the junior golf program! Without your help during the season, we would not have been able to offer as many playing and learning opportunities, lending to memories and experiences that will last a lifetime!
Planning for the 2025 junior golf season is underway! We look forward to introducing some new programs and events, as well as continuing the programs that have had great success for our juniors! Stay tuned to the monthly newsletters and weekly updates as we turn the calendar and start to introduce and announce our 2025 programming!
For more information or questions regarding the junior golf programs at BCC, reach out to Andrew (andrew@bccgolf.org)!
See you on the range!
Andrew Kincaid PGA Director of
Player Development
Golf Course Maintenance
Dear BCC Members,
Where has the year gone? It has certainly flown by for our department, and we hope you enjoyed your newly designed golf course this year. We are in great shape heading into 2025 and we look forward to many years of quality golf at BCC. We have had some changes in our department this Fall. Jason Swindell, the 2nd Assistant, has left to take a job with the State of TN. This was a tough decision for him, but a good one for him and his young family. We will miss him (and his Lab Luca) and we wish him the very best. Taking Jason's place is a familiar face in Stephen Cooper. Stephen was previously at BCC for several years as our Spray Tech and Assistant in Training. He left 3 years ago to be the 2nd Assistant Superintendent at Belle Meade CC. We are certainly pleased he decided to come back and join our staff as 2nd Assistant, bringing with him his knowledge and love of BCC. He's a welcomed addition to our great staff; please make him feel welcomed when you see him on the course.
We have several projects planned for the winter. One of those is complete, and that is the walking bridge on #1 is installed and ready for use. Hopefully this helps accommodate all members, but particularly the walkers who enjoy the course. I think it's a wonderful improvement. We will also be planting many smaller hardwoods around the course to help replace what was removed from the project. These are going to be smaller trees, but smaller trees have a much better success rate of establishing. These will be beautiful additions long term to BCC. We will also be doing routine maintenance, like painting the bridges and freshening up boundary and hazard stakes. We have also found some rocks we can use to enhance our waterways and erosion areas. One of these areas will be the approach on #1 from the new bridge to the golf cart bridge. This should help identify the hazard and add some beauty to our opening hole.
The Turf Team would like to thank you for your support throughout this first new season and we wish you all a very Happy Holiday season!
Brad Erickson
Golf Course Superintendent
FrenchWineDinner
November 14th, 2024
Thank you to all who joined us!
Wishing you and your family a joyful Christmas season filled with love, laughter, and cherished moments. May the New Year bring happiness, good health, and prosperity to all. From all of us at BCC, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
