The answer to many questions around and about The Honors Course could be answered with another question: “What would Jack do?”
Jack Lupton invited the NCAA to hold its Division I men’s golf championship on his golf course in 1996, and the event returned to the Honors this past week with Augusta State beating Oklahoma State in the match-play finals.
None of the coaches whose teams participated uttered a syllable of negativity about the layout. It’s a course built by Lupton and Hall of Fame designer Pete Dye for amateur championships.
“When you have an opportunity to play the championship on a golf course like this, you don’t turn it away,” said Darin Spease, chairman of the NCAA golf committee.
Nobody knows how many more years will pass before the best collegiate golfers return to Ooltewah representing their teams and playing for a national championship.