The weekend rain and subsequent flooding that devastated the Nashville area has forced Tennessee Golf Association officials to move the State Open.
It still will be played May 18-20, but now it will be at Greystone Golf Club in Dickson, Tenn. It was scheduled for Gaylord Springs Golf Links, which has the Cumberland River bordering half of the property. The river flooded much of the course and the basement level of the clubhouse, which houses all of the carts , chargers and other course equipment.
“They can’t even get to the property and won’t be able to get to the clubhouse for a day,” Todd Havron, assistant executive director at Golf House Tennessee, said Tuesday. “The water is up to the doorstep of the clubhouse, and the cart barn is below their building.”
TGA executive director Matt Vanderpool and his staff began brainstorming during the weekend as water levels rose and it became apparent that Gaylord Springs would flood.
They wanted to keep the Open in the greater Nashville area to retain sponsors and keep a central location for travel purposes.
So Vanderpool contacted Greystone director of golf Charlie Blunt and asked if his course would be willing to host the State Open.
“I was a little concerned with the scope of the number of facilities that would be affected,” said Vanderpool, who estimates about 25 Middle Tennessee courses were significantly damaged in the storms. “Greystone was our first call. It couldn’t have worked out better.”
The Open was held at Greystone from 1999 to 2002, and it was willing to host again, even on short notice.
“We have the facility, the staff and the course to host a State Open, and we’re proud to have it again,” Blount said. “We had one event scheduled for that week, and they were willing to move.
“We just hosted the OVC championships, so the course is in great shape, and we’re lucky that we weren’t affected by the Cumberland or Harpeth rivers.”
Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga gofer Bryce Ledford won the State Open last year, and Mocs freshman Steven Fox was runner-up. Ledford will try to defend his title, but Fox will be playing for UTC in an NCAA regional tournament.