A Look Back At The Top Stories In Tennessee Golf For 2024

The past year featured plenty of memorable storylines in golf across the state of Tennessee. It was an intersection of emerging stars poised to make their mark on the sport coupled with legends of the game finding a way to still win championships.

In some ways, though, the year represented one of change and challenges, uniting the golfing community to navigate through difficult times. Through it all, golf in Tennessee has never been stronger or more popular under the guidance of the Tennessee Golf Foundation, the Tennessee Golf Association and the Tennessee PGA Section. Our state continues to serve as the model of excellence in leadership and vision.

As we wrap up 2024, here are some stories in no certain order that stood out to me over the past year.

Emergence of Blades Brown

The 17-year-old resident of Nashville has become a household name on the junior amateur circuit and was named AJGA 2024 Rolex Junior Player of the Year. He and Tiger Woods are among three golfers to earn medalist honors at both the U.S. Junior and U.S. Amateur. After making the cut in his PGA Tour debut earlier this year in Myrtle Beach, Brown recently announced his decision to bypass college and turn professional. He will make his first start as a professional at the American Express in La Quinta, Calif. in two weeks from Jan. 16-19.

Herrington Youngest State Open Champion

Dickson’s Jackson Herrington became the youngest winner of the Tennessee State Open with six birdies over his final nine holes. It was only one of the memorable highlights for Herrington, who is now in his freshman year at Tennessee. He teamed with Nashville’s Blades Brown for a runner-up finish at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in Philadelphia, and advanced to the Round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur including the first hole-in-one in match play competition since 2018. Herrington’s accomplishments earned him both the 2024 Tennessee Men’s and Junior Player of the Year honors.

LIV Comes to Nashville

More than 40,000 spectators attended the LIV Golf Nashville tournament at The Grove in June, setting a new attendance mark at the time for a LIV event. With a field that featured newly-crowned U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau along with former Tennessee golfer Caleb Surratt, there was plenty of buzz surrounding the spectacle. The tournament was won by Tyrell Hatton. As a result of LIV’s takeover of The Grove, the Korn Ferry Tour’s Simmons Bank Open relocated to the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Fly Wins Fourth Straight Super Senior Amateur

Buzz Fly of Memphis joined an elite fraternity of men who have won the same TGA event four straight years when he claimed the Tennessee Super Senior Amateur at Memphis Country Club in August. The list of golfing royalty is headed by Chattanooga’s Lew Oehmig, who won five Tennessee Amateur titles in succession from 1969-73, and Memphis legend Cary Middlecoff, who captured the Tennessee Amateur from 1940-43. Fly now owns eight TGA titles to go with a pair of Tennessee Super Senior State Opens.

Green Picks Up 20^th TGA Title

Danny Green couldn’t remember the last time he played three rounds of golf in one day. But the legendary 68-year-old golfer out of Jackson was able to accomplish that feat at the Tennessee Super Senior Match Play, his marathon day forced by torrential rains due to arrive the following day. Green’s victory was his 20^th TGA career victory.

Provow Repeats After 17 Years

Murfreesboro’s Spencer Provow won the Tennessee Match Play, marking 17 years since he last captured this event. After taking a sabbatical from competitive golf while devoting time to his family, the 40-year-old Provow overcame an opening match loss in pool play to win his final six matches to claim his fourth TGA title.

Rain Forces Co-Champions at Senior Match Play

Due to unplayable conditions created by Hurricane Helene, the Tennessee Golf Association declared co-champions for the first time at one of its championships. Todd Burgan and Jay Potter shared the title of the Tennessee Senior Match Play one day after squeezing in three matches to earn their spot in the finals. It was the 7^th TGA title for Burgan, who was named Tennessee Senior Player of the Year after turning 55 back in the spring. The shared victory was Potter’s first TGA win.

Other Notable State Title Winners

When Joe Markham Jr. won the 1984 State Insurers Junior tournament at Cleveland Country Club where his father was the long-time head professional, he never dreamed it would be another 40 years before he won his next state title. But Markham Jr. was the last man standing at the Tennessee Senior State Open at Fairfield Glade’s Stonehenge Golf Course, winning as an amateur by one shot over Jeff Lyons.

Nashville’s Stuart Smith won his first TGA championship after partnering with his long-time friend and Tennessee teammate Jeff Walker at the Tennessee Men’s Senior Four-Ball. Fifty years after competing in his first TGA event at the State Junior, Clay Uselton survived challenging Memphis Country Club to win the Tennessee Senior Amateur. It was the Tullahoma native’s fourth TGA title but first since 2003. Germantown’s Winston Margaritis also snagged his first TGA win as the youngest member in the field at the Tennessee Mid-Amateur event after walking away from golf while in college.

Ingalls’ Appearance Inspires Mid-Amateur Contestants

Aaron Ingalls teamed with close friend Jeff Reuter to win the Tennessee Mid-Amateur Four Ball in early September, competed in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and was planning on participating in the Tennessee Mid-Amateur to be held on his home track, Jackson Country Club. But the 38-year-old Ingalls was unable to compete due to surgery to remove a brain tumor on Oct. 11. Ingalls’ presence at the tournament just days after being released from the hospital served as an inspiration to those participating, and close to $40,000 was raised to help defray some of the medical costs incurred by Ingalls and his wife, Kathleen, and their two children.

Miller Repeats As Tennessee Senior Women’s Player of Year

Loudon’s Susan Miller became only the fourth golfer to repeat as Senior Women’s Player of the Year and the first since Sarah Ingram. She captured the Tennessee Senior Women’s Amateur for the second time, and finished tied for second at the Tennessee Senior Women’s Open.

Vandy’s Riedel Earns PGA Tour Card

Mathew Riedel, who completed his collegiate career at Vanderbilt earlier this year, drained a clutch four-foot putt on the final hole of the PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage to secure his 2025 PGA Tour card. After owning a share of the lead entering the day, Riedel fell outside of the Top 5 and ties that were guaranteed exemption after shooting 3-over through his first 10 holes. But a clutch birdie on No. 16 at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course followed by a pair of scrambling pars earned Riedel a 4^th place tie with two others.

Tennessee Development Teams Named

As one of seven states part of the first wave of the U.S. National Development Program spearheaded by the USGA, the Tennessee development team was named for elite junior golfers ages 13-18. Members named to the boys’ roster included a pair of Chattanooga golfers in Billy Boroughs and Tucker Wick. Others selected were Maddox Crowder of Lafayette, Jack Doyle of Brentwood, Jake Eickhoff of Arrington, Will Pinson of Franklin, Jacob Rose of Knoxville and Walker Webb of Brentwood.

Baylor School junior Carlee Rogers was chosen for the girls’ squad. She will be joined by Isabella Coughlin of Knoxville, Sophia Gambini of Maryville, Isabella Johnson of Murfreesboro, Aliezah Robinson of Kingsport, Tori Robinson of Jackson, Lauren Slatton of McMinnville and Claire Todd of Lakeland.

Jaeger, Malnati Pick Up PGA Tour Wins

Former UTC golfer and Chattanooga resident Stephen Jaeger picked up his first PGA Tour win, while another Tennessean – Peter Malnati – registered his second career Tour victory.

Jaeger, a 35-year-old native of Germany who represented his homeland in the Paris Olympics, defeated Scottie Scheffler by one shot at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March, earning his first Masters invitation as he competed in all four majors. He became the fourth Baylor School golfer currently on the PGA Tour with victories, joining Harris English, Keith Mitchell and Luke List.

Malnati won the Valspar Championship to end a span of 3,058 days since his last Tour win. The Dandridge native was also the 2009 Tennessee State Amateur champion hosted at The Honors Course.

U.S. Senior Amateur Hosted At The Honors Course

The Honors Course added to its impressive resume in August when the 69^th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship was staged at the revered layout in Ooltewah. It was the fifth USGA championship hosted by Tennessee’s top-ranked course, along with a pair of NCAA Division I Men’s Championships, three Southern Amateurs and several men’s and women’s Tennessee Amateur championships. Future USGA events scheduled to be held at The Honors Course include the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2031 U.S. Amateur.

Among the qualifiers were Lookout Mountain’s Steve Johnson, Nashville’s Stuart Smith, Steven Mann of Franklin and Powell’s Todd Burgan. Both Mann and Burgan advanced to the match play portion of the event. Atlanta’s Louis Brown earned the title among the 156 participants after defeating Dan Sullivan of Pasadena, Calif. in the championship match, 4 and 3. Demetrio “Hawk” Nucara, a long-time caddie at The Honors Course, battled triple-digit heat during the week while guiding Brown to the victory.

Setas Makes Run At U.S. Women’s Mid-Am

Jacqueline Setas, who missed most of her final two seasons at Michigan State overcoming Stage II Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur before being eliminated. The 28-year-old Nashville resident also serves as golf coach at Harpeth Hall School, where Hall of Fame legend Sarah Ingram serves as one her assistants.

Professionals Reclaim Challenge Cup

The team of Tennessee PGA professionals staged a historic comeback in the singles matches to recapture the Tennessee Challenge Cup held at Colonial Country Club. The Professionals overcame a 9-7 deficit entering the final day, but won 10 of 16 individual matches to walk away with a 17-15 victory.

Closure and Expansion of Sweetens Cove

After last January’s crippling ice storm wreaked havoc on a substantial amount of Sweetens Cove Golf Course’s fairways and half of the green surfaces, the club leadership closed the popular destination course for three months in late May. The shutdown allowed an opportunity to nurture the golf course and bring it back better than ever before reopening on Sept. 1.

Plans were announced in October to expand the offerings at Sweetens with the addition of a lighted par-3 course, stay and play cabins, a restaurant and distillery, a winding putting green, fishing dock and skeet shooting range through a partnership with Reef Capital Partners of Utah.

Denman Puts Together Memorable Year

Payne Denman enjoyed plenty of success on the golf course this year. He captured the Tennessee State Amateur in June as the first individual title won among his four TGA trophies. He and Whit Turnbow also finished runner-up in the Tennessee Four-Ball against MTSU golfers Sheldon McKnight and JJ Zimmer. His summer also featured a quarterfinal run with partner Brett Patterson as the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball as well as an appearance in the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine.

Denman’s coaching career also took on a new trajectory when he accepted a position on University of Tennessee head coach Brennan Webb’s staff in August after two seasons as an assistant at his alma mater MTSU.

Belle Meade Chosen As Future USGA Site

Nashville’s Belle Meade Country Club was chosen by the USGA as the site of the 2028 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and 2036 U.S. Senior Amateur. This will be the first USGA championships in the Nashville area since 2018, and the first at Belle Meade since the inaugural U.S. Senior Amateur in 1955.

That means Tennessee will be at the forefront of USGA events over the next few years, given the fact The Honors Course was the site of this year’s U.S. Senior Amateur, and will host the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2031 U.S. Amateur.

Campbell Sisters Have Showdown At Women’s Match Play

It took 19 holes to settle family bragging rights between sisters Lanie and Karlie Campbell at the Tennessee Women’s Match Play. Older sister Lanie won her first TGA title at Franklin’s Westhaven Golf Club with a kick-in birdie on the first extra hole in the championship match.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com