Paul Payne: Herrington’s Path To Success Rooted In Dickson

With Jackson Herrington’s successful run at this week’s U.S. Amateur Championship, golf fans across the country have undoubtedly been Googling “Dickson, Tennessee” to discover more about the hometown that produced the powerful left-hander known as “Fridge”.

While search engines can spit out facts and data about the town that lies 30 miles west of Nashville, it’s impossible even in this world of AI assistance to fully understand the DNA of what makes Dickson a beloved community to its residents.

With a population of almost 17,000, Dickson represents somewhat of a throwback to when everyone knew their neighbors and lived with a sense of community connection. Herrington’s mother, Nikki, has had family living in the region for more than two centuries, and she saw that cooperative spirit first-hand when a tornado ripped through their family farm earlier this year.

“Everybody knows each other,” Nikki Herrington said. “Sometimes that's good, but it also means everybody knows each other's business. But people are always ready to show up to help if there is a need. When the tornado ripped through our pasture and property, I posted something on Facebook that we had been devastated. Before long, I received 50 phone calls and had people showing up to help cut trees. That's not something you get today in bigger cities.”

While Dickson has been able to maintain its uncomplicated, almost Mayberry-esque persona despite the urban sprawl of Nashville, it has also become the epicenter of many of Tennessee’s most decorated golfers over the past few years.

The genesis of it began with Bob Wolcott, a Dickson County native who competed in 168 PGA Tour events beginning in the late ‘80s including seven Top 10 finishes. Wolcott returned to his roots in 1997 to run GreyStone Golf Club before purchasing the club four years ago.

After growing up at nine-hole Dickson Country Club that was limited to adult play on weekends, Wolcott’s approach at GreyStone was to create an environment where golf was promoted as a family experience, and junior golfers began to flourish.

“Parents want their kids at a place where not only they can train, but they're going to behave,” Wolcott said. “If you get in trouble, your parents are gonna know about it. That's the way it was when I grew up, and that's the way it is out there, too. There’s a strict code - they work hard, and they play hard. They figured out that if you train with the best, you’re gonna be the best.”

The steady progression of talented young golfers emerging from Dickson began with Wolcott’s sons, Hunter and Ben. Ben was a standout at Ole Miss in college, and Hunter – two years younger - played at Tennessee.

Two years ago, Hunter won the Tennessee State Open exactly 40 years after his father claimed the title, while Ben was runner-up. The Wolcott boys’ success has continued this year as Hunter picked up his first career PGA TOUR Americas victory in May at the Diners Club Peru Open, and Ben captured the Tennessee Assistant PGA Professional Championship last month.

Another Dickson product who has turned heads is Cameron Tankersley, who is entering his senior year at Ole Miss and was listed at No. 17 in the initial PGA Tour University rankings for the 2025-26 season. Tankersley qualified for this year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, and advanced to the Round of 32 at The Olympic Club earlier this week.

Another rising star is 15-year-old Poppy Pewitt, who won both the Tennessee Girls’ Junior Championship and the Tennessee Junior PGA Championship this summer.

“It’s pretty cool when you look at all of the success coming out of Dickson,” Wolcott said. “I mean, Hunter won in Peru, Jackson's out there in the U.S. Am finals, Poppy won the State Junior, and Ben won the PGA Assistant Championship, all of those in 2025. There is a sense of Dickson County pride that makes not only the golfers proud, but all of the residents.”

Herrington’s emergence on a national stage is no surprise to Tennessee head golf coach Brennan Webb. He became acquainted with the powerful lefty seven years ago when taking over the Vols’ program and Herrington was a rotund junior golfer attending one of Webb’s camps. The success this week for the rising UT sophomore is something that Webb has enjoyed, requiring him to make two separate trips to San Francisco to see Herrington compete.

“It's just amazing when you spend so much time in a player-coach relationship on a college golf team to see them realize their dreams,” Webb said. “It's really hard to put into words what that feels like. It gives you a great feeling that all the time and effort that they've put into it is worthwhile. There’s no better feeling as a coach.”

Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s U.S. Amateur championship match that saw Georgia commit Mason Howell waltz to a 7 and 6 win, Herrington has added another chapter to Dickson’s legacy of outstanding golfers. He teamed with Nashville’s Blades Brown in 2024 to advance to the finals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. He then became the youngest champion to win the Tennessee State Open later in the summer.

“Watching him grow up, he was a chubby little kid who always had power and incredible length,” Wolcott said. “He was a hard worker, and he loved going to the range hitting balls and he loved to go play with people. You always like to see that they just love the game first. Because if you love the game, you're going to play it. Even if you play it for a living, you're going to love to play it and love to compete. I saw that ingrained in Jackson early, and he just wanted to be great from a young age.”

While the public has gotten the opportunity to know Herrington this week as a golfer who possesses unlimited potential, there’s a different side of him that only a mother can understand.

“I always tell people Jackson’s golfing ability is a God-given talent, but he is an amazing human being as well,” Nikki Herrington said. “He is my left hand, my very best friend, When I had surgery in December after they found a mass, he demanded to take me to the hospital and be with me at the surgery. He's the one who sat there and brought me home. He is my soulmate in a way that I can't explain.”

Herrington undoubtedly inherited his hand-eye coordination from his father, Greg, who has served as country music superstar Martina McBride’s drummer for 29 years. The family moved from Franklin to Nikki’s family land in Dickson when Jackson was in middle school, and they operate a family farm that produces eggs, honey, flowers and other produce to the community.

Being back in Dickson is something that not only has enabled Jackson to sharpen his golfing skills among some of the state’s elite players, but has served as a generational connection for the Herrington family.

“Taking my kids back to where my family's been for 200 years was important,” Nikkie Herrington said. “It’s the heart of the town in a day when people have forgotten what it means to live in community. Dickson is a special place.”

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com