There was a point, early on, when Bob Wolcott wondered if the event he was planning at his own GreyStone Golf Club this week would be more of a “Wolcott and friends” tournament than a high-level competitive event. Greystone, the course Wolcott leases in Dickson, Tennessee, was supposed to be hosting the Tennessee State Open this week, just like it did last year. In the wake of the coronavirus, a group at GreyStone orchestrated some adjustments.
In effect, Wolcott & Co., have saved the state open, even though this year, things are going to look much different.
The Tennessee Open came off the calendar earlier this spring as the Tennessee Golf Association, like most state associations, looked at the risks in hosting such a large-scale event – one that would have included seven qualifiers leading up to the event proper. Chad Anderson, executive director of the TGA, explained that there were “a multitude of different obstacles we weren’t comfortable with,” from qualifying sites that weren’t ready to re-open to creating a weather evacuation plan that would also allow for social distancing.
Scoring: G Rock Open
GreyStone pressed on to keep the event moving forward, even though this year, it’s no longer associated with the TGA. The 54-hole G Rock Open tees off Tuesday with a mixed field of professionals and amateurs. The tournament name draws from the facility’s own “made-up name,” as Wolcott says. GreyStone’s secondary logo features rocks surrounding a G to represent the limestone rock found in the area.
After announcing the event would continue on May 6, Wolcott watched the field balloon from 30 to 140 players in just seven days. Tournament organizers then expanded the field to 190 when the calls kept coming in, and they could have made it even bigger. The numbers tell Wolcott, a former PGA Tour pro and winner of the 1983 Tennessee Open, all he needs to know about where players’ motivations are when it comes to tournament play.
“There’s pent-up competitive demand,” he said.
GreyStone has hosted everything from PGA Tour qualifying to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship. This year would have marked the course’s eighth state open, and conversations continue to bring the event back.
Wolcott will play in the field this week. So will his sons Hunter, a redshirt junior at Tennessee, and Ben, who played collegiately for Ole Miss and now plays as a professional.
The Wolcott brothers helped bring in players from their respective schools and dad is a graduate of the University of Georgia. Several colleges are represented in a field that also includes Mackenzie Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamerica players and high-level amateurs. U.S. Amateur runner-up John Augenstein will play and so will 2012 U.S. Amateur champion Steven Fox and Korn Ferry Tour player Dawson Armstrong.
Golf is a small world and Bob Wolcott still feels like this week will be a little bit of a homecoming for family friends.
“These guys want to keep their skills as sharp as they can, they know they’re going to be a little bit rusty so they want somewhere to tune it up and there’s no better place than here,” Wolcott said. “This is not a Korn Ferry Tour national open field but it’s the best field other than that in Tennessee.”
During the event, players will have the option to walk or ride a cart. Each group of four players receives two bunker rakes and players also receive hand sanitizer for the round. They’ll be encouraged to leave the flagstick in, but if a player chooses to remove it, he must wear disposable gloves also provided by GreyStone. The cups will be stuffed with small foam inserts.
Food will be brought in and served safe – breakfast, lunch and dinner – from local restaurants. The week kicked off with a long-drive contest on Monday night which included a charitable component for the community.
Pros paid $300 to enter and amateurs paid $100 less. Meals are covered for the week and a prize of $5,000 awaits the winner, should he be a professional. Wolcott hopes this week will lay down roots for something much more permanent at GreyStone.
“We hope this is a launching pad for a bigger event in the future.”
