Facials in College Grove, TN

The 2024 LIV Golf tour will make a stop at The Grove course in Nashville.

The schedule released Wednesday includes a June 21-23 tournament at The Grove. It will be the ninth of 14 events on the first full season of the international tour, which includes five new U.S. venues.

The Grove was recently purchased by Fort Worth-based Escalante Golf, according to Sports Business Journal. Escalante owns several of the courses where LIV events are played.

Escalante Golf officials could not be reached for comment.

For the past three years, The Grove has served as home to the PGA Korn Ferry Tour's Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation. The tournament was played Sept. 12-15 this year; a date for the 2024 tournament has not been set.

LIV Golf is a Saudi-financed series that debuted in June 2022. It was created as an alternative to the PGA Tour and offers the highest purses in golf history.

The 48-man league, with 12 teams, will reshuffle rosters ahead of the 2024 schedule and still has LIV Golf Promotions to see which players can qualify for $20 million purses, and a concurrent team competition over 54 holes.

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“LIV Golf is the truly global golf league that the sport and its fans deserve,” LIV Golf commissioner and CEO Greg Norman said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to announce an exciting slate of events that reflects our commitment to bringing world-class players and premier competition to new and repeat markets every year. Launching a new league is a massive undertaking, and we’re full steam ahead building off our incredibly successful first full season in 2023."

The LIV Golf 2024 schedule does not have stops in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Tucson, Arizona, where the tour played in 2023.

Talor Gooch, the 2023 LIV champion, is returning, along with six-time major winner and World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson; two-time major winners Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer; 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau; 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith; and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka.

"Our goal has always been to create a worldwide league that inspires progress and attracts new fans to the sport that we love," Norman said. "LIV Golf is stronger than ever, and next season will accomplish that goal and more.”

2024 LIV Tour

Feb. 2-4: Mayakoba, Mexico

Feb. 8-10: Las Vegas

March 1-3: Jeddah

March 8-10: Hong Kong

April 5-7: Florida (TBD)

April 26-28: Adelaide, Australia

May 3-5: Singapore

June 7-9: Houston

June 21-23: Nashville

July 12-14: Valderrama (Spain)

July 26-28: England

Aug. 16-18: The Greenbrier (West Virginia)

Sept. 13-15: Chicago* (Not yet official)

Sept. 20-22: Dallas* (Not yet official)

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

LIV Golf is reportedly looking at The Grove in Tennessee as a possible host venue for the 2024 season - a course which currently stages a Korn Ferry Tour playoff event.

LIV boss Greg Norman designed the course at College Grove just outside Nashville, which has served has host for the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation for the last two seasons.

The event is already down on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule to be held on 12-15 September 2024, but that could well change if LIV Golf manages to do a deal to stage an event at the same venue.

The Grove has recently been bought by Escalante Golf, a company which owns other courses to have staged LIV event such as The International and Pumpkin Ridge.

The Golf Channel is now reporting that Escalante will decide in the coming weeks whether to continue hosting the Korn Ferry Tour event or instead switch and sign up with LIV Golf.

That backs up the initial report from the Sports Business Journal about LIV Golf looking to hold an event at The Grove.

And we've seen from previous experience that it is one or the other as far as holding LIV Golf or PGA Tour-based events - notably when Mayakoba Resort’s El Camaleon Golf Course hosted the first LIV event of the season.

The PGA Tour then switched the regular event held there to Tiger Woods' El Cardonal course in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for this season.

It was also a similar story over in Europe when former Ryder Cup host venue Valderrama signed up with LIV Golf after being a long-time host of a DP World Tour event.

The Simmons Bank Open is still the one listed for The Grove though, with a spokesperson for the Korn Ferry Tour telling GolfChannel.com that they fully plan for the event to go ahead as scheduled.

“We are fortunate to have top-tier partners in Simmons Bank, Brandt and Mandy Snedeker and the Tennessee Golf Foundation," read the Korn Ferry Tour statment.

"The Nashville community has shown its support for the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation since day one and we are confident we will find the best long-term solution for the tournament and the Korn Ferry Tour.”

Golf Monthly has contacted LIV Golf for comment.

Most passionate basketball fans have seen the movie “Hoosiers,” the uplifting story of the Milan High School boys’ basketball team winning the 1954 Indiana state championship in Indianapolis over the mighty Muncie Central Bearcats. The school’s total enrollment was 162 students.

Williamson County has a compatible version of that movie from a state championship run by College Grove High School just 25 years earlier. The Tennessee School Secondary Athletic Association (TSSAA) was formed in 1925 by a group of school superintendents and principals during a teacher convention held in Nashville.

College Grove was a member of the organization and eligible for state athletic competitions. The school opened in 1854 as a private school called Popular Grove Male Academy. The original building was replaced in 1916 and College Grove High School ceased to exist in 1975 when Page High School opened.

The 1929 Tennessee State Boys High School Tournament was held in Jefferson Hall on the University of Tennessee campus, March 7-9. There were 16 teams across the state that qualified for the tournament. College Grove was undefeated entering the event and won its first-round game over Hornbeak, 47-25. The next day College Grove defeated Nashville Cathedral (Father Ryan), 35-18, to earn a berth in the semifinals.

The Grove needed to win two consecutive games on the final day to win the state crown, which they did over Linden (45-22) and Halls (34-24). The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported on the title game:

“Climaxing the first state basketball tournament ever held in Knoxville. The Halls high and College Grove high teams battled thru 40 furious minutes Saturday night on Jefferson Hall court before a final spurt gave the College Grove lads a 34-24 victory and the basketball crown of Tennessee high schools.

The game was one of the best ever seen here and doubtless the best of the 1929 season in Knoxville from the spectators standpoint. This, in spite of the fact there was 10 points difference in the scores of the two teams.

The margin which the College Grove quint secured to win was gained in the very late stages of the game when Halls could not muster a rally in the short time that remained. In desperation they tried to overcome a lead, which boded defeat, but the College Grove boys clung tenaciously to that lead until the pistol was sounded.

The battle waged Saturday night in the finals was not a battle of two fastest basketball teams, but also a battle between two of the best high school centers ever seen hereabouts. Adamson, captain and center of Halls, and Young, center of College Grove, outdid themselves in efforts to bring their teams victory.”

On the night in the finals, scoring for College Grove were Hubert Young (17 points), Albert Wilson (10), Hamp Thomas (3), Millard Lamb (1), Dink Scales (1) and Robert Sanford (2).

The “Review Appeal” printed this notice from the First Bank & Trust Company:

“The winning of the State Basket Ball Championship for Tennessee by The College Grove High School is an honor of which the whole County of Williamson should feel exceedingly proud. The citizens of Williamson County have every reason to feel proud of the faculty and personnel of the student body of the College Grove High School. No county enjoys a more valuable asset than does Williamson in the citizens living within the College Grove area.

This Bank wants to offer its heartiest congratulations to the Coach Haynes Brinkley and to the members of the team: Lamb, Wilson, Young, Scales, Thomas, Sanford, and others who assisted, and to College Grove and to Williamson County.”

However, the Grove’s basketball season was not over after winning the state title. In this era of high school basketball each state champion was invited to participate in the boys high school national tournament to determine a national champion. But, not all 48 states sent a representative to the event.

The Williamson County organized a fundraiser for its citizens to help defray the expenses for the team’s trip to Chicago. College Grove did win its first two games, but lost to the eventual national champion Athens, Texas in the quarterfinals. This would be College Grove’s only blemish of this remarkable season. The 1929 state championship is the only state title College Grove High School has won in any sport — boys and girls.

The College Grove High School 1929 state championship trophy is on display in the R.L. Windrow Gymnasium in the College Grove Community Center.

Even though Kyle Creamer and his family are the only homeowners living in the newly developing McDaniel Farms off Arno Road in College Grove, he said it was the sense of community there that drew him in.

“We looked in several neighborhoods out this way because we wanted to be away from the hustle and bustle a little bit,” Creamer said. “There were a lot of great neighborhoods, but this one has the character we were looking for. They kept the theme of the farm with the community garden and the walking trails and the modern farmhouse architecture. It’s a cool little community already.”

McDaniel Farms’ developer is Signature Homes and although they have built in Williamson County before in communities such as Ladd Park in Franklin and Cromwell in Brentwood, this is the first community where they are the only builder, which allows them to control the aesthetics of the entire community.

“A huge advantage to being the sole builder is maintaining congruency throughout the community,” said Katie Wiles, affiliate broker with Signature Homes Realty LLC. “The expectations of the finished product are met because our style is evident. We don’t just build homes, we build communities.”

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From the modern farmhouse elevations to the community garden, pool and hiking trails, Wiles said Signature was looking to fill a niche in the southern part of Williamson County by offering something different in the $500s to the $700s. Their goal was to have a product with similar features as the neighboring custom-built homes, while staying well under the $1 million price points offered in The Grove, King’s Chapel and Hideaway at Arrington.

“We brought what College Grove was missing,” Wiles said. “What sets us apart is the private, half-acre home sites, our sought-after amenities, and the unbelievable features we include and the changes buyers can make. We have really cool options like fourth-car garages and 90-degree stacking doors that bring the outside in.”

She added that McDaniel Farms was created for the buyer who wants the feeling of living on a farm, but doesn’t really want to maintain that or pay the high cost of acreage in the area.

“Here, most of our home sites back up to green space, so you can still have that feeling of the open range, and the budget to build your dream home.”

McDaniel Farms sits on 600 acres and will ultimately be 91 lots with prices ranging from the $500s to the $800s-plus. Phase one, which opened in December, consists of 43 roughly half-acre lots. Only five home sites and three designer homes remain in this section. Phase two, which will consist of 48 additional lots, is slated to be released this fall.

Features that come standard in McDaniel Farms’ homes include a 66-inch stainless refrigerator and freezer, double ovens, quartz and/or granite on every countertop, 12-inch-by-24-inch tiles in all wet areas, covered patios, 3-car garages, and full sod yard (front, sides and back) with a landscape package that includes a sizable tree.

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Existing community features include two miles of hiking trails with an observation deck, 150-plus acres of open space, a community garden and a pavilion with outdoor fireplace. Additional amenities slated to open in 2019 include The Lodge, a 3,500-square-foot amenities center with fitness and yoga room, meeting areas, a beach-entry pool, movie lawn, playground, canoe launch and a pedestrian bridge over the Harpeth River. HOA dues are $100 a month.

Creamer said he took a chance buying the first house in the new community, but said Signature’s vision was so clear, he was willing to take a chance.

“What sets this place apart is it’s not just a neighborhood,” he said. “They are really selling a lifestyle out here.”

McDaniel Farms is having a grand opening of the community’s model home from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 16. The event will include face painting, hay rides and food trucks and door prizes. For more information, go to www.livemcdanielfarms.com.

COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee Golf has added a state-of-the-art practice facility to one of the area's premier golf courses. The Blue Raiders cut the ribbon on their new building, built in partnership with and located at The Grove Club, Tuesday.

"Today, this celebration allows us to recognize the generous supporters who have made all of this possible," MTSU President Sidney McPhee said. "The completion of this project represents a strong commitment to our teams and a substantial investment in our golf program."

After breaking ground on August 15, 2020 the Middle Tennessee Men's and Women's Golf programs officially took residence of the $1.1 million facility, funded entirely through private donations, on Tuesday.

"[Our donors] have done a great, great thing," Director of Athletics Chris Massaro said. "And now our golf teams have even better opportunities to compete on a national scale. We expect to have more trophies and fill up these walls with more accolades."

The Blue Raiders' new digs feature three indoor hitting bays and an indoor putting green with multiple slope changes that will help the Blue Raiders perfect their game even in unfavorable weather conditions.

Two of the indoor hitting bays include TrackMan simulator studios that will provide players with real-time feedback on the distance, speed, and rotation of their shots and can simulate play on more than 90 courses. Just steps away are a players' lounge, locker rooms, training facilities and a study area.

"We are very excited to open this facility at The Grove," head men's golf coach Mark McEntire said. "The Grove is one of the premier golf courses in Tennessee and being able to call The Grove home will change the way we recruit, raise money and develop our players.

"The Grove hosts events like the [Korn Ferry Tour] Simmons Bank Open and the Tennessee Junior Cup [hosted by PGA Tour member Scott Stallings]. It attracts the best players in professional and junior golf. This is very exciting for us, and we're thankful we can join the family."

"We are beyond grateful to all of the great supporters we have in our golf programs and to all of the great players and coaches we have had who have helped make this possible," head women's golf coach Chris Adams said. "To have an amazing building like this with all the amenities on a championship golf course with great practice facilities sets our program apart from others from a recruiting standpoint."

"The building is big enough that it gives us the ability to use the TrackMan technology indoors while also getting to putt on a green that offers different breaks and not just your typical flat putt. I know the players are very thankful and excited to get to use the facility."

The facility was made possible by the efforts of Mark and Cindy Enderle, Mike Green, Brent and Vicky Clements, John and Gina Floyd, and others. The synthetic turf in all practice areas was installed by Goat Turf, located in Murfreesboro and owned by Blue Raider Baseball alumnus Tyler Burnett, while construction was completed by Shane McFarland Construction.

With a state-of-the-art practice facility located at the highly-rated Grove Club, Middle Tennessee Golf will now stand on par with some of the top programs not only in the state of Tennessee, but all of Division I golf in what it offers collegiate players to give them the ability to become top-ranked players.

The 18-hole, par 72 Greg Norman Signature course at The Grove offers fairways kept at tour heights, greens rolling at U.S. Open speeds and bunkers identical to those at the Tour Championship, providing a golf experience that is unparalleled in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.