Spring 2015

Spring Hill Country ClubTifton, GA

Spring Hill County Club’s renovated putting green and new retaining wall

From left: Grant Metts, Zach Forshee, Sam Tucker, Camden Collins, Charlie Cottle, Reid Cottle, and Coach Russ Davis.

Running the LoopVision Becomes Reality at Spring Hill Country Club

In the summer of 2014, members of the Spring Hill Country Club began to notice something unusual—a pack of teenage boys in gray shirts and blue shorts jogging a loop around the first hole near the clubhouse. Driving a golf cart close behind, long-time member, Mr. Tommy Cottle, followed.

“We’re building character, boys,” Cottle hollered after the pack. “Is there any place you’d rather be?”

The story of the Spring Hill Country Club is a story that’s become all too familiar for many privately-owned clubs in America. In its heyday, Spring Hill was a gem in the community, boasting more than 500 members. In those days, the fairways were busy, and adult members playing the course would often encounter groups of young junior golfers who would dutifully step to the side and wait patiently as the older generation played through. The clubhouse was filled with activity as members and their families talked and laughed over drinks or a meal. And the swimming pool was filled with children whose skin had been browned by the summer sun.

When the recession hit and the

nation’s economy started its downward tumble, Spring Hill felt the impact. Families in the community were suddenly struggling to pay mortgages and put food on the table so things like club memberships and other luxuries were quickly cut from their budgets.

In 2006, Spring Hill boasted 501 members. By the end of January 2014, that number had been cut in half.

“The golf industry really suffered with the recession,” said Butch Davis, club president. “You can do the math—as membership drops, revenue drops. You have to take a step back and adjust to the conditions and make some hard decisions. One of the things so important to us as a board was figuring out how to grow golf, and as a result create new members. Everyone knows where the kids go, the parents go, so we looked to build a training center and a new practice area, but at the time, it was more than we could afford, so we had to put it on the back burner.”

It turns out, all Spring Hill really needed was a spark.

In June 2014, Tommy Cottle was recovering from back surgery. Always active, it wasn’t long before Cottle was itching to get up and out of the house and keep his two teenage grandsons from wasting an entire summer vacation the way many teenagers do—with TV and video games and too much time spent lounging on the couch.

“They aren’t doing much. I’m hurt and can’t do much. They are both on the high school golf team and I figured I can teach them dedication and what it takes to get better,” said Cottle. “I’ve been a coach all my life. Both sets of parents agreed, and then another parent heard and another parent heard, and they came to me asking, ‘Can you take my kid too?’ I wound up with eight kids for the summer.”

Spring Hill donated unused storage space to Cottle and his team. The boys gave it a fresh coat of paint before all the items were installed, including new flooring, tv’s, couches, chairs, a pool table, ping pong table, Xbox, and games.

The Attic Play Room was repurposed and furnished thanks to the boys’ hard work and the community’s generous donations.

Cottle sat down with the group for a meeting. The first order of business was for the boys to sign a contract.

“You might think it’s ridiculous, but it’s my way of handling kids,” said Cottle. “I sat them down and told them, if you sign with me, these are the rules you’re going to follow. You’re not going to quit, and you’re going to show up. If you don’t want to, don’t sign your contract.”

They all signed, and the spark ignited.

The group met every day at 9:00 a.m. sharp to start the day together.

“It started at 9:00, but Papa Time is 8:55. You show up at 8:57 and you’re already late,” said Grant Metts, who graduated from Tift County High School this year. Metts has known Cottle since age 5, and has been golfing since age 7.

Cottle’s contract covers details like attendance and punctuality and dress. Show up late—run the loop. Shirt untucked—run the loop. Dirty shoes—run the loop. Leave a mess or forget to push in your chair at the clubhouse table—run the loop. It didn’t take long for people to notice the group of kids out running on the course. A few folks asked Cottle what was going on and when he told them, word began to spread.

“It wasn’t a punishment, those things,” said Cottle. “I started getting younger kids wanting to join—6 and 8 and 10-year-olds. I had a little 6-year-old that came up to me when he saw an older boy running and said, ‘Mr. Tommy, I forgot my belt, can I go run with him?’ Kids love discipline. They need it. I

decided to teach the kids the basics of things like shovels and rakes. We cut trees and limbs and hauled them off. They spent days picking up pine cones and clearing the course. I worked them to death and they learned a lot more than just golf. They were getting better and getting excited. The members were seeing the kids out there working and playing 18 holes a day, and they were getting excited, too.”

Soon, the club approached Cottle to let him know that there was an old storage area upstairs near the pool if he

wanted it. Cottle decided it would be the perfect space for a recreation room where the kids could take breaks and have a little fun and relax. He rallied his group to clean it out and give it a fresh coat of paint. When members saw the improvements, they began to donate.

“I started talking it around and people started giving,” Cottle said. “One guy gave us a pool table, and another donated a flat screen TV. Another gave a ping pong table. We got an Xbox and games. I have a son who does flooring, so he put the flooring in there. The kids did all the painting, and everything else in that room was given to us.”

In spite of the enthusiasm and the fact that the kids were engaged and progressing, something still gnawed at Cottle. He knew that the best way for his group to learn the fundamentals and begin seeing marked improvement in their game was to spend time practicing on a short game facility, something Spring Hill just didn’t have. The only putting green on the grounds was so worn out and sloped that balls rolled right off. Most members tended to avoid it altogether.

Cottle reached out to Scott Veazey, owner of Southeastern Golf and long-time member of both the Spring Hill Country Club and the Golf Course Builders Association of America (GCBAA).

“When I approached Scott, he told me he was just too busy right now,” Cottle said. “But then I started telling him about how fast these kids were progressing, and how they’re out there running the loop. I started to leave and got almost out the door and he said, ‘Wait a minute. Every year something happens that slows me down or stops

From left: GCBAA Executive Director Justin Apel, GCBAA Member Scott Veazey of Southeastern Golf, SHCC Superintendent Chuck Daughtry, and Tommy Cottle, standing on the newly build SHCC short course practice facility which opened June 2015.

me,’ and then he sat down and gave me a list of things we would need to get done. We jumped on it and got started.”

Next, Cottle approached club president Butch Davis about the need for a short course and practice facility. Davis hated to turn him down.

“When Tommy came to me, I had to tell him we can’t afford it,” Davis said. “Little did I know, he’d already talked to Scott and they’d done some back work on it. When the Board found out that Tommy and Scott were involved, we knew it would be done right.” Davis pauses for a moment and points out the windows of the clubhouse, gesturing to the new putting green and the custom retaining wall and the short course beyond. “You look out there now, not even a year later, and the practice area is one of the finest you’ll see and it didn’t cost us a dime.”

With Veazey on board, the flames of Cottle’s enthusiasm caught and quickly spread. Donations came flooding in. Jonathan Ross of Ross Construction donated field dirt and rock. Jimmy Allen of Pike Creek Turf Farms and Adrian Fletcher of Fletcher Turf Farms donated turf. Roger Womack of Red Oaks Sports provided equipment and sod. Corey Tenneson provided a beautiful stone retaining wall around the brand new putting green. Nelson and Joe Kunes donated all the bunker sand. Carolina Carports and Southern Heritage Homes

donated a building for teaching. GCBAA Member Frank Warden and The Toro Company donated brand new infinity sprinkler heads for the new irrigation system. Lynn Kelly, who works with the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes wrote a check for $5,000 after inviting Cottle’s group to an FCA meeting.

“The support has been amazing,” Cottle said. “One Saturday morning I came to the club and found Scott on a bulldozer shaping the practice area green himself. Lee Marshall, a designer with Greg Norman Designs, is a local boy and he designed all of this for us and then Scott took off with it. People just started jumping in and said ‘Yes, we can do it.’ A buddy of mine donated a travel trailer, fully-enclosed, and we had another guy customize it and put a rack in for our equipment. Another buddy of mine is in graphics, and he designed signs for the trailer that tells the history of Tift County golf. It’s gotten the kids really excited to carry on the legacy.”

The kids are truly carrying on the legacy, with the high school team winning the 2015 Regional for the first time in 10 years. At the same time, Tommy Cottle and Scott Veazey and everyone else who has stepped up and contributed to the Spring Hill short course project are creating quite a legacy of their own.

“There are people in every community who can do what I’ve done

and what Mr. Cottle has done,” Veazey explained. “But somebody has to sit down and take ownership and make something happen. It’s contagious. People get excited and it evolves. Everyone has to buy into it. We’re all here for one purpose—to get kids involved in golf. None of us—not me, not Chuck, not Jake, not Tommy—none of us can do this alone. We had to get everyone on board and involved and now we’re seeing what it can do for the club and the community. For me, it’s just giving something back to an industry that has given me all that I have. It’s a great end result.”

Davis agrees. “You know, a train will just stay in the station and do nothing, and nobody will really care. But once that train starts moving, once somebody puts it in motion, everybody wants to get on. That’s what’s happening here. Everybody got on board. There have been so many people involved with this in so many different ways.”

Still relishing the Regional Championship and looking forward to another summer at Spring Hill before heading off to college in the fall, Grant Metts cannot say enough about everything that has happened since he first penned his name to Mr. Cottle’s contract.

“We would not have won Regionals without Tommy Cottle, and everything you see wouldn’t be here without him

From the clubhouse patio, members can look out over Spring Hill’s brand new short course practice facility. Valued at more than $150,000, the construction and renovation was fully-funded through generous donations and volunteers.

From left: Grant Metts and Sam Tucker point to the newest addition to the proud history of Tift County Golf--the 2015 win at Regionals. Their success was made possible through the support of Tommy Cottle, Coach Russ Davis, and members of SHCC and the Tifton Community.

and Mr. Scott Veazey and everyone who was willing to donate,” Metts said. “Mr. Tommy got everyone out here excited. He’s such a motivator. He spent every day with us last summer, from 9:00 to 5:00. He took us to his farm on trips, even to Alabama to play different courses. What they have done here will get more kids out here, and if the kids get involved, the families will get involved. What these guys have done is incredible. They have given the community of Tifton everything they need to play with anyone worldwide, and that’s a big deal.”

Superintendent Chuck Daughtry says the new facility is set to officially open in June 2015, less than one year after Tommy Cottle first wrangled the group of teenage boys and set them out running the loop. The club’s PGA Pro, Jake Flynt, is already building on Cottle’s momentum with a series of junior golf camp sessions in June and July for ages 6 to 12 and 13 to 18. He is also working with the local YMCA and the GCBAA Foundation to launch a Sticks for Kids Program that he hopes will reach more children in the community.

“There has been $150,000 worth of work done here, and yet we wouldn’t be here today and telling this story if someone had just written a check for this. You can’t buy this,” Veazey explained. “As an industry, we need to find new ways and do new things to get kids and families involved. Golf is a great avenue for kids. It’s competitive, and you can really build a kid’s confidence out on the course. You have to start with one club at a time and change their mindset. What’s happened here is a great footprint for things other clubs can take and learn.”

As the Spring Hill members and Tifton residents look forward to this brand new chapter in the club’s long history, they are energized, proud, and hopeful. They will never forget the way this particular story began—with a vision, a community’s support, and a pack of boys running a loop beneath the blue Georgia sky.

For more information about this project, contact the GCBAA Executive Office at (402) 476-4444.

Support the GCBAA Foundation While You ShopNew ProgramsThis year, the GCBAA Foundation

approved funding for 10 new Sticks for Kids Programs. These programs serve children and disabled adults throughout the United States and all the way to Brazil, making the game of golf accessible and affordable to their local communities.

Welcome! We can’t wait to watch your programs grow!

The Middle Atlantic Blind Golf AssociationContact: Norman KritzLocation: Philadelphia, PA

Aiken County Parks, Rec, & TourismContact: Tandra CooksLocation: Aiken, SC

Birch Creek Golf CourseContact: Andy DownsLocation: Smithfield, UT

Hastings Parks & Rec DepartmentContact: Ryan MartinLocation: Hastings, NE

Manteno Golf Club & Learning CenterContact: C.J. WadeLocation: Manteno, IL

RevelationGolfContact: Donna StrumLocation: Elk Grove, IL

Summers Middle SchoolContact: Jerod EwingLocation: Hinton, WV

Girls Golf of Port OrangeContact: Allie BodemannLocation: Port Orange, FL

Gig Harbor Golf ClubContact: Dan MarquettLocation: Gig Harbor WA

Rio de Janeiro Olympic CourseContact: Neil CleverlyLocation: Rio de Jaineiro, Brazil

Questions? CLICK HERE to learn more about AmazonSmile

Annual Foundation Auction in Full SwingEach year, the GCBAA Foundation Auction & Raffle prove to be the biggest

fundraising efforts benefiting the Sticks for Kids Program. The live auction, silent auction, and raffle always feature a variety of items and prize packages guaranteed to get the bidders excited.

The Foundation Auction is scheduled for Wednesday July 22, 2015 at the GCBAA Annual Summer Meeting Dinner at the Mining Exchange Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO. In addition, Silent Auction and Raffle items will be on display throughout the day and during the cocktail reception prior to Wednesday’s dinner. The Silent Auction bidding will close when dinner begins and winners will be announced during the Live Auction. The Raffle will take place during the Sticks for Kids Golf Outing Luncheon on Thursday, July 23 at the beautiful Pine Creek Golf Club.

All Funds raised at the auction and raffle directly support the Sticks for Kids Programs. Please take a moment to consider just how much your support could impact the lives of the children we serve. Last year, our live auction, silent auction, and raffle raised $55,000. This year, we know we can do more.

The Foundation has already received a number of fabulous donations, including a Disney Vacation Package, an Apple Watch, a Tailgater’s Dream Package (including a grill, grill set, premium steaks, and tickets), ladies’ designer purses, hunting and sightseeing tours, golf packages, and several sod and construction equipment deals. And we’re not even done yet!

If you have something you’d like to donate, CLICK HERE to fill out and submit the 2015 Auction Donation Form. Don’t know what to donate? No problem! The GCBAA Staff always have a list of ideas and items that we know our bidders will love. You can make a monetary donation and have us choose an item on your behalf, or call 402-476-4444 to discuss ideas.

Harley Raffle Boasts Record-Breaking YearEach year, the Chuck Cloud

Memorial Raffle proves to be one of the most exciting fundraising events for the GCBAA Foundation.

After all, who wouldn’t want a chance to win a beautiful Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic motorcycle or $10,000 cash?

The Harley Raffle is held each February in conjunction with the GCBAA Winter Meeting and Golf Industry Show (GIS). Proceeds from the raffle benefit the Foundation’s Sticks for Kids Program.

This year, GCBAA staff and volunteers launched a pre-sale campaign in October 2014. By the time the staff packed up and headed to the 2015 GIS Show in San Antonio, TX, more than 300 tickets had already been sold!

With just 500 tickets available for sale at $100 each, participants’ odds of winning are great. And after the grand prize ticket is drawn, an additional 50 tickets are pulled for 2nd Place winnings of $100 cash.

GCBAA Member (and last year’s raffle winner), Eddie Clark, graciously agreed to display his bike at the Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony

held at the Marriott Riverwalk Hotel. Cowboy’s Alamo City Harley provided a display bike for the GCBAA Foundation’s tradeshow booth in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center for the duration of the GIS tradeshow.

The bikes attracted a lot of attention, and GCBAA Staff and Harley Ambassadors were busy selling tickets right up until the raffle closed and the tradeshow ended Thursday, Feb. 26. In all, a record 467 were sold!

A small crowd gathered around the booth as Foundation President Rick Lohman drew the winning ticket, held by Mr. Sean Duffy, Superintendent of Isleworth Country Club. Mr. Duffy was thrilled, and his brand new bike was delivered to his home in Florida in March. Congratulations Sean!

An additional 50 tickets were drawn for a $100 cash prize, and the following individuals generously donated their winnings back to the Foundation. Thank you so much for your generosity and support!

Jan Bel Jan

Jacob Boylan

Eddie Clark

Derrick Cloud

Mike Crone

Chris Daigle

Greg DiLoreto

Frank Ellis

Rick Elyea

Bobby Garacochea

Shilo Harris

Rick Maher

Gary Mannies

Jay McPherson

Jon O’Donnell

Rick Phelps

Danielle Scardino

John Schrup

Steve Smith

Jorg Stratmann

Scott Veazey

James N. Ward

Doug York

Mark your calendars now for the 2016 Golf Industry Show which will be held Feb. 10-11 in San Diego Calif.

2015 Raffle Winner Sean Duffy shakes hands with GCBAA Foundation President Rick Lohman. Sean bought just one ticket for $100, and ended up going home with a brand new Harley.

GCBAA Foundation | 6040 S. 58th St., Suite D | Lincoln, NE 68516

Tel: 402-476-4444 Fax: 402-476-4489

www.sticksforkids.org