COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau — if you recognize those names, you're in for a real treat this weekend. All of those pro golfers are in town, ready to tee it up for Middle Tennessee's first-ever LIV Golf Tournament. The Grove Golf Club in College Grove, Tennessee is the host course.
When it comes to the game itself, LIV Golf won't change a thing. Lowest score still wins the prize. When it comes to everything else, let's just say this isn't your grandfather's golf tournament. "It’s golf but it’s louder. We’ve got music going," said Sean Riley, LIV Nashville's Tournament Director. "We’ve got a tremendous atmosphere."
On each hole, you'll hear booming loudspeakers playing music. Up at the Grove's clubhouse, there's a CMA Fest sized stage ready for live performances. "It’s going to feel like an arena, it’s going to feel like you’re in a major stadium, sports venue," Riley said.
Hole 15 is the aptly named party hole, where there are bar tables set up on the left side of the par three's fairway and luxury grandstands wrapping around the putting green. When the tournament starts, it'll probably sound more like a honky tonk than a quiet spectator's gallery. "The spectators are going to feel like they’re right on top of the action, as they’re down in the fairway," Riley said.
It's more relaxed for the LIV players too. They can sport shorts during competition play instead of long pants. Players do a "shotgun start" so spectators don't have to wait as long to see all their favorite players. It's also a shorter tournament with three days of competition instead of the traditional four.
The shorter competition is actually where the league gets its name. LIV is 54 in Roman numerals. "It stands for the 54 holes that are played," Riley explained.
Riley thinks the condensed tournament keeps things more competitive. "Players need to get off to a fast start, they need to close strong so over those three rounds it’s really going to reward the best player and make sure our champion is crowned," he said.
That being said, the fledgling professional golf league, still in talks to potentially merge with the more traditional Professional Golf Association (PGA), has also been mired in controversy since play began. The league is largely financed by the Saudi Arabian government.
"It’s a regime that’s reportedly killed journalists, jailed and tortured dissidents, fostered the war in Yemen, and supported other terrorist activities including the 9/11 attack," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut said, during testimony on Capitol Hill back in 2023.
Organizers hope the controversy will be drowned out by lively music and incredible golf when play begins on Friday. "Those 54 holes are really a championship-quality atmosphere," Riley said.
Individual general admission passes are still available for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday rounds. Fittingly given the league's name, the starting price is $54 a day.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
