Sweetens Cove Golf Club, the nine-hole cult-favorite golf course in South Pittsburg, Tenn., has some new co-owners that will help elevate the stature of the nationally recognized standout it is.
Among those new investors are some legendary athletes, including multi-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning and former US Open tennis champion Andy Roddick. Manning and Roddick are part of a group of five investors in the Tennessee golf course founded by Rob Collins and Tad King, replacing a former 18-hole course called Sequatchie Valley Golf Course on the property with their vision for what a modern golf course should be. Sweetens Cove has a shed for a clubhouse, a nearly nonexistent practice facility and only port-a-potties for restrooms, but the fun architecture has wowed thousands of golfers. It's become a magnet for golfers from around the world to experience Sweetens Cove, approximately an hour outside Chattanooga, another underrated place.
In early April, Collins was asked by Mark Rivers, a real estate investor from California and one of the five investors, to join him at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Chattanooga to meet with some of the new investors. That's when, according to The Times Free Press, Collins was introduced to Manning as one of the investors.
Since Manning and Roddick have come aboard as investors, they've played the course a number of times and have shared social media posts from and relating to Sweetens Cove. The hope is to further grow the course, the amount of play on it and improve just a few of the infrastructure features of the property.
In the long term, who knows what's possible. Another course could be built, with King-Collins design building a dream 18-hole layout. Maybe it could be on adjoining property to Sweetens Cove, laying the groundwork for a future resort.
But for now, Sweetens Cove is on more-than-solid financial footing, allowing Collins and King to further grow one of America's best golf courses.
