Established 1983 Total holes 18 | Type Private | |
Location near Ooltewah, Tennessee, U.S. Tournaments hosted 1991 U.S. Amateur
1996 NCAA Div. I C'ship
2010 NCAA Div. I C'ship Website Honors Course home page | ||
The Honors Course is a privately owned golf course located near Ooltewah, Tennessee, just north of Chattanooga. The club was founded by Coca-Cola bottling heir Jack Lupton and designed by Pete Dye in 1983. Since its inception, the course has received numerous accolades, such as: number one ranked course in the state, number thirty-four on Golf Digest's list of the top one-hundred golf courses in America, and the opportunity to hold such prestigious amateur tournaments as the U.S. Amateur, NCAA Championships, and U.S. Junior Championship. Jack Lupton's main idea in founding The Honors Course was to create a place to honor amateur golf and amateur golfers. The course is located in an unincorporated area of Hamilton County, Tennessee, just north of the unincorporated community of Ooltewah.
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1991 U.S. Amateur
The U.S. Amateur was the first major event held at The Honors Course. A California native, Mitch Voges, won the tournament in convincing fashion—beating his opponent in the final match 7 and 6. His road to the trophy included a few miraculous shots, like: a holed approach shot and a birdie putt from forty feet.
NCAA Championships
Two separate NCAA Championships have been hosted by Lupton's course. The first, in 1996, was won by Arizona State University. Its individual title makes this one of the most famous NCAA Championships of all time. The trophy was won by a young Tiger Woods, who dominated the field so much in the first days that he finished with a final round 80 and was still able to win by four.
In its second time being hosted at the Honors Course, the team title was claimed by a huge underdog—the Augusta State Jaguars, who took down the number one ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Scott Langley of Illinois won the individual crown.
U.S. Mid-Amateur
In 2005, the 25th U.S. Mid-Amateur was held at The Honors Course. The final match of the tournament came down to Kevin Marsh and Carlton Forrester and Marsh won without much of a fight from Forrester. The 32-year-old Las Vegas native won the final match 10 and 9 to take the mid-am title.
Amateur Creed
Jack Lupton founded the course with this idea in mind: "The work that I have done has been for amateur sport, and I hope you wont mind if I leave you with my creed of amateurism. Amateurism, after all, must be the backbone of all sport-- golf or otherwise. In my mind an amateur is one who competes for the joy of playing, for the companionship it affords, for health giving exercise, and for relaxation from more serious matters. As part of this light-hearted approach to the game, he cheerfully accepts all adverse breaks, is considerate of his opponent, plays the game fairly and squarely in accordance of its rules, maintains self control, and strives to do his best, not in order to win, but rather as a test of his own skill and ability. These are his only interests, and, in them material considerations have no part. The return which amateur sport will bring to those who play it in this spirit are greater than those any money can possible buy."
Honors Circle
Lupton also wanted to honor amateur golfers that have had great success so he created the honors circle. Each hole is named after a golfer and tells of their successes and accolades within amateur golf. Recipients of this honor range from college players to Senior Amateur champions and have been both men and women.