Sweetens Cove is known for its quaint charms and stripped-down amenities.
Christian Hafer
Sweetens Cove is looking to sweeten her appeal.
Already one of the most sought-after courses in public golf, Tennessee’s beloved 9-hole course is getting ready to expand.
The plans, which ownership announced Tuesday, call for a new short par-3 course, along with a number of additional amenities, including cabanas for staying and playing, an elaborate putting green, a fishing pier , a shooting range, and a restaurant and distillery. Sweetens Cove Architects Rob Collins and Tad King of King-Collings Golf Design will design the new short course, with construction scheduled to begin next year. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2026.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Sweetens Cove general manager and CEO Mike Adamski said the expansion will help accommodate consistently high demand without changing the property’s “unique culture.”
“The demand is incredible,” Adamski said. “But even with the expansion, we’re maintaining our focus on a quality experience.”
Located in South Pittsburg, Tenn., Sweetens Cove was an underdog at its birth in 2015, when Collins and King created an urban plan out of a once-flat floodplain roughly 30 minutes from Chattanooga. But with the help of a social media frenzy and national press in non-golf publications, the course quickly evolved from a beginner’s introduction to a cult favorite and then to a mainstream juggernaut, with an ownership group that now includes Peyton Manning and Andy Roddick, and a branch spirit brand, Sweetens Cove Spiritsinspired by the tradition of Sweetens Cove before the round of knocking back a glass of whiskey.
Along with its quirky design, the course is known for its unconventional operations. A modest shack doubles as her club. And there is no tee time. Instead, the course offers 45 to 60 daily passes with unlimited play, which are usually snapped up within minutes of release. Players start at a shotgun start and are free to skip holes or repeat them as they wish.
The expansion, which will include a small-batch distillery and bottle shop as an on-site showcase for Sweetens Cove Whiskey, is being led by Reef Capital Partners, a real estate development company with a growing presence on the golf course. In addition to its involvement in Sweetens Cove, the company is developing Black Desert Resortwhich recently hosted Utah’s first PGA Tour in more than 50 years, and Marchella at Deer Valley, which features a mountain design by Tiger Woods.
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Reef Capital CEO Jared Lucero said the expansion is meant to bring special creature comforts to a property famous for its unique charms. Adding “a place to stay, a little more to do, some great food and drink – these things will make any visit even more memorable, whether you’re playing the course for the first time or the hundredth.”
As for the new par-3 course, co-designer Rob Collins said it would fit the Sweetens Cove aesthetic.
“It’s not just a regular short course,” Collins said. You can play each hole in multiple ways, adding a ‘cross-country’ style you won’t find anywhere else.”
News of the expansion comes at the end of a particularly hectic year at Sweetens Cove, which was forced to close for three months of recovery last spring and summer after a harsh winter affected ground conditions. Since reopening at the end of August, the property has been operating at full speed and sold out until the end of 2024.
