The annual Tellico Village Beautification Golf Tournament called “Superintendents’ Revenge” was held on Saturday, April 12, at Tellico Village’s Toqua Golf Course.
The purpose of the tournament was to help fund the various gardens surrounding the Tellico Village golf courses.
The three beautification committees are made up of volunteers from TV communities who routinely roll up their sleeves, plant shrubs, replace sod, add mulch, put in trees and change out flowers to complement the area and coincide with the impacts of seasonal changes.
This effort occurs year-round.
ANNUAL EVENT PROMOTED BY GOLF ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The tournament is promoted by the Tellico Village Golf Advisory Committee and occurs annually in the early months of the golf season. This time of the year especially highlights the beauty of spring in East Tennessee.
As the tournament was occurring, the players could enjoy the jonquils, azaleas and dogwood that are currently in bloom over at Toqua. The butterfly garden and the walking trails also provide for a lovely quiet area for strolling in the later parts of the day.
Over at Kahite, this committee funded a new berm to provide separation from the driving range and the nearby housing. This group also helped the golf course with the sod challenges it had because of the winter snow storms from last year.
Tanasi also has lovely changes in their gardens with new trees planted, gardens expanded, borders placed, as well as spreading 4,000 wild seeds to fill areas that previously challenged drainage.
The Superintendent’s Revenge part of the tournament included 17 different golf holes, with challenges on each one, including hitting from the back tees, hitting around large equipment and combining two holes into one, which created a long, long drive.
On another hole, the players had to putt on greens with multiple holes. In that circumstance, the teams had to guess which one of those holes to use.
Yet another hole had the cup inside a sand bunker. In addition to offering a challenging golf day, Tellico Village Golf showcased Tanasi’s newest assistant pro — Joe Britton — who could help teams by providing a drive on Toqua’s longest hole.
Since his average drive is well over 300 yards, it could help shave off strokes and make an enormous difference on the scores for the long par five.
SILENT AUCTION ANOTHER NICE PART OF THE EVENT
Another nice part of the event was the silent auction which included paintings, jewelry, golf foursomes, a recreation center membership, dinner cruise and artwork.
There were multiple baskets comprising gardening equipment, bourbon and tasting glasses and even fun retirement kits.
For the concert-goer, there were tickets to multiple concerts and tickets to the most sought-after events of the season, such as “Les Misérables” in downtown Knoxville.
But the items that caught everyone’s eye were the original golf hole markers from Toqua and Tanasi — which were offered by the superintendents. The shoppers sought them out to put in gardens, on patios and in entryways.
Purchasers often tried to pick ones with special meaning such as long drives or “hole in ones.” But most just wanted a piece of memorabilia they could take home and look at for a long time to come.
The tournament had three teams of winners, but many of the players said they felt that they had won by having a great time in a great place and supporting a wonderful group of volunteers to keep the gardens beautiful throughout all the four seasons.
Bev Blessing, the chairperson of the event and vice chair of the Golf Advisory Committee, said the group was so thankful for the support and the gracious donations. … The proceeds for this will be instrumental in funding all the gardens for the upcoming year.
