Family Affair

SPORTS WEEKLY Nashville Volume 2, Number 24 The Home of Hometown Heroes! June 26, 2019 Family Affair The Wolcotts Love to Compete On and Off the Golf Course By Craig Flagg than what golf could provide, he be- NSP Contributor came a standout linebacker in high school and has played two years of When the Wolcott boys were little football at UT-Martin. tykes, their No. 1 activity was play- Happy to see his sons finding ing golf. their own course in life, Bob Wol- Of course, ranking just below that cott, who operates GreyStone Golf might have been watching golf, Club in Dickson and is also general talking golf strategy and, then, per- manager at Tunica National Golf & haps debates about golf clubs. Tennis in Mississippi, recently re- And it all makes sense, consid- flected upon his journey, from nav- ering that their dad, Bob Wolcott, igating the the obstacles at Pebble enjoyed a measure of success on Beach to navigating the pitfalls of the PGA Tour after capping off an fatherhood. outstanding career as a collegiate golfer. Nurturing a love of golf -- While the Wolcott boys are no Bob got his first taste of golf play- longer little tykes, their lives still ing on a course not far from where revolve around a little, white ball he raised his own family, where his — well, sort of. father, a dentist, was a club mem- Ben, the eldest, just turned 24. He ber. is two years removed from playing “My dad grew up in Dickson,” collegiately at Ole Miss and is chip- he said. “Back then, kids couldn’t ping away at a burgeoning pro ca- play on the course on the weekends, reer on the links. so the only time we could play was Hunter and Collier, 21-year-old during the week. twins, are very close, yet they are “Dad sawed me off three clubs. I hardly attached at the hip. Hunter, just loved hitting balls, whether it who recently finished in a tie for was in the yard at the house or the third at the Tennessee State Open, club.” has a summer full of golf events on It wasn’t long before he got to be tap before beginning his final two quite good at it. seasons as a member of the Univer- By his senior year in high school, sity of Tennessee golf team. Collier, he was one of the top juniors in the well, his family lovingly jokes that nation and was being recruited by he landed in the rough, choosing The Wolcott Way the likes of Oklahoma State, Wake football over golf. Bob Wolcott (top left) has watched his three sons Collier, Ben and Hunter Forest and Georgia. To be honest, Collier was born in develop the love of competition that made him an outstanding college and professional golfer. the rough. Hungry for more contact Photo courtesy of the Wolcott family Continued on Page 7 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Harpeth Golf Hosts Demo Day Blast Hockey Wraps Up Spring Jordan Bone Selected in NBA Draft Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 2 Nashville Sports Publications June 26, 2019 Wolcotts Love to Compete On and Off Course Continued from Page 1 sign me up for junior golf tourna- ments. He pushed it pretty hard, but He initially opted for Wake For- not in a bad way.” est, but after realizing it wasn’t the Hunter says the best advice his right fit, he took a mulligan and dad has ever given him is “whatev- transferred to Georgia, where he er you want to do, be the best at it earned All-SEC and All-American that you can be.” honors. Hunter added, “He wanted us to He embarked on a pro career on win and succeed at whatever we the PGA Tour and though he never were doing, whether we were go- won a Tour event, he did post five ing into banking or going to play top-five finishes. professional golf. There were times “If I had TrackMan back then, I when I definitely wanted to quit the could have figured some things out game, but that comes with every- about what I was doing on a couple thing. If you’re going to be good at of things,” he said, only half jok- anything, there’s got to be a bottom ing. “It was not ball-striking. It was point where you consider quitting more of my short game, wedges, because that’s where you find your the things you had to do to score. true identity. I could putt great and I could hit it “Me and Ben could hang up the well, bunkers weren’t a problem.” clubs tomorrow, and if we found Gradually, Wolcott transitioned something that we loved, he would into more of a golf management be completely happy for us.” role. Of course, part of that was managing the development of his Bob Wolcott enjoyed a successful college and pro career before settling Golf takes back seat --- into golf management at Greystone and Tunica National golf clubs. sons’ skills and trying to land smack While there is no denying that Photo courtesy of Wolcott family dab in the middle of the fairway be- golf factors heavily into this tightly lete in the family. He is a tenacious “He was very tough at times,” he knit family, it no longer is the cen- competitor.” said about his dad. “Looking back Wolcott recalls a strategy he em- on it, he went about it the right way ployed to keep his boys from giving because he wanted us to be very up the game he so loved. successful and competitive. But as “I had a saying, and it worked with kids, you don’t really see the out- Hunter and Ben: ‘You know, we ward view that he wants the best for don’t like this, you can quit when us, so we thought, at times, he was you break 80.’ Well, it took them a being a little too hard on us. Look- long time. They fell in love with it ing back, I wouldn’t have wanted before they ever broke 80. For Col- him to be any softer because it’s lier, it just didn’t work. He’d say, made me the man who I am today, ‘This game is stupid. I can’t hit any- and it’s made me the competitor thing. I just want to break a club.’ who I am.” “I told him, ‘If you’re OK with Collier recently spoke about what not playing and your brothers get- it was like growing up in a family ting pretty good and having suc- so deeply entrenched in golf. cess, then I’m OK with it.’” “People would ask me why I liked Hunter is looking to help Tennes- While it has altered their story, it’s football so much,’ Collier said. “I’d see capture an NCAA title. been a decision that nobody in the tell them because I can go out there Photo by Carl Edmondson Ben Wolcott played for Ole Miss in family regrets. and hit someone as hard as I can college and is now competing as a professional. without getting in trouble.” Photo by Carl Edmondson Pushing and pulling --- Certainly sounds more satisfying terpiece. Hunter reflected upon those ear- than whacking a ball with a stick. Through a series of events — ly years, when he and Collier were “After school, we would get largely one terribly tragic one al- tween good parent and great coach. trying to keep up with Ben and their dropped off at the golf course ev- most three years ago — the family’s “I always felt like the golf course dad. ery day,” Collier said. “The passion focus, one individual at a time, has was a great place to keep kids out of “You hear so many stories grow- (for golf) thing was something that turned toward faith. trouble,” he said. ing up, and from living in a smaller I lacked growing up, but I think that As Hunter put it, “Growing up, Firstborn Ben was easy to groom. town, there’s so many people just was mainly because Hunter and golf was at the forefront in the fam- Hunter was much the same. Collier, talking about how great Dad was at Ben were great golfers young. ily. If there was a tournament on like the greens at Pebble Beach, golf and I kinda wanted to be that “We were all so competitive, it Sunday, we were at a tournament was more of a challenge. story,” he said about what drove didn’t matter, we just wanted to be and we weren’t at church. It kinda “Collier didn’t want to do any- him. the best and win. I enjoyed going took a back seat.” thing they did but wanted you know Hunter says that as he’s gotten out there and playing. I, obviously, All that began to change after a that he was going to assert his au- older, he’s been able to replay some wasn’t better than Hunter or Ben, so boating accident claimed the life of thority,” Bob said. “Ben’s 6-5, of the early challenges from a dif- it was frustrating at times, but my Jerry Greer, Collier’s best friend, in Hunter is 6-4½ and Collier is 6-1, ferent perspective. dad always pushed me to try it and but we always call him the best ath- Continued on Page 3 June 26, 2019 Nashville Sports Publications 3 Wolcotts Stay Close Through Sports Continued from Page 2 Greer, some may recall, was the son of country music star Craig Morgan.

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