Ted Rhodes Golf Course

Ted Rhodes Golf Course in Nashville is one of the most historically important municipal courses in American golf, named for Theodore 'Ted' Rhodes, the renowned Black golf professional from Nashville who paved the way for Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Renee Powell, and ultimately Tiger Woods. With the backing of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, Rhodes was the premier player on the United Golf Association Tour (the then-segregated Black golf circuit) in the 1940s and 1950s. Nashville's Park Board renamed the course in his honor in 1969 at the request of legendary Councilman Robert Lillard. The current 18-hole course is a Gary Roger Baird, ASGCA design that opened in 1993, a redesign and expansion of the original 9-hole Cumberland Golf Course that was built in 1953. The layout sits on the banks of the Cumberland River in North Nashville with a links-style routing that incorporates lakes, bunkers, and two holes running beside the Cumberland River itself. For the Nashville trip visitor, Ted Rhodes is both a playable municipal round and a stop that matters, the commemorative weight of the name alone justifies including it on a Music City golf itinerary.