Nashville's McCabe Golf Course offers affordable rounds in the heart of the city

Every Tuesday for the last 66 years, a group of women have played nine holes at McCabe Golf Course .

Babs Behar has played with the group, the Nashville Women's Suburban Golf Association, for three years, and her late mother was also a member.

"(I enjoy) the camaraderie," said Behar as she took out one of her clubs and practiced swinging. "We're all learning. Everyone makes it so enjoyable."

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Nashville's public golf courses have benefited from an influx of new golfers, and McCabe has seen the most players out of the six courses owned and managed by Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation.

As the highest grossing municipal golf course in Nashville and the closest to downtown, McCabe averages around 10,000 rounds a month. It's also equipped with a driving range and chipping and putting green.

"Golf has become so popular that this place stays really booked up," said Tina Whitworth, another member of the women's group. "When we get back (from playing), sometimes there will be nine or 10 groups trying to tee off, just because everyone wants to play."

COVID-19: A pathway to an increased interest in golf

McCabe has had record-breaking numbers after Metro golf courses closed in the spring of 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. After restrictions were lifted in Nashville, McCabe's management and staff have observed a strenuous increase in interest in golf.

"(Play) really picked up during COVID," said Dena Williams, a longtime member of the women's group. "This is something that everybody could do outside."

John Holmes, assistant director of Parks and Recreation, associates the golf courses' popularity with COVID-19.

"What we did here in Nashville is that we didn't close the courses. We kept the courses open to the public," Holmes said. "Our clubhouses were closed, but people went out there and played. It was incredible because the golf courses were all full during COVID."

Since then, Holmes said there's been a steady stream of golfers at the city's public courses.

Metro golf courses have lots of traffic, but not enough people to handle it

This golf boom has led to staffing and budget concerns, which have caused limited hours of operation. Currently, McCabe is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., but as the summer is considered peak season for golfers, McCabe's clubhouse should stay open longer, but cannot.

"Our numbers are the highest in the history [of the golf course]," said McCabe golf manager Audie Johnson III. "I think not only me but the community has put emphasis on golf."

In the summer, McCabe hosts around 500 golfers a day, seven days a week, which strains the course's limited staffing even with a few additional seasonal employees.

Holmes has requested a larger budget for Metro for Parks and Recreation. That budget has stayed the same for the past two years, even with the significant revenue brought in from the golf department.

That revenue is made even with the course's affordable prices, ranging from $6 to $12 for the driving range to $40 to $50 dollars to play 18 holes with a cart during the week.

Regardless of how busy Metro's golf courses are, Holmes says there is no intention to raise prices.

"The golf courses were always intended to be affordable for the people who were not the country club golfers," Holmes said. "We could easily raise our fees, but that would price [golfers] right out of being able to play, and that's not why we are here."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's McCabe Golf continues to fill public courses