Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Really, who turns down free golf?

That's what the First Tee of Central Arkansas will be offering — free golf and free range balls — on Sunday, July 29, when it reopens its two 9-hole courses with their new Champion Bermuda greens. The free day on the course will run from 9 a.m. to an hour before sundown Sunday, and everybody can play either the Chairman's Course (a regulation, par-36) or the Honor's Course (all par-3 holes).

A limited number of carts will be available for rent, and the course also has pull carts for rent.

First Tee closed the courses in early June for sprigging by Champion Farms of Houston, whose grass is garnering acclaim from all over the South for its playability and easier maintenance than bentgrass during summer months. Several top country club and public courses in the Little Rock area have turned to Champion Bermuda, which was also the grass in play last summer at the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

Cory Biggs, executive director of Little Rock's First Tee facility, said the greens "have grown in beautifully."

Course superintendent Bob Hinn said, "This will give us a more resilient grass for this climate. We have usually ended up closing 4-6 weeks each year and now we should be able to stay open year-round with lower maintenance costs."

Following Sunday's free day, the course will reopen to regular play on Tuesday, July 31.

First Tee will officially celebrate the course openings on Aug. 25 with another event open to the public, featuring a "Put It On The Green" Celebrity Skills Challenge. In a format similar to Golf Channel's "Big Break" series, four-person teams of local celebs will compete for prizes. Also that afternoon, teams of adults and First Tee youth ambassadors will participate in a par-3 golf marathon on the Honors Course, playing as many holes as possible in four hours.

Major golf equipment companies will be on hand to show off new equipment for golfers to try, at no charge.

Then, on Sunday, Aug. 26, green fees at the facility will be only $1 per person (not including any cart or pull-cart rental).

The local First Tee reaches nearly 1,500 youths ages 3 to 18, and a new grassroots fund-raising program, dubbed "Put It On The Green," has a target to raise that number to 3,000 youths and to bring in an additional $200,000 to operate the facility.

"The proven results of The First Tee's programs help some of the most at-risk children in our community in the fight against the growing childhood obesity rate and to graduate from high school and find success in the stages of their lives that follow," Biggs said.

For more information on the events or for joining, visit the First Tee of Central Arkansas website or call (501) 562-GOLF. The First Tee of Central Arkansas is at 1 First Tee Way, off of South University Avenue.

THUMBS UP FOR CHENAL: Chenal Country Club drew raves from the administrators of the Southern Golf Association not only for the exquisite condition they found the Bear Den course in for the Southern Amateur last week, but also for the way the club handled all the events around the tournament. The food at the welcome banquet and other events particularly got a nod from the likes of Tommy Culp, the SGA president.

And, despite a heat index that hit 114 during the third round last Friday, the course held up well. Dartmouth grad Peter Williamson and Alabama Crimson Tide golfer Bobby Wyatt finished 72 holes tied at 12-under, and it took three holes before Williamson rolled in a 27-foot birdie putt (on Bear Den's No. 1) to win.