The GC of Tennessee combined golf and food with the inaugural “Couples Chopped” event, to boost women’s participation in golf.
When the staff at The Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs, Tenn., observed that women’s participation in golf was waning—despite the creation of ladies-only events—a different approach was devised.
Assistant Golf Professional Kylene Pulley joined forces with Executive Chef Rich Cummings to develop an event that would combine golf with food in a comfortable environment.
“One [positive golf] trend I was starting to notice was [that] our couples play [was up],” Pulley says. “I understand the comforting feeling of having your significant other with you in an unfamiliar location.
“So, in talking with Rich, we thought of an event to promote getting ladies to feel comfortable by allowing them to play golf with their significant others, and that would also put them in [another comfortable] element—the kitchen.”
On July 12, the club hosted the inaugural “Couples Chopped” event. First, eight couples played a nine-hole, better-ball competition, with the four best-scoring couples moving into the kitchen for a cooking event. The four “cooking couples” were given a basket of mystery ingredients and five minutes to formulate a plan. Club chefs were paired with each team to ensure food safety and find additional ingredients, and the teams had 30 minutes to prepare, cook and plate their dinners.
“By having a chef assist each team, we were able to keep the teams at their individual work stations and not have too much traffic in the kitchen,” Cummings says. “The chefs could not do any of the cooking or advise the couples.
“All judging was done by the contestants, not the chefs,” he adds. “The judges were allowed to observe—and heckle the teams that were cooking.”
The mystery basket for the dinner round included a whole beef tenderloin, polenta, local sweet corn, and ketchup.
As those couples cooked, the bottom-scoring couples from the golf event had been moved on to a cocktail round, where they created concoctions that were judged based on ingredients, presentation and overall taste. The winners received a set of cocktail glasses featuring the event’s logo, which Pulley designed.
Once dinner was served, two couples were “chopped” from the competition, and the remaining two advanced to the dessert round, where they used baskets made up of tamarind, lady finger cookies, cream cheese, and fresh local peaches. The final winners won a trophy and a free night’s stay in the club’s cabin, helping to extend the “date night” experience.
The event’s success has prompted the club to plan spring and fall editions.
“This event was a great way to get my kitchen staff to interact and build lasting relationships with the members in a fun, competitive environment,” says Cummings. “It was hard to tell who enjoyed it more—the staff, or the members.”
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