Though Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co., vowed to preserve some of the Fort Worth, Texas club’s history, the estates of Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan asked the owners not to include images of the golf icons, as Nelson was a “a Christian and a gentleman and did not drink alcoholic beverages.”
Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co. promised to preserve some of Glen Garden Golf Club’s history when the whiskey maker moves its operations to the Fort Worth, Texas site, the Dallas Morning News reported.
But the trustee of Byron Nelson’s estate is warning the distillery against being too thorough in honoring Glen Garden’s legacy. The trustee sent a letter this month telling Firestone & Robertson not to use the image of Nelson, a golf legend who was a caddie at Glen Garden and learned to play there, the News reported.
The letter said the Byron Nelson Marital Trust takes the teetotaling “Mr. Nelson’s name and reputation very seriously. Mr. Nelson has an impeccable reputation as a Christian and a gentleman,” said the letter from trustee Jon M. Bradley. “He did not drink alcoholic beverages.”
Distillery co-owner Leonard Firestone said he received that letter and a similar one from the estate of Ben Hogan, the News reported.
“We respect Byron Nelson’s legacy, Ben Hogan’s legacy,” Firestone said. “We’re not going to do anything that their heirs are not in support of.”
The Glen Garden golf course has struggled in recent years and was on the market for two years, the News reported.
C&RB has covered the progress of the distillery’s controversial development at Glen Garden CC.
Firestone told the Fort Worth City Council last month that he looked “forward to introducing a broader audience to the jewels of Glen Garden with existing memorabilia and showcasing the golf grounds.”
Now that won’t include the course’s best-known golfers, who first played head-to-head as teenagers in Glen Garden’s caddie championship, the News reported.
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