MIRIMICHI GOLF CLUB IS MUSIC TO THE SUPERSTAR’S EAR
[dropcap size=small]G[/dropcap]rammy Award and Emmy Award-winning artist, Justin Timberlake’s love of golf is equaled by his passion for conservation. The hit maker may have one-upped Mother Nature with the Mirimichi Golf Club, a gorgeous marriage of sustainable practices and course design. Timberlake’s pride and joy, Mirimichi – Native American for “place of happy retreat,” is the first golf course in North, South or Central America to receive Golf Environment Organization (GEO) Certified status.
Timberlake, a 6 handicap who hosted his own PGA Tour event each fall, spent $16 million remodeling his original home course, Big Creek, which he renamed Mirimichi. GEO lauds Mirimichi for the native vegetation, landscape enhancement, minimal water consumption and sparing reliance on pesticides. The club also features solar-powered golf carts.
Mirimichi’s 43,000-square-foot clubhouse is built from recycled materials and is powered by the sun. The club also features solar-powered golf carts and is billed as golf’s first clubhouse to earn Platinum certification through the LEED program (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design). Memphis, Tennessee based renovation pros Randy Wilson and Mike MacElhose, owners of Talent Golf and Development, honored Mirmichi with the LEED program certification. The pair conducted a near-complete makeover of the original layout, emphasizing strategy, strength and control while providing five sets of tees.
Each hole at Mirimichi sports a Cherokee name, paying further homage to the area’s native heritage. The first hole is called Adaleniha (ah-dah-lay-nee-ha), or Beginning. Others are labeled Gada-ama (Muddy Water), Egategawi (Sunset) and Getsadi (Home). Timberlake aims to draw a major championship to Mirimichi, which he’s compared to New York’s two-time U.S. Open host Bethpage Black. Mirimichi ‘s difficulty is on par with some of the most challenging courses to date. The course features a 7,400-yard “Black Rock” tees, it boasts a USGA course rating of 76.6 and a Slope of 137.
Challenge aside, its progressive ecological features make Mirimichi unique. The redesign reduced mowable turf from 190 acres to a paltry 85, replacing short grass with free-roaming vegetation. In addition to its GEO award, Mirimichi became the first course in the U.S. to earn Audubon International Classic Sanctuary status. Timberlake has called the course “probably the coolest thing I have ever been a part of in my life.” No matter how you feel about his music, it’s hard to argue with that.
It is evident to speculate that when Justin Timberlake isn’t in the studio making hit records, such has the acclaimed “Suit & Tie featuring JAY Z” or making films such as “Runner Runner” with co-stars Ben Affleck and Eva Longoria, you can find him on the links at Mirimichi playing the sweet sound of his fairway woods.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MIRIMICHI AT WWW.MIRIMICHI.COM.
BY https://19thholemag.com | IMAGES: MIRIMICHI | TOM MUNRO / RCA RECORDS
