Overton Park

King-Collins was approached in late 2019 to overhaul the storied Overton Park Golf Course, the longest consecutively running municipal golf course in America, by The Overton Park Conservancy, which was led by the legendary George Cates.  The course itself, which weaves through the largest old growth forest in any American city, had fallen on hard times and rounds and enthusiasm for the course were at an all time low prior to our involvement with the project. While the citizens of Memphis were largely dejected about the state of the course, the enthusiasm for their memories of Overton Park and the potential that the project possessed, was both awe inspiring and motivating. We heard countless coming-of-age stories about the unforgettable first tee shot at the Overton Park Open, the intimidation of the gap tee shot on the second, and the heroic recollections of the first time the ditch on the seventh was cleared as a child.  These tales put wind in our sails and focused our efforts on revealing the shotmaking potential and variety of the layout. On a shoestring budget and with countless eyes on us, our team nailed the work. The following statistics on rounds played speak for themselves about the efficacy and impact of our work: 2017 saw 10,500 rounds, 2018 had 10.890, 2019 had 9,750, the renovation commenced in 2020, there was a partial opening in 2021 after the grow-in, in 2022 rounds jumped to 20,900, and in 2023 there were 31,560 rounds played.  Additionally, catapulted from $252k in 2022 to $551k in 2023.  Given that children play for free and the rest of the rounds are steeply discounted, Overton Park stands as a shining example of what is possible when dedicated citizens partner with a municipality to bring golf to the forefront.