In June 1990, Henry and Lupton flew to Chicago, where they met with then-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman at the U.S. Open at Medinah Country Club. The primary topic of discussion was an exclusive date, and Lupton and Henry brought a bargaining chip – the promise of a new golf course.
Just like Lupton’s offer to help, a new venue to host the Classic was an unexpected surprise. Henry had developed a friendship with another Chattanooga businessman, Jon Kinsey, who along with his partner Jeff Leonard developed real estate under the name Leonard-Kinsey and Associates.
“I was looking for him to be a sponsor,” Henry said. “I wanted the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel [which Leonard-Kinsey had purchased and renovated] to be a host venue for the tournament. When I first met Jon, you talk about somebody who was really fired up about the future of Chattanooga. He was a big proponent of downtown renovations. We became friends and played golf together. He wound up giving the tournament office space. He really, really got involved.”
It was 303 acres, and we liked the way it laid out. The rolling nature of it. – Jon Kinsey
One day Henry asked for Kinsey’s opinion about a piece of property he thought could be turned into a good golf course. But Kinsey had a better idea.
“Hey,” Kinsey said. “I’ve got a piece of property.”
“That’s how it got started,” Henry said. “I went to Mr. Lupton and said, you need to meet Jon Kinsey. He’s really gung ho. Not just about the tournament, but about Chattanooga.” So we set up a meeting. I introduced them, and the rest is history.
That land Kinsey told Henry about was located in the East Brainerd area of Chattanooga and also stretched across the state line into Georgia. Originally, Leonard-Kinsey and Associates wanted to build apartments on it.
“It was 303 acres, and we liked the way it laid out,” Kinsey recalls. “The rolling nature of it. It was on the [South Chickamauga] creek. East Brainerd was the growth area at that time.”
But after the company acquired more land on Gunbarrel Road, directly across from the new Hamilton Place Mall, which had opened in the summer of 1987, Leonard and Kinsey decided to develop an apartment complex there. So those beautiful 300-plus acres, bisected by a creek and surrounded by natural wetlands, were just lying there, waiting to be utilized.
Kinsey had been inspired by Jack Lupton. He and Leonard started their company in Hilton Head, S.C. and commuted to Chattanooga for two years. Then one day Kinsey read an interview Lupton gave the Chattanooga Times.
“He talked about how it was going to make Chattanooga a better place,” Kinsey said. “I told Jeff that things were starting to happen in Chattanooga and that we ought to look there. There was a time when we would have been embarrassed to say we were from Chattanooga; most people knew it as the most polluted city in America."
But things were changing. The city was trying to go green. Mr. Lupton was at the forefront of the Tennessee Aquarium project, and other people had great ideas to revitalize downtown.
Leonard and Kinsey soon set up an office in Chattanooga. Their first project was the Hamilton Chase Apartments. And then Buddy Henry mentioned something about needing a golf course.
I went to Mr. Lupton and said, ‘you need to meet Jon Kinsey. He’s really gung ho. Not just about the tournament, but about Chattanooga.’ So we set up a meeting. I introduced them, and the rest is history.” – Buddy Henry
Kinsey recalls the first meeting with Jack Lupton. They drove to the property to let Lupton have a look.
“We took him to the hillside, not the tee, [at what would become No. 11],” Kinsey said. “As you go down 11, there’s a big hill. Jack said, ‘My God, if I’d seen this place before I built The Honors, I would have built it here.’ He loved it, and said, ‘yeah let’s do it.’”
The second time Lupton met with Lenard and Kinsey, he bought his chief financial officer Charlie Chitty who also happened to be a good golfer.
“To start the meeting, Jack introduces us" Kinsey said. “And Charlie says something questioning why we think Jack ought to be involved in another golf course. And Jeff Leonard said, ‘who the hell called this meeting?’ And Jack said, ‘Charlie he’s right. I called this meeting. I asked them to do this."
“And after that, Charlie didn’t have any more comments. I think Jeff really enjoyed hearing Jack say that. From then on, we never had any issues.”
Kinsey and Lenard made it clear they wanted Lupton’s name front and center. They weren’t looking for him to be a silent partner.
“We told Jack that the only way we had interest in doing the project was that it had to be very public and that he was involved,” Kinsey said. “If Jeff and I were going to do a golf course, it wouldn’t have worked. It had to be him". He said OK. We felt that he would give people confidence it was going to get done and be first class.
“We would have never done this without him.”
And they would never have done it on the original plot of land. Lupton’s ties to Augusta National led to his suggestion that Bob Cupp be hired to design the new course. And Kinsey recalls that one of Cupp’s first suggestions was that 303 acres weren’t going to be enough.
“I’m sure it was Cupp who put that idea in our heads,” Kinsey said. “And we maybe didn’t need [the extra land]. Bob just said it would be better. A lot of the 303 acres was wetland, and still is.”
Two farms, 150 acres between then, adjoined the property, so Leonard and Kinsey went to work acquiring them. The task wasn’t easy.
“One of the farms was owned by a Mrs. Million,” Kinsey said. “We didn’t pay her a million, but we paid her a lot". We also bought the other property. Mrs. Million’s property was over near No. 8 tee. The only way you could get there was down the service road next to the railroad track. The other piece of property was located where the maintenance facility is now.
“I remember going to Mrs. Million’s house several times. She lived on East Brainerd Road, further out from where the farm was. When we first approached her, it wasn’t for sale. It took quite a while, but we got her, and we got the other guy to sell, too.”
Years later, Kinsey recalled that his big pitch, the turning point in the negotiations with Mrs. Million, was appealing to her civic pride. “I told her what it was for, and that was important to the city,” Kinsey said. “I think that made a difference.”