BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Golfers can tee it up in Starke once again, thanks to the Tatum family taking the management reins again at the Starke Golf and Country Club course, which had been closed for approximately four months.
The course re-opened on Jan. 8 and has had steady business most days when the weather has been decent.
“Everyone has told me the course is in the best shape they’ve seen it in years,” said Tammy Jo Montford, the daughter of Charles and Sylvia Tatum.
Charles and Sylvia formed the ownership group Tatum Golf Enterprises with Charles’ brother, Tom (now deceased), and his wife, Linda, when the family bought the course in 2004.
A lot of work went into making improvements for the course to re-open. However, the work hasn’t stopped.
“We hope to keep on doing anything we can to provide something for people in Bradford County,” said Thomas Tatum, the grandson of Tom and Linda Tatum. He added, “We’re going to continue to make it better.”
The Tatum family announced in November 2016 that it was giving up management of the golf course, with a family spokesperson at the time saying that the Tatum Golf Enterprises members were getting older and finding it difficult to manage the course and stay involved with the family’s main business, which is Tatum Brothers Lumber Company in Lawtey.
Tammy Jo said when the family discussed the course during its most recent closure, two of its younger members expressed an interest in stepping in to manage it again: Thomas Tatum and Montford’s daughter, Lucy Montford.
“They said, ‘Don’t lease it again. We want to do something with it.’ When we managed it before, (Thomas and Lucy) were too young to do anything with it,” Tammy Jo said, adding, “They are so excited about it. They’ve got all these ideas.”
Thomas Tatum admitted his goal is for the course to become known as “Florida’s best-kept secret. The cost to play is $10 per person (nine or 18 holes). Carts can be rented for $20.
“There’s not much in the community for the younger generation and the older generation (to do together),” Thomas said.
He hopes the Starke course can provide that full family fun, with a welcoming, come-as-you-are atmosphere.
“We’re trying to give it a mom-and-pop vibe. We welcome just about anybody,” Thomas said, adding, “It’s not like your standard golf course, where you’ve got to wear this or wear that or be some sort of way.”
Working to re-open
Thomas Tatum spent a lot of time getting the course into playing shape. He said the entire course had become overgrown — so much so that when he cleared it, he discovered numerous balls and clubs.
“I probably found 5,000 golf balls just after bush hogging,” Tatum said. “It took about a month’s work of bush hogging.”
Bunkers, which had become filled with grass, had to be dug out, while the greens had to be fertilized and overseeded to promote new growth and make the course more playable.
Thomas said he had numerous people helping him, such as Eddie Akridge, Charlie Baker Jeffrey Crawford, David Tew and Richie Wheeler.
Wheeler, in particular, was a tremendous resource due to his experience with golf courses, Tatum said.
“We used to race together,” Thomas said of Wheeler. “He’s been working in the business for 20-something years. I had the chance to have him mentor me and get him involved out here.”
The response to the condition of the course has been positive.
“It’s not perfect yet, but compared to what we started with, it’s a huge difference,” Thomas said, adding, “With the community supporting us and us getting lots of play, we’re going to continue to work on the course to make it better for the consumer.”
While Thomas focused his efforts on the outside, Lucy Montford turned hers toward the pro shop. She said it wasn’t cleaned out when the family bought the course in 2004, so work began on what was an overdue project.
“It’s the first thing you see,” she said of the pro shop, adding, “It was just really important to us to take everything out and start fresh.”
The process involved such things as painting and installing new carpet after hauling off “trailers and trailers of junk,” Lucy said.
Lucy said every person who walks in the door says, “It smells so nice.”
“It really has made a difference,” she said of the pro shop work.
Like Thomas, Lucy has had people assisting her with her work — people she said she “begged to come help me.” They include Wyatt Barber, Harrison Cunningham and Calli Morrow as well as sisters Bobbie Jo Montford and Charlee Montford.
Lucy said her father, Bob Montford, has been pitching in, too.
“He kind of got dragged into it,” she said. “It started with me calling him and asking, ‘How should we do this?’ Now, somehow, he’s out here every afternoon helping with something.”
Fully committed
Tatum Brothers Lumber Company has been in existence in Lawtey since 1963 (though the company was founded in 1930). It may always be what comes to most people’s minds first when they think of the Tatum family.
It’s impressive for a family to have one successful business, but the Tatum family is striving for two. That can only happen with everyone being on the same page as to how to move past disagreements and get to the task at hand.
What Charles and his brother, Tom, accomplished at Tatum Brothers Lumber Company serves as an example.
“My brother and I partnered 55 years together,” Charles said.
You can be sure the brothers probably didn’t see eye to eye on everything during all those years, but the key is to focus on what’s important. As Tammy Jo put it, “We were taught, ‘Look at the big picture. You’ve got to make it work. Hush, make it work and get along.”
“It’s tough to not butt heads,” Thomas said. “That’s what I think separates the ones who keep success rolling from the ones who don’t keep success — at some point, you’ve got to have enough sense to give a little and take a little and work together. If you don’t work together, it’ll fall apart a lot faster than it was put together.”
Unfortunately, one of the family members wasn’t involved in the process of taking over the management of the course again as Tom Tatum passed away June 9, 2017. However, it’s not hard for his family to imagine that he’s pleased with their involvement.
“I’d say when we first got the golf course (in 2004), Tom probably loved it more than anybody,” Thomas said. “This was his little getaway from the sawmill. He loved talking to the community up here.”
Tammy Jo said, “He would be glad, I think, that we’ve taken it back.”
Though they’re “sawmillers at the end of the day,” Thomas said he and his family members can “give people a nice course to play on.”
And to do that, the family is open to ideas.
“If any golfers have any suggestions of what they’d like to see, we’re definitely open to them,” Thomas said. “If we get enough of the same suggestion, that would tell us it’s definitely something to look into.”
One thing the family wants to do is to host tournaments throughout the year. The Starke course is already hosting a Valentine’s tournament, which will be played Sunday, Feb. 16. There are also plans to bring back the Strawberry Invitational, which was an annual event that hasn’t taken place since 2017.
So far, it seems as if the family’s efforts are paying off. For example, several Facebook posts have bragged on the golf course. Landon Robert Wyckoff wrote: “The improvements and upgrades made so far are amazing. Y’all definitely need to check it out!” Matt Stucky posted: “The course is in great shape, and the greens are rolling great!” Richard Gaines wrote: “I had heard that Starke GCC was in good shape, so Tuesday (Feb. 4) I went out there and walked around and am happy to say it is by far in the best shape it has been since 1990s or before!”
In the end, a successful family business is a gift to the community.
“We want it to be something they’re proud of,” Linda Tatum said.
