The scooters immediately grabbed Brennan Webb’s attention. The University of Tennessee men’s golf coach noticed caddies at Grove XXIII, the private course in West Palm Beach, Florida, owned by legendary basketball star Michael Jordan, riding them around and became curious.
He called a friend who is a member of the club and asked him to find out what brand the scooters were.
“He wanted to know why, and I told him I was thinking about purchasing some for our golf programs here at Tennessee,” Webb says. “He said that sounds great, just send me the bill.”
Webb’s generous friend, who wished to remain anonymous, donated six scooters to the Tennessee golf programs. They were delivered two weeks ago, and members of the coaching staff took them for test runs before the players could get behind the wheels.
“The facility is so big and we are always encouraging players to use every piece of it. We figure this will help prod them along,” Webb says. “Obviously, it also looks great from a recruiting standpoint as well to use them on visits to show them around the facility and to use them for camps.”
Webb’s recent success in recruiting has positioned the Vols for a bright future.
Tennessee finished the fall portion of the season ranked No. 7 in the country and have started practicing for the spring portion.
The Vols captured two tournament team titles in the fall, including the SEC Match Play Championships, in which they beat then-No. 1 Vanderbilt 3-2 in the final. Tennessee also had two individual golfers win tournament titles.
“This is the most talented team I have ever coached. I think the way we finished in the fall gave us a lot of confidence,” Webb says. “We are really young. Three freshmen started every tournament and it was not even the same three freshmen. There’s been a huge influx of talent this year and they have really dragged the other guys along with them as well.”
Leading the way is freshman Caleb Surratt. The North Carolina native finished in the top five in two of UT’s four tournaments, and enters the spring with a team-best 69.08 stroke average. Surratt recently placed second in the Jones Cup Invitational and is ranked No. 9 in the latest World Amateur Golf Ranking.
“He is incredible. He is the best 18-year-old I have ever seen and certainly ever coached,” Webb says. “He has just brought another level to the program with his diligence and work ethic and passion to get better.”
The staff recruiting pitch to get Surratt to join the Vols centered around him being able to set a standard for the program’s future.
“We just talked about the opportunities we had here with the facilities and to be able to come and do something no one else has done here before,” Webb says. “He can go out there and start a train of players from Tennessee on tour. He was excited about that.”
The Vols added another highly rated freshman to the roster in early January. Josh Hill comes from Dubai and will be eligible to play for the remainder of the season.
“He is a top 50 player in the world already from high school,” Webb says. “It’s just adding more pieces to the puzzle and that encourages a lot of competition here, which makes our guys better.”
There was only one downside in the timing of Hill committing to the Vols.
“I was a little upset that we recruited him during COVID because I couldn’t do an in-home visit,” Webb says with a laugh. “It would have been nice to go see Dubai.”
Although not quite as ritzy, Webb will get a chance to add a trip to his upcoming calendar.
The Canada native was just named an assistant coach for the international team for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup, which will be held June 8-10 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.
In its 27th year, the event features the top men’s and women’s collegiate golfers playing side by side as partners in a United States versus International format.
As the Vols prepare for the spring stretch of their season, Webb likes the potential for their success on the biggest stage. Webb has guided UT to the match play portion of the SEC Championships and NCAA Regional qualification in each of his four seasons leading the Vols.
But since arriving at UT after a three-year stint at Middle Tennessee State University, Webb has aspired to accomplish much more.
“I think it is time to finally contend for a national championship. I think we have the talent,” he says. “There are a couple of really, really good teams. But if we do what we do over the next four-to-five months, I think we can be right there in the end. I think it’s time this program takes the next step.”