onengine.com

First, they saved it from the auction block last fall. Now, an ownership group that includes entertainer Justin Timberlake is seeking to transform a 303-acre golf course property south of Millington into a facility built to design standards unmatched in Tennessee and in few places elsewhere in the world.

A group of partners led by former Millington resident Timberlake, his mother and stepfather bought the Big Creek Golf Course for an undisclosed amount late last year before it was scheduled to be sold by John Roebuck Auction Co. Design plans for the property, which the city-county Land Use Control Board will vote on Thursday, confirm what the new ownership group has maintained all along - that something big is in the works there.

Platinum design
One example: The group wants to remove an existing clubhouse, maintenance building, swimming pool, tennis courts and parking lot from the sprawling property. In their place would be an upscale clubhouse, cart cottage and maintenance facility built to the highest of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards (LEED).

The highest LEED certification carries the "platinum" designation. And that addition to the Millington-area property will create the first such platinum-certified LEED building and golf course in Tennessee, according to a letter of intent sent to local planners in February by the project's engineer.

"Also anticipated is a practice driving range, three-hole practice links course, a renewable energy field and a walking trail with educational placards and seating for the public to learn about responsible energy and natural resource usage," wrote Eric Criswell, of the engineering firm Davis Patrikios Criswell Inc.

The LUCB will vote at its meeting this week on the creation of a planned development at the site, which is on the east side of the Big Creek Drainage Canal and on the south side of Woodstock-Cuba Road.

The property, at 6195 Woodstock-Cuba Road, was developed as a golf course in the 1970s.

Something big at Big Creek
The owners, via Criswell, declined to discuss the project in advance of this week's vote by the LUCB. When asked about the golf course renovation, Criswell would only say, "This project has got a lot of people involved, and it's a pretty big project."

The project's letter of intent goes on to describe the refurbished site as eventually a community gathering point of sorts.

"The proposed clubhouse building and existing golf course will be used as a course and facility fully accessible to the public for golf or public meetings such as PTA meetings, neighborhood association meetings, graduations or weddings," the letter states.

His involvement in the golf course project there reflects Timberlake's enthusiastic pursuit of the sport. By coincidence, it was announced shortly after word
spread last year of Timberlake's family buying the Millington-area golf course that Timberlake himself would host his first PGA Tour event in Las Vegas later this year, in October.