Cumberland Rising, The Unbowed Course - Inside Black Golf’s Mecca, Where History Took a Swing #1007807

Cumberland Rising, The Unbowed Course
Inside Black Golf’s Mecca, Where History Took a Swing

Before it became the Ted Rhodes Golf Course, it was Cumberland Golf Course—a modest nine-hole course on the banks of the Cumberland River in North Nashville.

Its story is much bigger than golf.

Born in an era of segregation, Cumberland became a place where Black golfers could gather, compete, learn, teach, and build a sporting community of their own. What began as a limited municipal facility became connected to a remarkable chapter in American golf history.

At the center of that story stands Ted Rhodes, the pioneering Nashville golfer whose career and mentorship helped open doors for generations of Black golfers. His influence reached players such as Lee Elder and Charlie Sifford, while his wider circle included celebrated figures from American sports and entertainment. In 1969, Cumberland Golf Course was renamed in his honor.
But this is not simply the story of one golfer.

It is the story of a course, a community, and the people who refused to let limitations define what was possible. It follows the evolution of Cumberland from a nine-hole facility into the Ted Rhodes Golf Course of today, while exploring the golfers, caddies, mentors, families, and local figures who gave the place its character. The facility was redesigned and expanded to 18 holes in 1992.

Along the way, the book places Nashville golf inside the larger history of African American sports, segregation, opportunity, mentorship, and the gradual transformation of American golf.
Cumberland Rising is a story about fairways, barriers, ambition, memory, and the people who kept swinging.

Because sometimes a golf course is more than a golf course.
Sometimes, it is where a community makes history.