The little Tennessee golf course that could

New York

ARCHITECTURALLY, the best golf holes are those in which success and failure reside in close quarters, according to Rob Collins, who has an intimate understanding of success and failure.

If you head half an hour west of Chattanooga, Tennessee, exit Interstate 24 onto a quiet country road, turn down a dirt driveway, pull into a grass carpark and see the locker room (a single blue port-a-potty) and the clubhouse (a 20-foot-by-10-foot aluminum shed), you may not immediately realise which category Sweetens Cove Golf Club comes under.

Mr Collins, 42, is six feet six inches of unyielding self-assurance. He is the architect of Sweetens Cove and its owner-operator. He also has …