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Many golfers who played at Killearn Country Club over the years knew Bobby Bowden’s home was near the seventh hole.
The legendary Florida State football coach often hit balls on the course behind his Killearn Estates residence in the early mornings or evenings.
To honor Bowden’s memory and his love for golf, Tallahassee and the Seminoles, The Killearn Club’s new ownership, including General Manager Ellis Pilgreen, unveiled a life-sized bronze statue of Bowden Saturday morning.
It is positioned near the 16th tee box (the holes on the renovated, private course were renumbered) and in the shadow of Bowden’s home.
“It was a very nice deal,” said Terry Bowden, who attended the unveiling with fiancée Brenda Myers and daughter Jamie.
“It’s really a great statue. That was kind of an iconic hole for Dad. He would time it up to where the last foursome played through in the evenings, and he’d walk out and hit golf balls.
“He played that hole over and over.”
Players can leave autographed golf balls at Bobby Bowden statue
The statue depicts Bowden wearing a straw hat, smiling and waving with a raised right arm and a whistle dangling from his neck.
Golfers who birdie the 15th hole can autograph their ball and leave it in a box in front of the statue and high-five the coaching icon. Course ownership contracted with Big Statues out of Provo, Utah, to create the bronze monument at a cost of just underneath $100,000.
“I thought it was a very good likeness of Coach Bowden,” said Sue Hall, Bowden’s longtime administrative assistant at FSU.
“It was very impressive to me, so I hugged him.”
Bowden, who died in 2021 at age 91, and wife Ann moved into the home in 1976 when he was hired by FSU from West Virginia.
Ann, 92, still lives in the home, where the couple raised six children. She was unable to attend the unveiling due to the cold weather.
The private facility opened last fall and features a redesigned 18-hole championship course and other amenities. The entire project, which will include a 9-hole course, clubhouse and pool, and is expected to be completed in 2026.
David Ross, who recently joined the club, is a fan of the Bowden statue. It had been positioned on the course but under wraps.
“Coach is an icon in Tallahassee and Killearn, and the statue is one of the cooler things I’ve seen on a course and definitely fitting for Tallahassee,” said Ross, a two-time World Series champion and former manager of the Chicago Cubs.
Tallahassee native David Cummings purchased the club for $2.6 million March of 2022.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: The Killearn Club honors legendary FSU coach Bobby Bowden with statue
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