It took Alexander the Great 12 years to conquer his vast kingdom nearly 2,400 years ago. It has taken Nick Saban, college football's modern day version of the great Macedonian general, only a decade to vanquish his foes in similar fashion, begging the question: Is it too soon to dub Saban "Nicholas the Great"?
Since 2007, Saban has ruled over the college football realm in much the same way Alexander conquered a swath of land that stretched from modern day Eastern Europe as far west as the Danube all the way to India. Saban's kingdom includes subjugates like the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Pac 12, and everything in between.
Including a golf course.
Saban is among a group of investors who recently became part of the ownership group of Waterfall Country Club, the Clayton, Georgia property where Saban is a member and owns a home that rivals many of the fortifications routed by Alexander. Among the others in the new ownership group is Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator and Saban's golf buddy Ken Whisenhunt. The ownership change, announced by the club Jan. 11, came after its co-owner Terry Stiles, the Fort Lauderdale real estate developer, died of cancer last September.
Others joining Saban and Whisenhunt in the venture with Stiles' partner, Rob Hewlett, include Atlanta attorney Marlan Wilbanks, Lafayette, Louisiana real estate developer and contractor Lenny Lemoine and Mike Nixon, owner of Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Atlanta.
To date, no transaction has been recorded at the Rabun County Tax Assessor's office, but the news was announced by the club to its members and employees on Jan. 11.
Saban is reported to have a 10 index and his leadership skills that have helped him conquer the college football world, are legendary. In fact, we'll lay 10:1 that while he is part owner of Waterfall, a 1999 Scott Pool design on Lake Burton in the mountains of northeastern Georgia, the club never will show up on the National Golf Foundation's ever-growing list of closed courses.
It wouldn't dare.
We've come to associate Saban's name with excellence, if not perfection, that it's hard to imagine he's only a 10 index, that he'd ever need a mulligan or that an errant shot might land in a bunker, or worse, a lake. It is even more unfathomable that any business venture with which he is associated would be anything less than the best.
That's how he's wired.
Since returning to the college game from the Miami Dolphins a decade ago, Saban has won five national championships, including a recent come-from-behind win over Georgia in the 2018 title game in much the same way that Alexander laid waste to the Persians in the fourth century BC. Since the College Football Playoff was implemented for the 2014-15 season, his Crimson Tide teams are the only team to be included in the best-of-four series each year.
His six national championships, he won his first in the 2003-04 season at LSU, are matched only by fellow Alabama legend Bear Bryant. There was a time when it was inconceivable that any coach could be mentioned in the same breath as Bryant. Saban, however, has shown no signs of slowing down and, barring unforeseen circumstances, only a fool would bet against him eclipsing the legendary Bryant's mark - and ensuring Waterfall's success into the future.