Comedian Nate Bargatze breaks Morgan Wallen's Nashville arena record, steals chair to keep it that way

Brandt Snedeker was a bit concerned about Grammy-nominated comedian Nate Bargatze causing a brouhaha on the golf course at the 2023 Sneds & Friends Pro-Am, so he encouraged Bargatze to get the joke-telling out of his system at the welcome party the night before.

And Bargatze, hailed as the nicest man in stand-up, delivered a doozy.

In April, the Old Hickory native set the Bridgestone Arena all-time attendance record at 19,365. Country star Morgan Wallen had held the record at 19,292.

Wallen hardly had time to enjoy the record because Bargatze's performance came only a month later.

Bargatze was determined to hold the record much longer than Wallen did and perhaps forever, so he swiped a chair from the arena on his way out, thus lowering the capacity.

"He cracked everybody up when he told us it was a sold-out crowd at Bridgestone Arena and by taking a chair nobody could ever break his record," Snedeker said. "That's pretty much what I expected out of him."

Bargatze joined a slew of celebrities at the pro-am Monday at Golf Club of Tennessee, kicking off the week for the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, a Korn Ferry Tour event being played Thursday through Sunday at The Grove.

"I was just trying to secure my spot in history," Bargatze said. "You don't get a lot of chances like that as a comic because the music acts are so big. So I was like, 'Maybe I'll just take a chair,' and I did. As long as they don't throw another chair in there I should be good."

Bargatze said the chair, which is now in his house, makes for a nice conversation piece with visitors.

Despite Snedeker's effort to stymie Bargatze's comedy, which may not have been in line with proper golf decorum, Bargatze's playing partners said he kept them in stitches.

"We need some humor in this group because the golf is not good," Steve Soph said. "This is the first hole (No. 13) we've had all four balls in the fairway."

Bargatze is a huge sports fan but wasn't much of an athlete when he attended Donelson Christian Academy. But he couldn't be faulted for not trying.

"I got cut from everything at DCA," he said. "I got cut from basketball. I think I got cut from golf, to be honest. I played track my senior year and that was the only thing I made."

Bargatze bounced back by "thriving" when he played church league basketball at Tulip Grove Baptist.

"I was a bit of a problem for the competition when I played on that court," he said. "Actually it was a carpet that we played on."

Even if Nate wasn't much of an athlete, the Bargatze name has long been associated with athletics in Nashville. His uncle Ronnie was a three-sport star at Antioch in the 1960s and went on to coach basketball at Vanderbilt, Belmont, Tennessee Tech, Trevecca Nazarene and Austin Peay. He also served many years as the radio analyst for Vanderbilt.

Ronnie Bargatze was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 2018.

"Growing up here, it was all Ronnie," Nate Bargatze said. "I get it from the old guys all the time, 'Are you Ronnie's boy?' We're here because of Ronnie. Ronnie was a huge part of my dad's life when my dad came to Nashville. We're big Vandy fans and the reason is because Ronnie was very involved at Vandy. Then my mom (Carole) worked at the ticket office there so we just got roped into it."

Dennis Quaid makes an eagle

Another celebrity in the Sneds & Friends Pro-Am field, actor Dennis Quaid, made an eagle after sinking an uphill 25-foot putt on No. 11. It was one of the best shots of the day, along with a near double-eagle by Snedeker, also on No. 11.

Quaid also provided some humor on the course.

"I wasn't playing well at all today until I got to that hole," he said. "Fortunately, I am playing with some really great bankers that play excellent golf. They really do. You know, I don't know if they'd be my banker because they're such good players. I wonder how much they're in the office. That tells you something there."

Quad said he once played golf with the obstetrician who delivered his first son and became convinced he was a good physician because of his golf game.

"He shot a 101 and I said, 'If you shot 72, you wouldn't be delivering my baby,' " Quaid said.

Other celebrities in the field included Bobby Bones, Jim Nantz, Brett Hull, Drew Holcomb, Amanda Renner, Mitch Rossell, Brian Littrell, Alexandra O'Laughlin, Michael Chandler, Chris Lane and pro golfers Scott Stallings, Sophia Schubert, Harrison Endycott and Ken Duke.

Schubert's team (Fleming Wilt, Dallas Wilt, Jodi Banks and Mark Banks) won the tournament with a score of 19 under.

Trevecca moves to the Gulf South Conference

Trevecca joned the Gulf South Conference Thursday after being unanimously approved by the league's board of directors. Trevecca, which became an NCAA Division II program in 2014, previously was in the Great Midwest Athletic Confernece.

Trevecca became the Gulf Southern's first new full member addition since Auburn Montgomery joined in 2017. Trevecca became the fourth Tennessee-based institution in the conference.

Other teams in the conference include Union, Christian Brothers, Lee, Alabama-Huntsville, West Alabama, West Georgia, Valdosta State, Mississippi College, West Forida, Montevallo, Delta State and Shorter.

"Twelve years ago when we made the transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II, we probably didn't realize how important conference affiliation was to an institution," Trevecca athletics director Mark Elliott said. "The Great Midwest Athletic Conference was a great place for us to begin and grow in the NCAA era. The move to the Gulf South Conference is a positive step for our athletes, coaches, and alumni."

East Nashville track great Charles Dahlgren dies at 77

Charles Dahlgren, a record setting runner from East Nashville High, died Tuesday. He was 77.

Dahlgren set the Midstate record in the mile run at 4:23 minutes in 1964.

He went to four state finals in track and field and won the 1962 state cross country championship.

After going on to run for Middle Tennessee State Dahlgren returned to East Nashville as a coach.

Visitation will be Monday from 4-8 p.m. at Spring Hill Funeral Home. A celebration of life service with Bill Turner officiating will take place at the funeral home Tuesday at 2 p.m.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X, formerly the Twitter platform @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nate Bargatze: Comedian breaks Morgan Wallen record, steals arena chair