The seasons define the beauty of the region.

Winter is dark and grey, the leafless mountainsides bare and exposed. Bright, frigid, windy days give way to prolonged periods of snow and ice, creating a winter playground for visitors and residents.

Spring in this southern portion of the Appalachians means exploding azaleas and dogwoods, the crystal Carolina blue sky cloudless, the trees leafing up, the wildlife returning to full song after months of hibernation or migration to warmer climes. The writer who captured it best wasn't a writer, but a composer--Aaron Copland, whose famous Appalachian Spring belongs in the collection of any aficionado of classical music.

Summer is warm, but rarely hot and humid like so much of the mid-Atlantic. If the daytime temperature rises above 80 degrees in the mountains, it's a heatwave. The drenching humidity of cities like Atlanta, Tampa, and Charlotte is non-existent in the mountains. Thus, cities like Hendersonville and Asheville become a Mecca for those seeking refuge from the heat. Most of Florida moves to the mountains of North Carolina in the months of June, July and August; consider yourself warned.

Fall is the queen of the four seasons. Tourists in search of autumnal color venture to Vermont, but many more head for the Mountains of North Carolina, rendering the Blue Ridge Parkway and other visually spectacular thoroughfares clogged processions of tour busses and convertibles crammed with camera-laden passengers going "Wow!" It can become crowded, but it's worth battling the hordes--nothing could be more moving to the soul than a warm fall day, the blazing colors of trees readying for their winter rest set against the backdrop of a sky of deepest blue.

Needless to say, people who live in or visit Western North Carolina don't spend all their waking hours gazing at the sky or the sides of mountainsides. There are pastimes a-plenty, including fishing, hunting, climbing, hiking, white-water rafting, eating, drinking, going to plays, discovering waterfalls, dozing and just plain relaxing.

And of course, there's golf.

The terrain and topography of this part of the world limits the number of courses that can be built, thus it's difficult to describe the Mountains of North Carolinas as being "blessed with an abundance of courses," despite what the brochures say. Many of the courses are hyper-private, played and populated by current and former captains and titans of industry retreating from the heat of the cities. These are the types of club where there isn't even a tee sheet and if you have to ask how much it is to join, then you probably can't, etc., etc. You get the picture.

Still, numerous fine and excellent opportunities await the public golfer in the North Carolina Mountains. Architects like Donald Ross, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio (who lives in Hendersonville), Fred Hawtree, Martin Hawtree, Tom Jackson, George Cobb and Ellis Maples produced fine work in the mountains, although many of their courses, like Grandfather Mountain, Elk River, and Wade Hampton, are private.

Pick of the public-access courses must be Linville Country Club and The Grove Park Inn. Aficionados of mountain golf might scoff at the choice of the latter, and the course does include a couple of shortish ho-hum holes. But the superb ones more than make up for any perceived deficiencies--plus the grand presence of one of America's great hotels provides a backdrop like no other.

You can play golf without any weather problems from late March to late November. In the winter months, call ahead before planning a golf trip, or better still, bring the skis. Even in the foothills of the mountains, golf is rarely year-round.

Cooler temperatures mean bentgrass on the greens and fairways--a rarity in the Carolinas. Some courses drain poorly and can get quite wet, but greens can be cut to a sixteenth of an inch or less and thus can be amazingly speedy, even in mid-summer. Stay below the hole wherever possible.

Enjoy golf in the mountains. Keep in mind that most people are playing as part of a getaway from the real world, so take the leisurely pace in stride. Enjoy the fine views, the relaxing ambiance and the varied challenges that some of the greatest golf architects in the world have created for your golfing pleasure.

Remember, you are playing in one of the most beautiful areas of the United States. That alone makes golf in the North Carolina Mountains well worth the price of admission.