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For the most part, the courses we profile in the North Carolina Mountains section are west of Asheville, but we do include a few, such as the Black Mountain Golf Course and Meadowbrook in Rutherford, that lie to the east of the city. We felt these areas were more closely allied with greater Asheville than our other mountain regions. Apple Valley Golf Club Apple Valley opened in 1985. Like its sister course, Bald Mountain (see write-up below), Apple Valley is part of the Fairfield Mountain Golf Resort. Dan Maples, son of Ellis Maples, designed the course. Some holes are flat, while others are set in rolling terrain. Fairways are bermu-dagrass, and greens are bentgrass. Apple Valley is a fine mountain course. Interestingly, you'll be hard pressed to understand why the slope rating is so high from the back tees. We must assume that the course is a lot tougher than it looks. Play it from the middle or front tees if you're a mid- to high handicapper. The course boasts a number of interesting holes. Admirable is the par 4 12th that plays 369 yards from the back tees. A mountain stream bisects the hole. From the tee, you'll have to decide whether to lay up or smack it over the hazard. Go for it successfully, and the approach shot is less fraught with difficulty. Woods border many of the holes. The greens are fairly large and sloped, with the occasional buried elephant. A couple of holes feature interesting blind shots where local knowledge is a big plus. Water frequently comes into play. Overall, Apple Valley is a fun and interesting course designed by one of the finest and most respected architects in the Carolinas. We'd choose this one over Bald Mountain, although if you're at the resort for two days, by all means play both courses. Amenities include a practice green, range, locker room, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. You must take a cart here. You can book a tee time up to 30 days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $45 both weekdays and weekends. Bald Mountain Bald Mountain, a Willie B. Lewis design, opened in 1974. Woods border most of the holes. The rolling fairways are covered with bermudagrass, the greens with bentgrass. Bald Mountain is part of the Fairfield Mountain Golf Resort. We found it to be a genuine and challenging mountain track that's fun from any of the tees. If you're a movie buff or a fan of Patrick Swayze, you'll enjoy the 16th green, where part of the cinematic masterpiece Dirty Dancing was filmed. (How that film failed to make any of those "Top 100 All-Time Best Movies" lists is a complete mystery.) Great movies aside, the course is worth playing, particularly in tandem with Apple Valley, its better-looking sister. The course layout presents a particular emphasis on hitting it straight off the tee. The 17th hole might be the most difficult on the course. A solid 423 yards from the tips, the problem with this par 4 is the stream that bisects the fairway at about 100 yards from the green. There's also water short left and right, plus a couple of bunkers in front of the shallow green. A bogey isn't a bad score here. Amenities include a practice green, range, locker room, bar, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. The course is walkable for the physically fit, and you can walk after 2 PM. You can book a tee time 30 days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $45 weekdays and weekends. Black Mountain Golf Course The front nine at Black Mountain opened in the 1930s, and a second nine opened in the 1960s. Ross Taylor designed the course, which mixes open holes with those bordered and framed with woods. In the fairways, you'll find a combination of bluegrass and bentgrass; on the greens, strictly bentgrass. Here at Black Mountain, we found a playable and justifiably popular course, with good variety and interest. Locals say that the back nine is more difficult than the front. The front provides significant difficulties in the form of streams, small greens, small mounds, bunkers and narrow fairways. Difficulties on the back come from some longer par 4s, plenty of creeks, undulating greens plus one of the world's longest holes--the 747-yard 17th, an arduous par 6. The fairways are generous in most spots; the small greens provide the bulk of the challenge here at Black Mountain. Amenities include a practice green, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable for the fit and you can walk anytime except weekend mornings. You can book a tee time six days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $30 weekdays and $35 weekends. Broadmoor Broadmoor opened in 1993; the name changed from French Broad Golf Center. Karl Litten designed the course. The layout is remarkably flat and wide open, with woods bordering the course. In the fairways, you'll find rye grass, while you'll putt on bentgrass greens. The course sits directly in the path of Asheville's airport, so if a 737 cruises by less than 100 feet over your head while you're in the middle of a testy 3-footer that your opponent should have conceded, you still have to drain it--you've been warned. Okay, so who is this Karl Litten guy? Aside from the fact that he's a graduate of Steubenville College, he's an accomplished architect who apprenticed under the flamboyant Robert von Hagge, surely the greatest and most prolific architect never to have designed a course in North Carolina. Litten formed his own firm in 1979 and, like his teacher, was very busy in Florida in the 1980s. Litten formed a design partnership with Gary Player in 1987 that continued through 1989. Litten's design here, just south of Asheville, is remarkable in that the ground is almost totally flat--just like in Florida. Trees have been planted, but they shouldn't come into play for years. The result is an interesting and subtly varied design with a links flavor. It's really not a mountain course at all. Play the course in a fresh wind and you might feel like you're in Scotland. Off the tee, the fairways are relatively wide, with mounds presenting most of the trouble. Upon initial glance, you might be tempted to think that the green complexes have a certain similarity. But on closer inspection, you'll find that Litten has used the flatness to develop approach shots that require a great deal of thought and strategy. On some holes, for instance, a low, running bounce-up shot is possible--even advisable--if the course is dry and there's a hearty wind. The greens are typically medium-size and mostly flat or slightly sloped. Bunkers provide most of the problems around the green. Water comes into play on the majority of holes on the front nine and is a factor on the back nine on a few holes. Interestingly, the final three holes provide excellent scoring opportunities for the better player, particularly the 18th, a 500-yard par 5 where the big hitter will have to avoid a pond on the left hand side of the green to reach the putting surface in two shots. Overall, French Broad is a fine course that you should make an effort to play. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, snack bar, bar and restaurant, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. Walking is not allowed, even though it's one of the most walkable courses in Western North Carolina--amazing isn't it? You can book a tee time seven days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $27 weekdays and $32 on weekends. Buncombe County MunicipalGolf
Course Buncombe County Municipal Golf Course opened in 1927. Donald Ross designed the course. Fairways are bermudagrass, and greens are bentgrass. The front nine is flat and open, while the wooded, tighter back nine boasts much more undulation. Quick, how many counties in the Carolinas are home to a municipal course designed by the famed Donald Ross? Answer: Not many. Here at Buncombe Municipal, you'll play one of them, a fine and straightforward Ross layout that doesn't look like it's been touched since it opened. We found a sensible layout, with small and flat bunkers fronting large crowned greens. The significant difference in layout between the back and the front nines makes the course all the more interesting. We were told that the course is host to close to 50,000 rounds a year. If you've got a 20-spot burning a hole in your pocket, and if you've never played a Donald Ross course, you should stop by for a round. Just be careful on the 9th hole. If you air mail your approach shot, you'll hit a car in the parking lot--and no free drop from the front seat of a Jaguar, even if you've just smashed the windshield. Amenities include a practice green, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable, you can walk anytime, and you should walk. You'll only need a tee time on weekends and holidays, and you can book three days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $30 on both weekends and weekdays. Chatuge Shores Golf Course Chatuge Shores Golf Course, designed by J. Townsend, opened in 1969. Some holes are flat, but most feature some undulation. You'll drive onto bermudagrass fairways and putt on bentgrass greens. Water comes into play on some of the holes. Chatuge Shores offers a fun, friendly and mature course, presenting challenges for golfers of all levels. The layout is fairly straightforward. Some of the fairways are wide, some are narrow. Trees delineate the fairways. The greens are slightly rolling, but not overly bunkered--the varying size and shape of the greens provides the main interest. There aren't many public courses in the immediate area, and the cost is sensible, so Chatuge Shores is definitely worth a visit if you're vacationing nearby. It's clearly a popular track--you won't be alone. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable. You can book a tee time three days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $30. Cleghorn Plantation Golf and
Country Club The golf course at Cleghorn Plantation, a George Cobb design, opened in 1969. The course is set amid rolling terrain, and homes and woods border many holes. In the fairways, you'll find bermudagrass, with bentgrass on the greens. Cleghorn Plantation is a real find. Original plans called for a private track, but financial hard times in the 1980s probably facilitated the change. Management made a number of recent improvements, and it looks like the course is shaping up to be one of the finest in the North Carolina foothills. Many of Cobb's resort/vacation courses are less demanding than his more serious efforts. Cleghorn is not a vacation course. Play the tips and you're in for a long day, unless you can hit the ball a country mile off the tee. Play it from the men's or forward tees for a more sensible outing. The course features a number of epic sweeping holes, including elevated tee shots followed by uphill approach shots to large and heavily bunkered greens, which pitch and roll significantly. The attractions of the course are the excellent layout, great variety, playability and sensible combination of natural and manmade hazards. It's great news for area golfers that this outstanding golf course is on the way up in the world. If you're visiting the area, this is the course to play. If you live in Western North Carolina and you're up for a serious challenge, Cleghorn is a must-play for you too. It's an excellent value. With water bordering both sides of the fairway, the 418-yard 2nd hole is probably the most picturesque yet difficult driving hole on the golf course. Once you've negotiated the drive, which might be most prudently played with a fairway wood, the approach must avoid the tough bunkering around the green. Amenities include a practice green, range, snack bar and pro shop. A cart is required to play Cleghorn; you may book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $38 weekdays and $42 on weekends. Crooked Creek Golf Club Alex Guin and Stewart Goodin designed Crooked Creek Golf Club, which opened in 1968. The course has a wide-open feel--many of the holes are flat and others are set in rolling terrain. Fairways are bermudagrass, and greens are bentgrass. First, an interesting note about the clubhouse. Warner Brothers executives built it during World War II, fearful that the Japanese might invade California, necessitating a move to the East Coast. So if Bugs Bunny shows up unexpectedly and says "What's up, Doc?" right in the middle of your back swing, you'll know why. You've been warned: No mulligan. This is one of the earliest examples of a course set in a housing development. Homes and out-of-bounds provide potential threats on many holes. You'll find good variety on this course. Some of your tee shots must negotiate narrow fairways. Some of the greens are small, others are midsize to large. Many greens are crowned and sloped, others offer significant undulations. There isn't a lot of water on the course. The most omnipresent hazards are the bunkers around the green complexes, which come in an interesting variety of shapes and sizes. Overall, it's a fun and straightforward track that will provide a decent challenge from the back tees. While it's difficult to describe Crooked Creek as a muscular golf course, the final hole makes up for the lack of length. At 555 yards from the tips, it's a true three-shot hole for all but biggest hitters. Still, three well-struck shots could produce a birdie for the rest of us. Amenities include a practice green, range, snack bar and pro shop. The course is walkable, although walking is restricted. You can book a tee time two days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $30. Cummings Cove Golf andCountry Club Cummings Cove Golf and Country Club, originally called Horseshoe Country Club, opened in 1986. Robert Cupp, a man with an interesting background, designed the course. Cupp is certainly a prolific architect, having designed courses in almost every state in the Union. In the North Carolina Mountains, he assisted Jack Nicklaus in the design of Elk River, one of the state's most revered private courses. Cupp's resumé includes a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Alaska, advertising experience, pro shop management, an associate's degree in agronomy and a significant stint as an associate in the Jack Nicklaus design firm. Cupp has worked with a variety of touring pros-turned-designers, including Tom Kite and Fuzzy Zoeller. Cupp created a challenging course here at Cummings Cove. Your tee shots need to be precise though not always very long. Your approach shots must hit small and undulating greens with little or no bailout potential. Embankments flank many of the greens. Woods and homes border the course. Two holes will stick in your golf hole memory bank. The 10th, a 370-yard par 4 bordered by a lake, allows one of the smallest tee-shot landing areas of any course anywhere. And the green on the par 5 No. 5 is horseshoe-shaped--hit the ball to the wrong level of this green and your putter won't get the job done--you may have to bring out the lob wedge to get it close to the hole. Please replace your divot. Take the challenge of this course if you get the chance. There's an awful lot of target golf here, so keep it straight and you'll have a good round. Amenities include a practice green and snack bar. The course is not easy to walk, but you may skip the cart anytime during the week and after 2 PM on weekends. You can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $30. Etowah Valley Country Club South/West Course West/North Course North/South Course The South and West courses at Etowah Valley opened in 1967. The North course opened in 1988. Edmund B. Ault designed all three. Ault's credits include only two courses in North Carolina and one 18-hole course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. However, he was a prolific designer who built and redesigned more than 100 courses, primarily in Maryland, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Virginia. He was a scratch golfer at one stage and played in the national amateur championship. (Bet you didn't know that!) These well-maintained courses have bentgrass fairways and greens. Overall, all three courses are playable, fun and laid out in a picturesque and mostly flat setting. Bunkers of varying shapes and sizes will influence all of your approach shots. On the longer par 4s, you'll often have a chance to run the ball up to the green if the approaches are firm. All of the green complexes offer bailout areas; if you're a good chipper, head for these areas and avoid the bunkers. The South Course is somewhat narrow. Water comes into play on quite a few holes in the form of large ponds and mountain streams. The greens are mostly midsized and quite undulating. Play from the back tees and you'll have a long course to negotiate. If you want a more sensible outing and you're not a long hitter, play from the other (white) tees. The West Course is also primarily flat, although three holes offer elevation changes. From the tips, the course is even longer than the South Course. The greens might be a little larger, but so are the bunkers. The newest nine is the North Course. The terrain is more rolling, giving the course a more open feel. A stream comes into play on most holes. The greens are large and undulating. Once again, bunkers will make you think about the most sensible approach to the green. There's a lodge where you should stay if you definitely want to play Etowah Valley. If you don't stay here, you may be able to get on this course if you call in advance, although resort guest play and member play take priority. So there will be times when you'll be told "Sorry, members and guests only." Your chances of playing here if you're not a guest at Etowah Resort are best out of season. The ninth hole on the North course might be the most entertaining of all 27. It's a short par 5, just 490 from the tips. A solid drive will avoid the stream to the right of the fairway, leaving the bold with an approach shot of not much more than 200 yards over water and bunkers. Two good shots mean birdie; one bad shot means double bogey or worse. Are you bold enough to take the risk? Amenities include three practice greens, a range, bar, snack bar, restaurant, beverage gazebo, rental clubs and pro shop. Walking is restricted, although the first two nines are walkable, and you should walk. You can book a tee time with your lodging reservation or two days in advance. Approximate cost for 18 holes, including cart, is $50. Glen Cannon Country Club Glen Cannon Country Club opened in 1966. According to Architects of Golf, Willie B. Lewis of Greenville, South Carolina, designed the course. Lewis used to be an associate of George Cobb. For a mountain track, this course has a remarkably wide-open feel; also remarkable is its flatness. Fairways are bermudagrass; greens are bentgrass. Locals tell us that Glen Cannon is one of the more private semiprivate courses in the area, so make sure you call for a tee time. Glen Cannon offers a fine, playable and relatively straightforward mountain course that winds around a lush and wide valley floor. Trees and shrubs delineate the spacious fairways. The greens are medium-size to large. The grass around the greens is mostly bentgrass: If it's more than a couple of inches deep, try to avoid it at all costs. Most of the greens are sloped and not overly rolling. Water hazards come in the form of several branches of a mountain stream--watch out for it. Bunkers provide frequent hazards, and many are grass-faced; some are in the fairway, others are around the greens. The back nine is a little hillier and offers fine views from some tee boxes. Particularly appealing is a small but beautiful waterfall that complements the 2nd hole. If you're looking for a good course in the Brevard area with a sound design and plenty of variety, try Glen Cannon. You'll likely have an enjoyable round. Just make sure you ring the bell before venturing toward the 17th hole. The bell alerts those on the driving range that you're about to cross their line of fire. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, locker room, bar, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. The course is walkable, but you must use a cart if you're not a member. You can book a tee time three days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $50. Holiday Inn Sunspree The golf course at Great Smokies Resort opened in 1975; it used to be part of the Hilton organization, but now it's part of the Holiday Inn empire. According to Architects of Golf, Willie B. Lewis designed the course. The course is somewhat tight, particularly on the front nine, with woods bordering many of the holes. You'll find bluegrass and fescue in the fairways and bentgrass on the greens. Corporate takeovers and changes have affected, if not the course, then at least the name of the hotel attached to this interesting mountain track. The course opened as Great Smokies Hilton, but the Holiday Inn chain took over and renamed the complex a Sunspree Resort, for what that's worth. The golf course is a truly challenging mountain layout with a solid design. While cruising around the course, we sensed that someone had redesigned the layout and perhaps some of the holes, though we couldn't verify this. You'll find plenty of elevation changes. Hazards come in the form of well-placed bunkers and potentially pesky mountain streams. You'll need to keep it straight off the tee and think about your approach shots. The course is not long, but don't think that this makes it easy: Errant tee shots mean lost balls. The greens are predominantly large and sloped. The first four or five holes seem particularly tight. When you arrive on the 5th tee, you're confronted with your mortality as you tee off next to a small graveyard. Hello! The 5th hole is a solid one, a short 140-yard par 3 downhill over a stream. Bunkers guard the back left and right portions of the green. Octagonal holiday chalets dot the course, and certain holes are dominated by the 279-room hotel whose aspects lie firmly in the East German school of architecture. Amenities include a practice green, bar, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable for the fit and dedicated, and you can walk after 1 PM Monday through Thursday. You can book a tee time with your hotel or octagonal holiday chalet reservation, although you don't need to stay here to play here. Approximate cost, including cart, is $30 weekdays and weekends. The Grove Park Inn Resort The golf course at The Grove Park Inn opened in February 1899. Architects Willie Park Jr., Herbert Barker, Donald Ross and Russell Breeden all worked on or influenced the course. Ask the excellent staff here who had the biggest influence and they'll tell you it was Donald Ross. The course lies on the hillside beneath the magnificent and storied Grove Park Inn. You'll find Vamont bermudagrass in the fairways leading to Penncross bentgrass greens. Over a century old now, the golf course at The Grove Park Inn is steeped in history. But first, let's investigate the Grove Park Inn itself. There's a book about this venerable lodge, and it's worth the small investment. Few resorts can rival the Grove Park Inn's legacy and physical appearance. From F. Scott Fitzgerald to George Bush, Beau Bridges and Tammy Wynette, the Grove Park Inn's list of guest luminaries is unsurpassed in its depth and variety. There's something extremely special about staying in a room just a corridor away from where Fitzgerald spent time with a pen in his hand. Today, guests come to The Grove Park Inn from all over the world to relax in the well-appointed rooms, eat in the fine restaurants, dance in the nightclub or relax with a drink on the balcony overlooking Asheville. And if you're up for an amazing Sunday brunch, visit the Grove Park Inn, but make reservations for this feast. But this is a book about golf, not hotels, right? So let's talk about this wonderful course--a top-3 favorite of ours. If you're an architecture fan, the first thing you'll notice is that this track was built in a remarkably tight area--covering just 80 acres. Just as remarkable is the fact that despite the limited acreage, very few of the holes are noticeably narrow. The front nine is flat(ish), while the back nine, which is closer to the hotel, makes greater use of the slope beneath the inn. The greens vary in shape, size and slope. Errant tee and approach shots risk landing in bunkers, but the course is not overly penal. Water comes into play mostly on the front nine. The yardage book is a useful guide if you're playing the course for the first time. People complain that the course is too short to be interesting for the big hitter. Balderdash. While it may be true that the par 5s are mostly on the short side and there are three or four short par 4s, we'd still challenge the long hitter to score par or better on the short holes. Each of the short holes features a unique challenge that could lead to a bogey or worse. For example, the par 4 11th runs only about 350 yards, but it's an uphill hole with a small green that slopes away from the fairway. Thus a decently struck short iron can easily end up in the thick rough behind the green, leaving you with a tricky up and down. For those who don't feel that the course is long enough, it boasts a couple of long par 3s and some par 4s that are longer than 400 yards. Combine this with the fact that the fairways usually offer very little roll and a number of difficult stances and you'll be pleased to score well on this course. If there's a layout that proves you don't need a lot of length to be challenging, this is it. Another hole you'll enjoy is the par 4 18th, where you tee off literally right next to the walls of the inn. You drive downhill to an extremely narrow V-shaped fairway, where you're more than likely to have a difficult stance for your second shot, which you'll have to hit uphill to a large green flanked by trees and deep bunkers. Perhaps the Donald Ross influence can be most easily seen in the par 3s. The best of this outstanding bunch might be the two No. 7s. The first is shorter at 167 yards from the tips, but must traverse a pond. Hole 7a is longer but without the water. These two are two of the best short holes in North Carolina. As you might expect from a course touched by the hands of Donald Ross, there's plenty of variety and interest. Every hole has its own character and charm, including the 9th, supposedly one of Bobby Jones's favorites and another great par 3. It's a lengthy and tight par 3 (more than 200 yards from the tips) with a long green fronted by three large and flat bunkers--a great way to finish the front nine. But the layout is only a part of the story. Golfers who have played here include such greats as the aforementioned Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Fuzzy Zoeller and Walter Hagen. There's a wonderful story about Ben Hogan scoring 11 on the par 3 7th and 4 on the par 5 8th; fable has it that his expression never changed. From about the mid-'20s to the mid-'50s, the course hosted a stop on the PGA Tour. During that period, many of the pros would come to the inn for the summer and play for big bucks with the wealthy guests who were here to escape the heat of the cities. So when you play at The Grove Park Inn, you're walking in the footsteps of giants. Finally, let's not forget that the course is 100 years old--few courses have such grand views and maturity. One of the magnificent sights will be you as you putt on the 17th green in full view of the guests in the Sammons Wing of the inn. You can play at the Grove Park Inn without staying at the hotel; but that's a lot like visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art without taking a look at the paintings. Still, even if you're in the Asheville area staying elsewhere, you must play this golf course. Amenities include a practice green, rental clubs, locker room, bar, snack bar, restaurant, beverage cart and pro shop. The hotel is building a spa that will open in late 2000--perfect for your pre-round massage with the Swedish Prime Minister. You can walk after 3 PM--if you're fit. You can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $80 weekdays and weekends. It's essential to book early because the course hosts numerous corporate outings and can get clogged up. If you're not staying at the hotel, or if you're on your own, try playing in the morning. High Hampton Inn and Country Club The golf course at High Hampton Inn and Country Club opened in 1923 and was designed by J. Victor East. George Cobb redesigned the course in 1958 and again in 1980 with the help of John LaFoy. Some of the holes are flat, but most include undulations. Bentgrass carpets both the fairways and greens. General public play at this fine old course is limited to after noon. Guests at the inn can play anytime. High Hampton offers a mature track with plenty of variety. Its most remarkable feature is the varying length of the holes. For example, the par 5 No. 3 measures a significant 572 yards; next up is the par 4 No. 4, just 229 yards. This pattern is often repeated. But don't be fooled into thinking the short holes are easy. You'll be shooting to small crowned greens that become extremely fast in the spring and fall. On the longer holes, including two monster par 3s, you'll still find that the greens are not overly large. So, you'll need to be accurate to score well. The course presents a variety of fairway widths. You'll also find some imaginative tee sites. Interestingly, the course is devoid of bunkers, and water only comes into play on a few holes, most noticeably on the par 3 No. 8, where you might be tempted to take more club than you actually need. Even if your golf isn't going too well, enjoy the setting--it has to be one of the finest of any public-access course in the mountains. Woods border a number of the holes, mountain streams crisscross the track and wonderful views of the surrounding peaks await from the elevated tees. You might think that 6012 yards isn't the longest course, but there are some significantly long holes where your drive through a chute has to be long and accurate. Don't be fooled by the distance; the course is tough enough for all levels of golfer. One throwback to the 1920s is the lack of yardage markers. You'll be on your own when it comes to choosing clubs--no cart-mounted laser-guided yardage aids here. Most holes offer a 150-yard marker, but that's it. The course is apt to be wet. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, snack bar, bar, restaurant, locker room, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable, you can walk anytime and you should walk. If you're not staying at the inn, you can only book a tee time one day in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $55; it's $45 for guests at the inn. Lake Junaluska Golf Course There's evidence of the first nine holes of a golf course as far back as 1919, and the course added a new nine in 1993. The architect of the front nine is unknown, but Jim Moulin shaped the back. The course is well maintained, and efforts are ongoing to improve it. It's primarily wide open and set in rolling terrain. You'll find bluegrass in the fairways and bentgrass on the greens. Lake Junaluska Golf Course is owned and operated by a conglomeration of Lake Junaluska Assembly, SEJ Administrative Council and the United Methodist Church. So if you want a beer with your mid-round hot dog, forget it. In fact, the brochure clearly states that the course has a "No alcohol--no profanity" policy. Two retired ministers serve as part-time rangers and golf course maintenance experts. We played with one of them who, at age 72, could still drive the ball more than 270 yards. And that's after having had surgery on three of the vertebrae in his neck! This friendly course is an interesting old track with small greens. If the ground is hard, you'll have to take one less club than normal and let the ball run onto the putting surface. If you miss a green, you'll have to negotiate a tough chip or pitch up an embankment. A small pond and the occasional mountain stream come into play. You'll especially enjoy the 135-yard par 3 9th, where the winds can sweep off the lake and influence a short shot to one of the smallest greens in Christendom. You might be tempted to think that the course is too short to be fun, but think otherwise. There's plenty of entertainment here, and if you're not satiated after your round, you can pick up a copy of Tee-Ology, a book by John Freeman about golf's lessons for Christians and other seekers--a must at about $10. If you like unmolested old courses without any gimmicks or trickery, take a look at this track. Amenities include a practice green, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable anytime. You can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $26. Lake Toxaway Country Club If you want to play this course, you have to stay at the inn. The golf course at Lake Toxaway opened in 1960. According to Architects of Golf, R.D. Heinitsh designed the original layout. However, John LaFoy redesigned the course. LaFoy is a well-known architect who designed several fine tracks throughout the Southeast. LaFoy apprenticed under George Cobb, making frequent visits to Augusta National to study the design. When Cobb was slowed by illness, LaFoy took over many well-known Cobb projects, including Linville Ridge near Grandfather Mountain. Most of the holes on the course are bordered by woods. The layout is undulating, with a number of significant elevation changes. You'll find bluegrass in the fairways and bentgrass and poa annua on the greens. Lake Toxaway's course is well designed and boasts a beautiful environment. The course starts with a bang: a 445-yard par 5 uphill to a raised green fronted by a mean bunker. You'll find plenty of traps--some in the fairways, some around the greens. Most of the holes on the front boast just one bunker, but it's placed in a difficult spot and will force you to think about how heroic you plan to be on your approach shot. Lake Toxaway proves that you don't need a multitude of bunkers to make a hole interesting and challenging--remember what Donald Ross said about there being no misplaced bunkers on a golf course. Some bunkers have steep faces. The greens are midsize to large, crowned and sloped, with subtle undulations. The fairways are of a sensible width. Steep embankments flank some of the greens, usually on the side opposite the bunker. Note the Astroturf cart path next to the green on No. 10: Is this still a free drop, or must you hit from the fake stuff? Things get more difficult on the back nine. First, there are more bunkers and some steeper embankments. The 11th hole (where the Wards and their canine, Mulligan, live) is a relatively gentle par 4. Then begins a long and treacherous series of holes, including a 429-yard par 4, a 659-yard par 5 and a 230-yard par 3. So don't be lulled into a state of semi-catatonic complacency when, upon first glance at the scorecard, you see a mere 6234 yards from the tips. There are some big holes here. The course will be fun and entertaining for golfers of all levels. Go ahead and splurge on a night at the inn and enjoy yourself on this wonderful track. You'll love the golf as well as the opportunity to relax on the veranda overlooking the 10th tee as you recount the gory details of your round, tell a few lies, collect on the bet and sip a cold beer. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, locker room, bar, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. The course is walkable for the fit, and you can walk anytime. Book your tee with your room. Approximate cost, including cart, is $70. Maggie Valley Resort and Country
Club The golf course at Maggie Valley opened in 1963. William Prevost Sr. designed the course, although Emmett Mitchell also receives a credit. The course is relatively open, with trees defining the fairways on which you'll find bluegrass; on the greens, you'll putt on bentgrass. You'll also find it easiest to get a tee time at Maggie Valley if you're staying at the resort. The advertisements exclaim: "You gotta meet Maggie!" And indeed you should(n't). The 2-mile stretch of tourist traps that defines the town of Maggie Valley may lead you to think that the course is similar in its attitude towards aesthetics. Don't worry; the layout at Maggie Valley is one of the better and prettier courses in the area. Maggie has hosted four N.C. Open Championships, the women's state senior championship, the Western North Carolina PGA Assistant Pro Championship and a number of other competitions. Tom Doak, a golf course architect and a noted golf course architecture writer, didn't see much here of interest, but we'd disagree. The front and back nines are quite different. The front winds along the valley floor, while the back is much hillier and presents some fine views from some of the tee boxes. Perhaps the front nine is a little tighter off the tee, although you shouldn't notice a big difference. Problems come in the form of the streams that crisscross the course; take a good look at the layout on the scorecard and make a note of where the creeks are. The large, flat bunkers will influence your approach shots. The greens are rolling, and a few are two- or even three-tiered; on some of the putting surfaces, just the slope and pitch will give you fits. The scorecard gives you green depths, which is useful considering the vastness of some of the greens. Despite all the hazards and undulations, Maggie is not overly penal, and you'll be able to score well here if you keep your game under control. In any case, you'll find excellent variety and interest at Maggie Valley. It's well worth a visit if you're in the area. The best hole is probably the 556-yard 18th, a suitable finishing hole to a fun course. The downhill drive needs to find the landing area between to streams. From there, it's a lay up to a long and undulating green or better still, a strong fairway wood to provide a birdie opportunity. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, locker room, bar, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. The course is walkable for the fit, and you can walk after 2:30 PM. Book your tee time with your stay at the resort or one day ahead for the public. Approximate cost, including cart, is $55 (the highest midseason rate). Meadowbrook Golf Club Meadowbrook opened in 1964. The course is set on rolling terrain, with bermudagrass fairways and bentgrass greens. Some of the holes are open, others are bordered by woods. This fun and relatively straightforward course has a mountain feel to it despite the fact that it's a bit west of where the real mountains begin their ascent. If you hate bunkers, you'll love this course--there are none. Except for a few narrow fairways, you won't find a great deal of trouble off the tee. This is especially true on the front nine, which is more open than the back. Don't be fooled by the clubhouse: It looks like a hay storage facility. But the course is set in pretty surroundings and has a pleasant and peaceful ambiance not usually found on purely public courses. Credit the ever-underrated architect, Willie B. Lewis. The greens are predominantly midsize to large, with subtle undulations. There's plenty of water to contend with in the form of a mountain stream as well as a pond on two holes. This track is certainly worth a look if you're fond of courses with a traditional feel. The most intriguing hole on the course might be the par 5 12th. It's just 478 from the tips and it doglegs left, which should help the better right-handed player who can hit a draw. The main hazard is a significant stream that crosses the hole in two places and almost forces a second shot straight to the green. Amenities at Meadowbrook include a practice green, locker room, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs and pro shop. You can and should walk anytime. You can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $21 weekdays and $28 on weekends. Mill Creek Country Club Mill Creek Country Club opened in 1968. After numerous queries and additional research, we've discovered that no one knows who designed this course. The layout is primarily wide open with some elevation changes. You'll be playing on bentgrass in the fairways and on the greens. This Mecca of golf in Franklin is a fun and straightforward course with plenty of challenge for golfers of all levels and abilities. The greens are small to midsize and protected by flat bunkers that could prove disastrous if your sand technique isn't up to snuff. The greens are sloped. The most notable landscaping feature is the preponderance of mature willow trees, some of which come into play. You'll have some fine mountain views, particularly from the elevated tees. If you're in the area, stop by the course for a fun round. The hole that offers the most joy might be the picturesque 3rd, a short par 3 with water right and center. Amenities include a practice green, chipping green, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. You can walk the course after 2 PM. Book a tee time two days in advance, if you wish. Approximate cost, including cart, is $40. Red Fox Country Club Red Fox Country Club opened in 1966. Ellis Maples designed the course, a primarily open track, with woods and houses bordering some holes. In the fairways, you'll find bermudagrass; on the greens, bentgrass. Red Fox is an excellent example of Ellis Maples' architectural talent. Maples took a pretty piece of land and turned it into a fine and tough country golf course. The fairways are wide, and the greens are large and sloped. Plenty of bunkers surround the green complexes. (These are basic details that match many of Maples' courses.) The beauty of the course comes from the layout: the sweeping doglegs, the variety of shots you have to play and the subtle shaping of the large flat bunkers. Ellis Maples courses often feature a number of uphill approach shots that tend to be semi-blind. Some people don't like this. Still, we've heard a number of better golfers rave about this course as one of the best undiscovered secrets in the foothills of the mountains. At least it's been a secret until now, right? It's difficult to describe the essence of this fine old course, so we recommend you play it and take in its attractions and challenges. Play it from the Red Fox tees (the tips), and you'll be in for a long day. If you're up for less of a challenge, play it from one of the forward sets. We have a feeling you'll go out of your way to play this course over and over again. Amenities include a practice green, range, locker room, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. You must take a cart here, but you can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $30 weekdays and $35 on weekends. Reems Creek Golf Course Reems Creek Golf Course, a Martin Hawtree design just north of Asheville, opened in 1989. This is a mountain track, and you'll encounter plenty of significant elevation changes. Most of the holes are open, and woods border a few. Bentgrass blankets the fairways and covers the greens. Englishman Martin Hawtree represents the third generation of the Hawtree family, famous for its fine and prolific golf course designs, most of which are in the British Isles. Martin Hawtree has a doctorate in land planning from Liverpool University. His father, Fred, designed nearby Mount Mitchell Course. European PGA Tour player Simon Gidman assisted in the design of Reems Creek. Reems Creek is Martin Hawtree's only golf course in America. After playing it, you might be thankful there isn't a second effort anywhere. It's an ambitious track that's a sort of hybrid mountain/links course. The result is an extremely challenging layout that will test every aspect of your game and make you use every club in your bag. The serious elevation changes mean you'll often have to negotiate a severe uphill or downhill shot. The lack of length means you'll be playing some target golf as well. If the weather has been hot and the greenskeeper has saturated the fairways, the course will play a little wider than it looks. Hit a straight drive and you're still not out of trouble. Your approach shots to the mostly large greens need to be placed just right if you're going to score par. Some of the greens, particularly on the back nine, must slope up to 6 or 7 feet from back to front: Take our advice and do everything you can to stay below the hole. In fact, in our opinion some greens verge on being unfair. So make sure you check the pin placement and hit your approach shots to the sensible portion of the green. Oh, you'll also find plenty of mounding to help define the fairways and green complexes. Bunkers are everywhere as well, and Hawtree has taken a page out of Robert Trent Jones's book and made them cloverleaf-shaped. There are also some grass bunkers around some of the greens. One of many picturesque holes is the par 4 5th hole, at 348 yards from the tips, a short dogleg to the left. The drive is downhill to a landing area, then a precise short iron will yield at least a par. Danger lurks on the left in the form of a lake and a bunker awaits on the right. Trees defend the direct route to the green, and there must be quite a few big hitters who have been tempted to try a high hook to cut out the dogleg. Reems Creek seems to be a much-admired and talked about course among the local golfing population. If you're looking for a challenging modern course in the Asheville area, you'll get all you can handle at this impressive track. Amenities include a practice green, range, snack bar, grill, rental clubs and pro shop. You must use a cart at Reems Creek. You can book a tee time whenever you like. Approximate cost, including cart, is $45 weekdays and $50 on weekends. Sapphire Mountain Golf Club The course used to be called Holly Forest. The management attributes the current design to Ron Garl, although Architects of Golf says Tom Jackson designed the course. Woods border most of the holes. The course, owned and operated by LinksCorp, features bentgrass on the greens and in the fairways. There are two other courses in the Cashiers area with the name Sapphire. Sapphire Mountain is the only course bearing the Sapphire nomenclature that's open to the public. The first thing you'll notice about the course is its somewhat bizarre routing, which must have been changed from the original. As your round progresses, you'll see that perhaps the rerouting was completed to produce the remarkable par 3s that define this course. Each one has its own character, and each is quite dramatic. For example, on the 203-yard 4th hole, you'll smack your tee shot to a green with a large rock on the left and a steep embankment to the right and front--and it's only the No. 14 handicap. Go figure. The 15th hole, measuring just 138 yards, features an undulating island green. Although the par 3s alone are worth the price of admission, the 401-yard par 4 No. 14 is surely one of the most dramatic and difficult golf holes in North Carolina. You have to drive from an elevated tee to a narrow landing area with a stream on the lefthand side. Your approach shot will travel to a significantly elevated two-tiered green. Miss the green to the right and your ball will be swallowed by a waterfall. A dramatic and difficult hole, No. 14 can be counted a good effort with par. Overall, good variety, bizarre routing, tricky greens and some large bunkers will make your golfing life difficult and interesting. And if the greenskeeper lets the rough grow, finesse shots become more difficult. In an area where most of the courses are private, Sapphire Mountain provides a modern public course in a pleasant setting. Amenities include a snack bar, rental clubs, a locker room, bar, restaurant, beverage cart and pro shop. Walking is not permitted here. You can book a tee time 30 days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $35 weekdays and weekends. Springdale Country Club All 18 holes at Springdale Country Club opened in 1970. Joseph Holmes laid out the original course, and according to the staff at Springdale, Fred Tingle revised the track. Most of the course is set in rolling terrain and includes some decent elevation changes. You'll play on rye grass fairways and bentgrass greens. The fairways vary in width. The greens vary in shape, but most are fairly large and undulating. A number of changes were completed recently, including the construction of a new practice putting green, the renovation of the practice range and the redesign of all bunkers. Springdale also recently hired a full-time PGA professional as director of golf. You don't have to stay at one of the guest cottages or at the inn to play here, but we recommend it. The resort is family-owned and operated and, according to the staff, enjoys strong repeat visits. The focus here is golf. As the brochure firmly states: "Here, the game of golf reigns supreme; no pools, spas or tennis courts." That's what we like to hear! The golf course is a challenging mountain track with plenty of variety. Play it all the way from the back and you're in for a long day. Play it from the front and the course is kinder and gentler. Some fairways are narrow and bordered by woods; others are wide and more forgiving. The back nine is more open than the front. You'll enjoy driving the ball from some of the elevated tees. The greens are midsize and sloped. Streams come into play on some of the holes. Overall, Springdale is a beautiful and fun course that will provide a challenge for any golfer. And just in case you're worried about playing too slowly, each golf cart is equipped with an egg timer. If it dings, then you've spent too much time on that hole and need to go the next. The course opens with a strong par 5, 547 yards from the tips. With your swing not yet in gear, it's best to pull out a fairway wood for two shots, then approach with a wedge or short iron. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, locker room, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. You can walk anytime, if you are fit! And you can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $40. Trillium Trillium opened in 1998. PGA Tour veteran Morris Hatalsky designed the course on superb mountainous terrain. Greens, tees and fairways are bentgrass. Trillium is Morris Hatalsky's first golf course. Hatalksy, who now makes his home in Asheville, is a familiar name to anyone who follows the PGA Tour. Now in the semi-limbo between the main tour and the Senior circuit, Hatalsky occasionally uses a veteran exemption to play in a tournament. Nobody would say that he possesses the ball striking ability of a Tom Watson, but nobody would argue that there was anyone better with a blade in his hand than Morris Hatalsky, who, based on statistics, was the best putter on the PGA Tour in the 1980s. That alone helped him to four wins and helped him keep his tour card for twenty years. Hatalsky is living proof of the importance of the short game. Most recently, Hatalsky has been busy in the mountains just to the north of Cashiers, building a much-needed daily fee course on a beautiful but tricky site. The result is visually stunning, yet very playable. Views throughout the course are nothing short of sensational. Designers built most of the courses in this chapter along valley floors and on primarily flat sites. Here at Trillium, Hatalsky takes the golfer up the sides of mountains, over ridges, down through deep forests of rhododendron, past burbling brooks and streams. Sites like this pose a significant challenge to the golf course architect: How do you make all the holes on the course playable while maintaining the integrity of the site? And in these days of mega-permitting, it's even more difficult. Remarkably, Hatalsky and his associates succeeded where other bigger names might have failed. Whereas it would have been easier to produce a penal, target-style course, Hatalsky offer a number of strategic options to help the mid- to high-handicapper keep the ball in play. Still, Trillium is no pushover from tee to green and thus the green complexes are not particularly severe. In designing the greens, Hatalsky eschewed multi-tiered sorcery so common on so many courses in favor of a subtler, more Ross-like approach. It's a welcome throwback. Trillium's signature hole must surely be the 8th, a 280-yard uphill par 4. From the tee, the challenge is daunting, a fairway wood or long iron quite severely uphill to a landing area cut between tall hardwoods. The successful tee shot leaves just a short iron or wedge to a small pear-shaped green seemingly perched in mid air. On a cloudless day in mid-fall, the bold and perfectly executed par or birdie on this hole will remain etched in the golfer's memory for years to come. It's unlikely that a golfer's first visit to Trillium will be the last. Off the tee, the course requires local knowledge and prudence in club selection. A three wood or long iron will often be the wisest choice--as befits a par 71 course with the tips at 6,500 yards and only four uphill tee shots. A tee shot to the short grass sets up scoring opportunities and thus the wise golfer will use the driver sparingly at Trillium, particularly from the forward tees. But that's on the par 4s and 5s. On the picture postcard par 3s, the course stresses accuracy over strength, mind over muscle. Amenities include a practice green, range, locker room, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. Trillium would be a nice day hike, but not with golf clubs attached to your back--you are not allowed to walk. Call ahead to book a tee time, particularly during the summer. Approximate cost, including cart, is $75. Waynesville Country Club Inn Carolina/Dogwood Course Dogwood/Blue Ridge Course Blue Ridge/Carolina Course Golfers started swinging at Waynesville Country Club Inn in 1926, and the course has an interesting design history. Little known is the fact that Donald Ross designed the initial routing. John Drake finished the construction of the course. Ross Taylor revised the layout. Then Tom Jackson arrived to add the third nine and revise the course again in 1989. If you ask in the pro shop who built the course, they'll tell you it was Tom Jackson. In the fairways, you'll find bluegrass; on the greens, you'll find bentgrass. The inn here is magnificent. You can get on the course even if you're not staying here, but you'll probably find it easier to get a tee time if you're a guest. You can also rent a condo or vacation cottage, or whatever it's called these days. All sorts of packages are available. You won't find tremendous "let it rip with the titanium driver" length on any of the three nine-hole courses, but you'll enjoy a bit more room off the tee on the Carolina nine, which is flatter and a little more straightforward than the Dogwood and Blue Ridge courses. The latter two courses are placement tracks where judgment is more important than brute strength. We think you'll find that all three courses are much more user-friendly than some of today's modern earth-moving impossibilities. There's very little that's unfair about any of these three, at least from the tee to the green. A few mountain streams provide the water hazards, and the courses are only moderately bunkered. But it's on and around the greens where the courses become trickier. We're in a valley here, thus reading putts is extremely difficult and likely to add to your score. Such are the joys of mountain golf. The setting is super, and you'll enjoy a round on any of the courses, particularly if your strengths are putting and hitting it straight but not especially far. A beautiful hole is the par 3 2nd on the Blue Ridge course, a testy 184 yards from the tips over water. Amenities include a practice green, locker room, bar, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs and pro shop. Walking is restricted. You can book a tee time with your reservation or one day in advance. Approximate cost for 18 holes, including cart, is $48.
Blue Ridge Country Club Blue Ridge Country Club opened nine holes in 1995 and opened all 18 in spring 1996. Ken Ezell and Lloyd Clifton designed the course, which is set on the side of a mountain near Linville Caverns on the way to Linville and Boone. Greens are bentgrass, and the fairways are a mixture of bluegrass, rye and fine fescue. Many of the holes feature significant elevation changes. If you've already read the Charlotte chapter of this book, you're familiar with the design team of Lloyd Clifton and Ken Ezell. They produced one of Charlotte's most popular and challenging public courses, Highland Creek. They also designed a significant number of courses in Florida. Their course here at Blue Ridge Country Club is both challenging and picturesque. On most holes, you don't have to drive the ball a long way, but you mustn't spray it--if you do, you've probably lost your ball for good. If the rough is up, the course becomes particularly difficult. The greens here are mostly large and quite undulating, flanked by a series of bunkers and embankments that could make getting up and down quite difficult. An aspect you'll really like about the course is that it's been designed so that almost all of the problems and challenges are easily seen. A lot of tee boxes are elevated, so you're provided with an abundance of downhill tee shots. This effect is created by the excellent routing of the course. We think you'll really enjoy the ambiance here, the pretty setting and the variety of challenges presented for your golfing enjoyment. Just check your driver at the door unless you're able to hit it consistently straight. There's quite an emphasis here on making the course a destination with a resort-type atmosphere. You'll find a number of well-appointed rooms at the small inn, which also features a pleasant restaurant. The facility is proving popular as a corporate retreat. Retirees are already purchasing lots adjacent to the golf course, so you're going to find a lot of houses being built quite soon. The 7th is one of a number of menacing par 5s--a solid 542 from the tips. The problem here is the narrowness of the fairway, which will take the driver out of the hands of all but the most proficient. Amenities include a practice green, range, restaurant, snack bar, meeting room, rental clubs and pro shop. You can walk here at anytime, but you'll find it quite a hike. You can book a tee time whenever you please. Approximate cost, including cart, is $43 weekdays and $48 on weekends. Boone Golf Club Boone Golf Club, an Ellis Maples course, opened in 1959. The course is flat in places, rolling in others, with bentgrass fairways and greens. At Boone Golf Club we found a formidable and mature Ellis Maples design that's close to Boone and well worth a visit. It's one of Maples' first courses, as well as one of his first in the mountains. One of Maples' sons, Joe, was formerly the head pro here. Ellis Maples had been an architect for just six years when the Boone club was built, and you'll see here many of the features that later came to be standards on his other fine courses. You probably won't encounter a great deal of trouble off the tee, but it will help to be long from the tips. Trees border many of the fairways. The greens are midsize and undulating--in fact, we noticed some buried elephants on a couple--so make sure your approach shots are well placed. You'll also find some intelligent and sneaky bunker placements around the greens. A couple of small tributaries of the New River come into play on some holes. The 1st hole is a fun 390-yard par 4 downhill to a large green. It's a wonderful driving hole. If you're in Boone and looking for a fine Ellis Maples' design, drop by for 18 holes. You won't be disappointed. The club boasts about 500 members. Amenities include a practice green, restaurant, rental clubs and pro shop. Nonmembers can walk after 2 PM. You can book a tee time seven days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $45 weekdays and $49 on weekends. Hawksnest Ski and Golf Hawksnest opened in 1965. You need to stay at the accompanying lodge to play the course. A committee of local residents designed the course. Woods border most of the holes. In the fairways, you'll find bluegrass; on the greens, you'll find bentgrass. If you arrive at the course and it's dumping snow, leave your sticks in the car, strap on your skis and head for the slopes above the first tee. Standing on the area just outside the pro shop, with the course spreading out below, you might think this layout is wide open. It isn't. Leave your driver in the trunk of your Porsche or Rolls unless you can keep the ball extremely straight: If you miss the fairway, you're in the thick woods and reaching into your bag for a fresh ball. Narrow fairways aside, Hawksnest proves that designing a golf course by committee can sometimes work. With the mountainside above you and magnificent views from some of the tees, this course is surely one of the most striking in the mountains. You'll find a pleasant mix of flat holes and those with elevation changes, which include terraced fairways. The greens are medium-size and sloped just enough to make for some tricky putts. Miss the green and you may find your ball in a bunker, but it's more likely that you'll be playing from the well-groomed chipping areas. It's always nice to find a course that rewards and encourages skillful chipping. To score well here, choose less club than you think you'll need off the tee, keep your ball in play and shoot for the middle of the greens. The most spectacular hole must be the par 3 2nd, which drops about 150 feet and is just 158 yards long from the tips. So take out that short iron and fire one into the deep blue sky. There's not much room for error around the green! Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, locker room, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. You can walk after 6 PM if you've got the stamina. You can book a tee time seven days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $34 weekdays and $39 on weekends. Remember, you can't walk off the street to play this course. Hound Ears Club The golf course at Hound Ears Club, designed by George Cobb, opened in 1963. We found a pleasant mix of open and wooded holes, carpeted with bluegrass on the fairways and bentgrass on the greens. You must stay at the well-appointed lodge to play Hound Ears. It may be worth the cashola if you're looking for a first-rate mountain resort, away from it all in a peaceful and pampered setting. The course and the lodge seem to be extremely popular with the well-to-do seasoned-citizen set. And with good reason: The golf course is a fine example of an excellent mountain track. Some of the holes are flat, while others offer dramatic elevation changes. The fairways are predominantly wide, and the greens are large and undulating. The three-tiered 12th green, a par 5 hole, must surely be one of the most difficult in western North Carolina; you can be proud of a three-putt here. An interesting story accompanies this hole: In 1995, Peter Rucker, the head pro, scored consecutive double eagles here. Peter Rucker is the brother of David Rucker, the head pro at Myers Park Country Club in Charlotte and the man who attempts to teach one of us how to strike a golf ball so that it lands somewhere near the intended target. A tough task indeed. Most of the greens at Hound Ears are built-up and protected by bunkers that should only be a hazard if the pin is placed nearby and you play for it. Hit your approach shot to the middle of the green and you'll be fine. As for water, you've got the Watauga River and a tributary stream, both of which come into play on a number of holes. There's also a pond on the back nine that could prove irritating. Make sure you study the card if you've never played the course before. We would be remiss if we failed to describe, or at least tried to describe, the general ambiance of the course. The mountains rise above you, streams burble as you pull your club back, you drive your cart under ancient and cool rhododendron bushes and you feel relaxed and at ease with the world. Until, sadly, you pull your tee shot into the woods. It's a wonderful resort course, and it's a great place to be pampered. Amenities include a practice green, range, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable for the fit, and you can walk before 8 AM and after 6 PM. Book your tee time in conjunction with your lodge reservations. Approximate cost, including cart, is $60 every day. Jefferson Landing The golf course at Jefferson Landing opened in 1991. Dennis Lehmann and Larry Nelson designed the course. You may know Dennis Lehmann as the associate of Jack Nicklaus responsible for Elk River in Banner Elk--a private course rated as one of the finest in North Carolina. This course, for a mountain track, has a remarkably wide-open feel; also remarkable is its occasional flatness. In the fairways, you'll find an interesting combination of bluegrass and fescue, while the greens are seeded with bentgrass. First, a note about the resort and the development. At Jefferson Landing, you can purchase a pre-existing home or homesite, stay at the well-appointed lodge or rent a townhouse for a week. It's up to you. And you can enjoy an adult beverage or two. We mention that because the course is situated in Ashe County, a Gobi Desert when it comes to adult beverages. And you can, of course, play golf. The layout, while relatively fresh, is straightforward and well designed. There are no trick holes; there are no frivolously designed holes. There's plenty of water in the form of streams and ponds, but it doesn't always come into play. Quite a few tee boxes render dramatic downhill tee shots. From the back tees, at a whopping 7111 yards, the course provides all the challenge you want and then some: Water comes into play more often from the tips than from the forward tees. The strength of the course lies in its tremendous variety--again, not in tricks or gimmicks. What you see is what you get from the tee, as well as with respect to your approach shots. The well-kept Penncross bentgrass greens provide an excellent example of why this type of green should be the grass of choice on putting surfaces in the new millennium: It's true, resilient, fair and easier to maintain than pure bentgrass. The greens are medium-size, as are the bunkers protecting them, and are flattish and tricky. The management planted a large number of trees to define the fairways. Overall, Jefferson Landing is worth a visit if you're looking for a fine mountain golf course with good amenities and pleasant surroundings. Additional features include a practice green, range, chipping green, snack bar, rental clubs, beverage cart and pro shop. The course is not walkable. You can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $45 weekdays and $55 on weekends (including Fridays). Linville Golf Club A golf course called Tanglewood opened adjacent to the current course in 1892. The old course no longer exists (a victim of the Great Depression) although a portion is used as the driving range. Donald Ross designed the new course in 1924. Linville Golf Club is set among majestic and wonderful wooded scenery in the well-heeled retirement and second-home town of Linville. In the fairways, you'll play off bentgrass; on the greens, you'll find poa annua. Linville Golf Club is private--you must play as the guest of a member or be a guest at the excellent Eseeola Lodge. The course is open from May through October. Among golfers in North Carolina, Linville Golf Club is known as one of the best mountain golf courses, and maybe as one of the top courses in the Carolinas. It's the finest public-access course in the mountains. Most golfers would happily choose this course over one of the more modern, earth-moving extravaganzas with houses bordering (and interfering with) almost every hole. A lot of factors make the course particularly interesting and particularly good. For starters, Linville is something of a rarity: a true Donald Ross course that looks like it's relatively untouched. Richard S. Tufts, who died in 1980 and who used to own Pinehurst Resort, revised the course a little, but for the most part, it's pure Ross. This means that the layout is excellent: There are no silly or poorly conceived holes on the course. You'll also find plenty of those Ross greens that play smaller than they look. Getting up and down from a greenside bunker is no easy task, and we'll give you a short-game proficiency certificate if you can get up and down from behind the green. Like many great Ross courses, you need to let the course come to you, and you need to stay below the hole on your approach shots, chips and pitches. From the tee, many of the holes are relatively wide, while others are somewhat narrow; spray the ball off the tee and you're probably going to be in the woods or on an adjacent fairway. From the middle tees, a well struck 3 wood may be your wisest choice. Ross courses (in North Carolina, at least) don't usually feature a lot of water, and Linville is a bit of an exception in that a couple of streams regularly come into play, although they shouldn't really bother a good shot. If your other favorite pastime is fly fishing, you'll wish you could bring your rod--giant trout wander around in the streams, just waiting to be hooked, safe in the knowledge that they are protected by a "No Fishing" sign. The course boasts a number of magnificent holes, most notably the par 4 3rd that measures 449 yards from the tips. The aforementioned stream bisects the hole at about 150 yards from the front of the turtlebacked green, which is perched on a small knoll. Most of the fairway slopes significantly downhill from right to left, making the approach short even more difficult. Par here is a great score. Golf course architect and golf writer Tom Doak believes this hole is one of the greatest par 4s in the world. He's seen a lot of excellent par 4s, so it's difficult to disagree with his assessment. But don't think that the third hole is the only great one on the course. You'll find the 2nd, 8th, 11th, 12th and 18th to be fine and testing challenges. Linville is mostly a placement golf course. You don't have to hit the ball a mile to score well here. You just need to be in the right place at the right time and let the course come to you. Even if things are going badly here for you, remember that you're in a special place. One other notable feature are the poa annua greens. Most course superintendents hate the stuff, due to the theory that it can take over and ruin the consistency of a good bentgrass green. We think you may find the greens here are some of the best you'll ever play, and some of the trickiest to putt in the early and late season. It's simply crucial to stay beneath the hole on most greens, lest you find yourself with an almost impossible downhill putt. One of the great things about the greens is that they are so true--a well-struck putt is most often rewarded with a great result. With its fine architectural pedigree and its majestic setting, Linville proves that a basic layout can be a great layout. If you're a fan of really good, old golf courses, you should bribe a member to let you on or stay at the Eseeola Lodge and invest in a golf package. It's well worth the cashola. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, snack bar after the 11th hole, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable, but, sadly, you're not allowed to walk before 4 PM. It's a tragedy that such a great old course won't let you strap your bag to your own shoulder or to that of a caddie. You can book a tee time when you reserve at the Eseeola Lodge, which offers golf packages. Approximate cost, including cart, is $50 weekdays and weekends. Mountain Aire Golf Course No one seems to know when Mountain Aire opened or who designed the course. The course is primarily open and features some dramatic topography. It features bluegrass fairways along with the bentgrass greens typical of the region. Deep in the heart of Jefferson County, Mountain Aire is perched on the side of a significant and pretty mountain. The result is a course with stunning elevation changes, most noticeably on the 452-yard par 4, where you tee off from what seems like the top of a cliff. The left side of the fairway features an embankment dotted with grassy pot bunkers--a unique hole. Also interesting is the 2nd hole, a par 3 listed as 89 yards, although it may be even less. We looked hard to find a hole here that's flat, and we couldn't find one. Expect to hit either uphill or downhill on just about every shot. The greens are predominantly small and slightly sloped. Overall, Mountain Aire is a pleasant course, affording fine views and some challenging holes. Amenities include a practice green, range, snack bar and rental clubs. The course is walkable for the physically fit, and you can walk anytime. You can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $28 weekdays and $32 weekends. Mount Mitchell Golf Club Mount Mitchell Golf Course opened in 1975. Fred Hawtree designed the course on a valley floor, thus it's predominantly flat. You'll find bentgrass in the fairways and on the greens. Fred Hawtree is the son of Frederic George Hawtree, well known in the United Kingdom as one of the great designers in the first half of the 20th century. Fred Hawtree continued his father's design excellence. After a distinguished record in World War II, including a stint as a POW in a Japanese camp, Hawtree designed and built numerous courses in England and France in addition to a few in Germany, Iran, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Wales. Mount Mitchell is his only course in the United States. Fred Hawtree's son, Martin, continued the architectural firm and is, himself, a prolific designer. You can see an example of Martin's work at Reems Creek Golf Course just north of Asheville in Weaverville (see the write-up in this chapter). Comparing Reems Creek to Mount Mitchell is like comparing the artist formerly known as Prince to Mozart. Whereas Reems Creek is a masterpiece of modern earth-moving prowess, Mount Mitchell is a kinder, gentler course. Rumor has it that Ben Wright and Charlie "Choo-choo" Justice had houses on the course at one stage. Justice would sit on his porch and let golfers know how the putts were breaking. The routing is magnificent. There are no bad holes, and each shot requires thought and a degree of precision. The holes have a gentle shape and appearance yet are quite challenging, due mostly to the tightness off the tee and the potential for big score disasters posed by mountain streams and several bunkers. It's probably one of the prettiest public courses in the mountains. As you drive up to the course through the winding mountain road and come upon the crosscut fairways, you can't help drooling a little at the sight. The key to scoring well here is keeping the ball in play. If you're wild with your driver, lock it in the trunk and rely on your short game to keep you out of the big-number doghouse. The greens offer a great deal of variety. Some are sloped, others are tiered, others still are undulating. Even though the course is a little remote, make the time to get here, particularly in the fall, when the greens are fast and the trees blaze magnificently with color. Mt. Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, and the scenery is stupendous. The hole you'll remember is the par 4 18th, 400 yards straight downhill, then over a creek to a large green. It's just one of many holes with superb views. Perhaps because it doesn't spend a lot on PR and promotion, Mount Mitchell rarely cracks those annoying "Top 100" and "Best Course in the Universe" lists. That's unfortunate--Mount Mitchell is one of North Carolina's jewels and is much better than most of the state's "ranked" and highly publicized courses. Amenities include a practice green, locker room, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is walkable for the fit, and you can walk after 1 PM Monday through Thursday. You can book a tee time two weeks in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $45 weekdays and $50 on weekends. Mountain Glen Golf Club Mountain Glen Golf Course opened in 1964. This George Cobb design features rolling, relatively open terrain, with trees delineating the bluegrass fairways. The greens are bentgrass. Mountain Glen is an example of a George Cobb resort/vacation course with excellent routing. Cobb believed this type of course should be more straightforward and less fraught with difficulty than a country club course that a member might play many times a year. After all, you're on vacation! If you still want a challenge, play it from the back tees. (Actually, the course is quite long even from the ladies' tees.) The fairways are medium-width, and the greens are medium-size and sloped, with subtle breaks. Mountain streams comprise most of the water hazards. There's plenty of bunkering around the greens, so plan your approach to avoid them. Most of the bunkers are built to catch shots that are wide and short. If you don't like the look of a bunker, take an extra club or two. The fourth is one of many solid par 3s on the course. It's 205 from the tips to a difficult green flanked by two bunkers. This is a fun and relatively challenging course that's worth the price of admission. An interesting local rule is that no beginning golfers are allowed on the course on weekends and holidays before 4 PM. A good move for those of us trying to get around in under five hours. Amenities include a practice green, chipping green, locker room, snack bar, rental clubs and pro shop. The course is pleasantly walkable, and you can walk anytime (hooray!). You can book a tee time seven days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $45 weekdays and weekends. The Village of Sugar MountainGolf
Course The golf course at Sugar Mountain opened in the early 1970s, according to local legend. The staff here did not know who designed the course, and we couldn't glean any information from our typically reliable sources, but if we could hazard a guess, it might be Russell Breeden. Some holes are set in open terrain, while others are wooded. The course is primarily flat, with some minor elevation changes. Fairways are bluegrass; greens, bentgrass. Sugar Mountain is best known as one of the largest ski areas in the Southeast. It's still small by Western standards, but it's very popular and often crowded in the middle of the season. A large, multistory concrete-sided building, which looks like an East German government building, is annoyingly perched on top of the mountain and must surely win the prize for the structure most deserving of the wrecking ball. Architectural snafus aside, the Village of Sugar Mountain offers a fine and somewhat unique golf course. This par 64 course is defined by its nine varied, interesting and thoroughly hazardous par 3s, most notably the 187-yard 7th. The other holes offer decent length and width off the tee, although a few are tighter. It looks like little earth was moved during construction. A couple of streams provide hazards, as do some large bunkers. The greens are built-up and medium-sized; they are primarily sloped and slightly undulating. This friendly course is a good place for the beginner and interesting enough for the better and more experienced player who will be happy to keep the score close to par. Overall, Sugar Mountain is a course where residents and visitors alike will have a lot of fun. Amenities include a practice green and rental clubs. The course is walkable, and you should walk here--we were told that several octogenarians keep themselves atrophy-free by walking the course on a regular basis. Hey, maybe it'll work for you. You can book a tee time five days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $33 weekdays and $35 on weekends. Granada Farms According to Architects of Golf, Granada Farms opened in 1978, although the pro shop staff cite a somewhat earlier date. Tom Jackson designed the course on rolling terrain. Some of the holes have an open feel, while woods and houses line others. Bermudagrass blankets the fairways; bentgrass covers the greens. A well-struck 4-wood from the textile mills of Granite Falls sits Granada Farms Country Club, a housing development with one of Tom Jackson's first solo designs. Since this effort, Jackson's stock has risen: The houses around his golf courses are bigger, the mounds around the greens are more ominous, the greens are more demonic and the distance from the back tee has increased. Granite Farms is a good example of why Jackson became such a hot and well-respected designer in the Carolinas. You'll also see the links elements that have continued to define Jackson's work since the construction of Granada Farms. The fairways here are mostly wide, with bunkers and the occasional mound coming into play. The greens are midsize to large, and the green complexes include a multitude of bunkers, mounds and hollows. Water comes into play on a few holes and is ingeniously employed. The course is certainly worth a look if you're in the area, especially if you're a fan of Tom Jackson. The par 4 5th is only a medium-length par 4 at 400 yards, but the water hazard right in front of the green must cause its fair share of problems. Amenities include a practice green, range, locker room, snack bar and pro shop. The course is walkable (amazing for a Tom Jackson course), and you can walk after noon on weekends and anytime during the week. You can book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $23 weekdays and $30 on weekends. Grassy Creek Golf and Country Club Grassy Creek opened its first nine holes in 1956 and the next nine in 1966. The course is laid out on rolling terrain. Fairways combine bluegrass and bentgrass; greens are strictly bentgrass. At Grassy Creek we found a fine, mature course that's more challenging than it looks. Hit a long or wild hook off the first tee and your ball will land smack in the middle of a McDonald's drive-through. After this, the course becomes a lot prettier. It's predominately tight off the tee, although you can escape by hitting onto the adjacent fairway. The greens are sloped, sometimes crowned, small to midsize on the front nine and slightly larger on the back. Many of the greens are protected by bunkers of various sizes and shapes. Steep embankments flank some. A mountain stream comes into play on some holes. Have a go here if you're looking for a relaxed outing. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, locker room, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs and pro shop. You can walk this course anytime except Saturday before noon. You can book a tee time seven days in advance. Approximate cost, including cart, is $36 weekdays and $40 on weekends. Marion Lake Club The first nine at Lake Marion opened in 1923, and the second nine opened in the early 1970s. The track is set in rolling terrain. In the fairways and on the greens, you'll find bermudagrass. No one is certain about who designed this course, although a staff member said many knowledgeable golfers believe the layout of the original nine smacks of Donald Ross, and the second nine is the work of Russell Breeden. Here at Lake Marion, you'll find a country course in a pleasant setting. The older holes, on the back nine, feature small greens, and you can run the ball up to the hole if the ground gets hard. The greens are generally medium-size on the front and often flanked by steep embankments that you'll want to avoid. The back nine are highlighted by views of the lake. The 14th hole features a tee shot near a very attractive house just 30 yards from the tee. This popular and pretty course is worth a visit the next time you're in Marion. Amenities include a practice green, range, locker room, snack bar and pro shop. You can walk this course and book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $27. Orchard Hills Golf Club W. Pitts designed Orchard Hills, which opened in the 1950s. The course is set on undulating terrain, with bermudagrass fairways and bentgrass greens. At Orchard Hills, we found a mature, sloped and predominately open course, with a number of uphill shots. You won't run into a lot of trouble off the tee. There is a small stream that comes into play on a few holes, and a pond could affect one hole. The greens are midsize and sloped, with some bunkers protecting them. The course closes with a difficult hole, a 427-yard par 4 that's bordered by an apple orchard. The green is one of the more heavily bunkered on the course. It's unlikely that you'll leave Orchard Hills with a birdie, but you'll be more than happy with a well-earned par. Amenities include a practice green, range, chipping green, locker room, snack bar and pro shop. You can walk anytime during the week and after 2 PM on weekends. You can book a tee time as early as Tuesday for the following weekend. Approximate cost, including cart, is $26 weekdays and $30 on weekends. Quaker Meadows Golf Club The golf course at Quaker Meadows opened in 1969. This Russell Breeden design is open and primarily flat, with bermudagrass fairways and bentgrass greens. We failed to find any Quakers, but we did find a fine, well-designed Breeden course. Typical of a Breeden track, we found little trouble off the tee, save the occasional stream or out-of-bounds area. The greens are classic Breeden: large, undulating, sloped and flanked by well-shaped and strategically placed bunkers that vary in intensity depending on pin placement. The course is clearly popular with the local golfing citizenry and with good reason--it's playable, fun and challenging without being tricked up. At par 71, the course offers significant distance from the tips. Only one hole presents a water hazard to be feared--the 422-yard 9th. Amenities include a practice green, range, locker room, snack bar, restaurant, rental clubs and pro shop. You can walk this course anytime except weekends before 2 PM. Book a tee time whenever you choose. Approximate cost, including cart, is $20 weekdays and $24 on weekends.
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