Mountain golf in the South conjures up many scenes – elevated tees, gorgeous views, natural beauty that blends with the work of course designers to create memorable times on the links. Selecting the best courses among hundreds of choices is difficult because this region’s unmatched environment of forests, water and rock and the quality of course architects make constructing 18 holes much more than a place to play a round of golf.
That said, here are my top picks, with first place at platinum, second at
MOUNTAIN COURSES: PRIVATE
Platinum.
Mountain Air Country Club, Burnsville, N.C.
Breathtaking and stunning are among the first words that come to mind to describe this mountain golf community that combines scenic golf with incredible amenities. Watch a mid-iron sail 230 yards on the downhill par-3 10th and get 10 seconds of hang-time from your drive on the steeply elevated par-5 11th and you understand how this course earned its name. Players can literally fly in for 18 holes on the private airstrip that bisects the front nine.
Gold.
The Nicklaus Golf Course at Birch River, Dahlonega, Ga.
Set in the in hillside country of North Georgia mountains, this Jack Nicklaus jewel is highlighted by 18 holes built around water. Seven times during a round, golfers cross the historic Chestatee River, providing beauty and a stern test for players. And how’s this for a rarity in design? The fourth green, fifth hole and sixth green play entirely on an island on the river.
Silver.
Rarity Bay, Vonore, Tenn.
Aptly named, Rarity Bay is a unique combination of waterfront golf amid the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The 18-hole design of D.J. DeVictor and Peter Langham encompasses 150 acres inside this private, gated community and offers spectacular views of Lake Tellico. The course meanders through rolling hills and provides just enough subtle elevation changes and water hazards to charm and challenge players.
VALLEY COURSES: PUBLIC
Platinum.
The Homestead, Hot Springs, Va.
Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones Sr., William Flynn … Take your pick of golf courses created by these famed designers as part of the Homestead’s 54 holes. The Cascades Course has hosted seven USGA championships and is consistently ranked among the best public layouts in the country. The Lower Cascades sits in a beautiful valley surrounded by the Allegheny Mountains, and the Old Course starts with the oldest continuous first tee in the U.S., dating back to 1892.
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Silver.
Reems Creek Golf Club,
Weaverville, N.C.
Keep your driver in the bag at this series of rolling pasturelands that sit in the Reems Creek Valley on the outskirts of Asheville in the Western North Carolina mountains. At least nine of the 18 holes of the Martin Hawtree layout require no more than a mid-iron to fairway wood for proper placement and to avoid some serious rough. There’s water on just four holes, but plenty of strategic bunkering along with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains make Reems Creek a must play.
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Gold.
The Greenbrier Resort, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
The alluring Allegheny Mountains provide the backdrop for 54 holes of golf on three championship courses, including a Jack Nicklaus redesign on the Greenbrier Course that hosted the 1979 Ryder Cup. The Meadows Course features a meandering stream through its 18 holes and the finishing hole shares a massive double green with the Greenbrier layout. The Old White Course includes replicas of famous European holes.
VALLEY COURSES: PRIVATE
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Platinum.
Biltmore Forest Country Club, Asheville, N.C.
Gloria Vanderbilt wanted to play golf near her home at the historic Biltmore House in the early 1920s and asked famed designer Donald Ross to construct 18 holes. The result is this classic, old-style layout carved out of the middle of the upscale Biltmore Forest community, just minutes from downtown Asheville in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Host of the 1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur, the course is distinguished by tree-lined fairways that demand accuracy over sheer distance.
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Gold.
The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards, Sunset, S.C.
Famed designer Tom Fazio produced another gem to add to his impressive resume with this scenic and challenging layout in Upstate South Carolina. Eight holes are situated on Lake Keowee, including the dramatic, downhill par-3 17th hole, 250 yards from the tips downhill to a green surrounded by water on three sides. Host of the Nationwide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs, Keowee Vineyards has been ranked as the seventh best private course in the country by Golf Digest and the Toughest Hole (Number 17) on the ’04 Nationwide Tour.
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Silver.
Glenmore Country Club, Charlottesville, Va.
Imagine the mixture of elevated tees and the sidehill, downhill and uphill lies of a mountain course with the peaceful land of a Scottish links layout. That’s 18 holes at Glenmore, where designer John LaFoy has brought together a unique combination of natural hills, water from both creeks and lakes, and native and imported high grasses to create a memorable round of golf that promises to be both scenic and challenging.
MOUNTAIN COURSES: PUBLIC
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Platinum.
Mount Mitchell Golf Course, Burnsville, N.C.
A river runs through it - the South Toe River that can come into play often if golfers stray off these stunningly serene 18 holes surrounded on three sides by the Pisgah National Forest in Western North Carolina. A relatively flat course in vast mountain lands, this Fred Hawtree design has bent grass on the tees, greens and fairways. The view from the elevated 18th tee down to the clubhouse and first tee reminds players of where they started and where they will finish a memorable day.
Gold.
Canyon Ridge Club at Tauqueta Falls, Rising Fawn, Ga.
This brand-new Rick Robbins production runs along a pair of mountain bluffs, surrounded by natural forests and the Chattanooga Valley. On the rocky first tee, a 150-foot drop to the fairway precedes a 2,000-foot drop off the green with views for more than 75 miles. The course, which includes boulders bigger than houses that required three bulldozers to move, concludes just as dramatically with a 100-foot elevation change from tee to fairway on the 18th hole.
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Silver.
Highlands Cove Golf Course, Highlands, N.C.
In what is a truly incredible piece of land, Tom Jackson fashioned nine holes of dramatic elevation changes on the Highlands nine. On the cove side, the land becomes much more level but no less beautiful as the course winds through a lush valley complete with rock walls and enough water to steal wayward shots. Near the charming small resort town of Highlands, the course is near the Georgia border and a short trip to Atlanta.
EDITOR'S CHOICE...
Waterfall Golf Course
An 18-hole world-class golf course selected by Georgia Golf News as one of the five “Best of the Best” private courses in Georgia, it joins such prestigious golf courses as Augusta National and Ocean Forest Club on Sea Island. The Waterfall course was developed by Scott Pool as part of a club community set at 3,000 feet above sea level. The course would be notable if it had just one spectacular hole: the one with the dramatic waterfall at its edge.
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