Pros:
Just driving to the course in the rustic beautiful mountains of western Carolina builds your anticipation, and once you get there the mountain views all around don't disappoint. The view looking out over the pond with the hills and trees behind is spectacular. A few inches of snow on the ground completed the idyllic setting.
With two sets of tees, this Harold Duvall designed course will challenge players of many skill levels. Three holes (8, 11, 17) also have an extra blue basket for the Long layout. The elevation changes are the course's most memorable feature; there are lots and some are quite hefty. There's a pretty even balance of up and down, with some holes that are down-then back up, and some up-then back down. On a few holes if you get a bad kick you might be way down in a ravine and have to claw your way up a steep hill. Holes 1-7 are moderately hilly, but then 8-18 start the real ups and downs. For example, Hole 8 Long is +45 ft. uphill, then on 9 you have a big downhill drive (Short: -54 ft/ Long: -72 ft). There are also alternate fairways for holes 8 & 9, though, for those who don't want such a strenuous hike, so there are actually 20 holes on the course. To give you an idea of the huge elevation changes consider this string of holes from 14-18 on the Long layout: 14 is +45 ft, 15 is +25 ft, 16 is -45 ft., 17 is +42 ft. Then you get to 18. This hole has the distinction of having the greatest elevation change in North Carolina-- a 140 ft drop! The course's terrain also has excellent variety with slightly more woods holes, balanced by many with mixed trees and grass. The woods are mostly on 8-18, while 1-7 are more open mixed terrain. Only hole 1 is wide open. There's also fantastic length variety. (The Long layout should challenge the Big Arms: 4<299/ 7 of 300-399/ 5of 400-499/ 1 of 660/ 1 of 818.) The greens are excellent too, with many treacherous side slopes to be careful on. Add in rhododendrons and other woods foliage and it's a beautiful setting. The front and back nines both start and end near the parking lot, so it's easy to just play 9 holes if you want to. Nice. Oh yeah, there's a great shot over the scenic pond on hole 3 too. All in all, several holes are epic, and the Long layout is especially tough.
The Basics are pretty well covered. Very good double chain DISCatcher baskets with the 3 extra Carolina blue longs. The lower holes each have 2 sets of raked concrete tees that are quite long, and the higher holes (9, 11, 14-18) have large rubber mats. It must have been a huge amount of work to get those frames and mats up the hills!
As for Amenities... much care was taken to put up lots of navigational signs and bricks pointing the way to the next tees. Very helpful! There's a great map and score card online, and some at the course too. There's also a good message board, a warm up basket, and lots of benches. I'm amazed at how much they've done here in a relatively short time!!
Cons:
-Hole 11. Ahhh yes... without a doubt this unique hole will generate more reaction than any other hole on the course. Hole 11 Long is one of the most unusual holes I've ever played. From the tee you can't see the blue basket because the fairway ends abruptly at a high wall of rhododendrons that you have to go over with a thumber or tomahawk shot. Clear this, then there's after another short section of fairway ending at a second high rhododendron wall to go over, then you finally get to the blue basket. Also, if you go off the fairway you're in thick woods, so you may have to pitch back out to a spot where you can get up over the wall. I didn't like the hole, but YMMV. They need to post good directions on where to find the basket and how it plays, though, because you can't even figure it out without walking the entire hole. Even the walking path to the long basket was hard to find and needs to be better marked.
-I was disappointed the regular holes 8 & 9 were closed when I was there, and I hope that this won't be a regular occurrence.
-A small quibble- the online map and score card need to be updated on a few holes to show the current layout.
Other Thoughts:
Course Level: Long layout = Blue (most suited for Advanced players rated 950).
Short layout = White (most suited for Intermediate players rated 900.)
-Restrooms were locked (maybe locked for the winter?).
-If you play in the winter you may well have some snow on the ground.
-I can imagine that the foliage in the woods can get pretty thick in the summer.
My favorite hole- Long 18-- drive down a corridor in the woods with the huge 140 ft elevation drop.
All in all, this is a classic mountain course with many epic holes. It's one of the best in North Carolina, so it's worth making a trip to play. Don't miss it!
<span class="underline">A note about my rating:</span> My rating is a subjective measure of my enjoyment of the course, on the day I played it, and it is NOT intended to be a measure of the quality of the course. My ratings are given "on the curve" in relation to all other courses I've played.
-More detailed "Overall Rating" notes and "Hole-by-hole Ratings" are available in the Files section.