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The beautifully landscaped
golf courses of the
Great Smoky Mountains are receiving
enthusiastic reviews. Any golfer wanting to improve
their game will not want to miss the opportunities found
in the
Smoky Mountains. As an added bonus, playing golf
in the Smoky Mountains reward golfers with the natural
beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains and the neighboring
foothills are breathtaking.
Because of the unique
landscape of rolling hills and river plains, the courses
range from mountainous to flat, and everything in
between. Golfers in the Smoky Mountains will have to hit
the ball uphill, downhill, and sidehill. Visitors to the
cities of
Gatlinburg,
Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville will
find that the mountain golf courses present very
different challenges from the ones they find at home.
The four local golf
courses are Bent Creek Golf Village, The Gatlinburg Golf
Course, Eagle’s Landing Golf Club, and River Islands
Golf Club. All of these beautiful courses are
championship courses, each with a distinguishing
personality. Serious golfers will want to play each of
the courses.
Bent Creek Golf village
lies at the very foot of the
Great Smoky Mountains. Divided into two distinct
segments, this very challenging golf course lies half in
a scenic valley and half in mountainous terrain.
Southern Living Magazine rated Bent Creek as “One of the
top 50 gold courses in the South.”
The Gatlinburg Golf course
has some of the most spectacular mountainous holes and
views found anywhere. This unique and long course has
lots of elevated greens, vertical drops, and tight
fairways. There is not one flat fairway to be found, and
golfers will be challenged to play their best. In 1995,
Eagle’s landing Golf Club was nominated for Golf
Digest’s “Best New Public Course.” A link-style course,
its championship tees stretch for 6,919 yards. The first
few holes lie on flat land next to the Little Pigeon
River, but the rest are in hilly terrain with some very
tight fairways.
River Islands Golf Club,
rated four-star by Golf Digest, is the highest rated
public golf course in the state of Tennessee. Five
exciting holes actually rest on three natural islands in
the French Broad River, making it one of the area’s most
captivating, as well as challenging courses.
Golfers in the Smoky
Mountains will find additional variety and new
challenges at several outlying golf courses where the
terrain is less steep. Each of these courses offers
golfers of all skillfulness a fascinating game. Laurel
Valley Golf and Country Club nestles in a charming
little valley surrounded by mountains, while Banebarry
Golf and Resort offers a quiet, relaxing setting by
Douglas Lake. The Dandrigde Golf and Country Club has 27
holes, and Patriot Hills Golf Club is the area’s newest
golf course.
The best times to play
golf in the Smoky Mountains are spring and fall when the
climate is temperate. In summer, mornings and evenings
offer comfortable play times. Playing golf in the winter
can be unpredictable.
Whether you are a beginner
or a pro, the beauty and challenge of the Smoky Mountain
golf courses will make you want to play golf here all
year round. |
