Folks,

I will be in highlands, NC. Any reco's for golf in the area?

Thanks in advance

Lots of great golf in the Highlands area, but it's all private. You may need to drive to Asheville for public golf.

Thanks, I was afraid of that.

I'm thinking that Etowah Valley near Brevard is open to the public. Might want to check on that and it should be closer. I used to spend a little time in the Brevard area. I live in Boone, north of Asheville, and pretty much everything here is ultra private. Kinda sucks.

nope entirely wrong. There is amazing golf in cashiers and highlands. Highlands Cove is a great course, 65 after 2. Cashiers has a few real nice courses. One is high hampton. That is a short course in real good shape. Its around 80 or 90. There is also Saphire Mountain, which is real nice but very new. It was redone this past year. Its around 70, when are you going? Pm me with any more questions or recomendations. there are a lot of nice courses up there. Most are private but there are some super nice ones that are public. the private courses are just imaculate. a friend played augusta and said wade hampton and mountain top were nicer... You just have to pay a good amount to play in highlands or casheirs. If you dont want to pay that much I can give you some local courses within 45 minutes that are a little cheapers. however I would not skimp out, this is golf you will remember for a long time. mountain golf at its finest! There are a few more public courses but these are the cream of the crop. If I were you I would play highlands cove. Check out the website.

http://www.highlandscove.com/golf.html


they say the price is 100, however just ask about 65 after 2. tell them you are a local, and have a house up there or something. often times its for locals only. ITS AN AMAZING COURSE!!!
By the way asheville is an hour and half away! Why travel that far if you are in one of the nicest places in the US to play golf.

Sorry for the bad info. I assumed with all the very private courses there, public golf would be hard to find like it is in this part of the mountains. The golf season must be a little longer down there to support more public golf.

I said he MAY need to go to Asheville, I wasn't sure. It is one of the nicest places to play golf, just didn't realize there was any publuc golf in that area. Soooooo sorry.

I'm traveling up there today and will be in the area for 2-3 days. I will for sure take your reco's. Cost for this is not a show stopper.

Thanks

Again.

Any nice hotels?

the old edwards inn is a real nice place. other than that not really any hotels more motels. in cashiers there is a hampton inn, most anything besides that will be real expensive. check out the old edwards inn. I would play highlands cove and high hampton. I would not play saphire, i played last week, and everything was very new! It was fresh sod that had not took yet, also some greens were completely redone, and also fresh sod. Its worth it though, ask if they will let you play for like 40 do to the shape of the course and its worth it. High hampton also has a nice place to stay however the old edwards inn is the most talked about hotel, by locals of coarse, and we do know the best. There is also another course called sky valley, i heard they just did a redo also. i have never played it so i cant tell you if its worth it.

Tmiller, its all good. I was just letting him know, how far asheville is. Also trying to do some persuading. There are some super nice courses that are once in a lifetime stuff. You are right though, Out of 50 or so courses only about 5 or 6 are public. Its amazing.

If you have any questions or need some more recomendations I am more than happy to help you out. if you would like pm me and i will send you my number and if you have any questions i would be more than happy to help out. you will enjoy it, beautiful place with amazing mountain golf.

Will is right about the public golf. There are options in the area. He pretty much covered it all. The only addition I would make is Trillium Golf Links. I played it a few times when I was in college at Western Carolina. It runs about $110 or so I think, but is worth the money. (I didn't have to pay, thank goodness!!) Sounds like you have no restrictions, so it should be in the rotation. Sapphire Mountain was marginal when I was up there years ago. High Hampton has some beautiful scenery and is always in great condition. Good luck with the decision, and enjoy the beautiful WNC mountains!

interesting i am a western grad as well. when did you graduate? I think now trillium is only private, but it always cant hurt to try... yeah saphire was marginal but they just put a ton of money into it. a few million, they expanded some greens and put in all new tee boxs. It should be real nice in about 6 months, however they opened it up too early...

Isn't Trillium Morris Hatalsky's (sp?) course? I thought that was a private course. A friend of mine played there with his girlfriend's dad who owned property there. I thought he said it was private. He could have ben wrong though.


Mostly Sunny, too bad you don't have any connections for the private courses. They are top shelf for sure. It's hot up here right now, but not nearly as hot as it is outside the mountains though. Have fun.

Yup, its morris's first course as a matter of a fact. I have heard the layout is a little weird though, its been ranked as nice but nothign crazy, i think it was public for a while, its still listed as public in the phone book, however its private now. oh yeah, the heat this week was ridiculous... this week is supposed to be nicer. a lot of the courses that are private are still extremely strict, for example wade hampton (the nicest) only allows members 6 guests each year. thats silly for the amount of money the spend...

definately play high hampton, as said above great scenery, shape, and fun!

I graduated Western in August 2001. That place has changed SOOOO much since I was up there. It's been probably 3 years since I was even up there to visit, and it was different then. I have great memories of the place, that's for sure.

Our best deal was Mill Creek Country Club in Franklin. We had a student membership that was $150 for the calendar year. We went after 2 for the twilight rate and played for $5 (cart fee). Of course, gas was much cheaper then, and the 20-30 minute drive to the course was no big deal. Sadly, I heard that Mill Creek closed between then and now.

It's quite possible that Trillium is private. I guess I shoulda stated that in my original post. It was new when I was there, and I'm sure they were trying to log plenty of traffic when they got the chance so they let anyone and everyone play. A friend of mine worked there also, after I had already played it. Times change.....I'll be 30 in a couple of months and that is depressing in itself.

Highlands Cove is a good track, always in good shape. The front nine (mountain side) drives me crazy, the greens are so damn small and there is no where to put it on a few of the holes off the tee, play it from the tips, it opens up a lot. #4 makes me cuss a lot. The back 9, valley side, is a good test.

haha, mill creek is an alright course. They have definately went up on rates. They were charging 25 after 4. However it just got sold out, 2.9 mil for that place. now its 35 after 2. not too bad. Its changed so much in the past three years its ridiculous. Probably more in the past 5 then in the 15 before. i have not played trillium yet, but i heard the layout is not the best.

Trillium has a few funky holes from what I remember. It's been 8 years or so since I played it. Everything up in that neck of the woods has changed so much, I wouldn't recognize anything. Kinda sad....

When I was in school, Mill Creek was almost always in good condition. We had student memberships my last 2 years up there and definitely got our money's worth. It's basically 30 minutes any way you go to find a course from Cullowhee. Cashiers is definitely the jackpot if you have a way to get on some of the courses. I miss those hills, that's for sure!!

oh yeah, cashiers is definately developing even faster. more and more courses. they are just so ridiculously expensive. I play mostly at mill creek and at smoky mountain, which is in whittier.

There is a lot more golf in that part of the mountain than I thought there was. Lots more than here for sure. I may have to slide down there sometime.

Old Edwards Inn is a great spot. Was there for a wedding last year and had a great time. Played Mountaintop which was awesome. Didn't play great, but enjoyed it. All I want to say is WOW. I traveled from NJ and flew into Ashville and drove to Highlands. Unbelievable. I drove up with a friend and we had no idea what we were in for. The view, the elevation, the scenery, the hospitality.....it goes on and on. I simply underestimated the area. Hats off to those that live in the area. Spectacular. I hope I can one day be a part of a club in the area. It ROCKS!

JS

mountaintop is a really nice club too, i am sure that was a blast. what did you think of the course?

Hey guys another WCU grad here (2001-2005). I played on the golf team as well so I saw a lot of the golf courses. You guys are spot on with the recommendations. As far as public courses go this is my rankings:

1. Highlands Cove
2. Tryllium (I am pretty sure it's public)
4. Sapphire Mountain (I'll be playing there over the 4th of July weekend)
3. High Hampton

The private golf courses are some of the best I have ever played. I worked at Country Club of Sapphire Valley for 5 years so I know it well. My wife worked at Highlands Country Club so I played it a lot too. My private club list (only courses I have played) are:

1. Wade Hampton (A housemates dad was a member there) WOW!
2. Sapphire Valley
3. Highlands Country Club
4. Cullasaja Club (Another roommate worked there)
5. Sapphire Lakes

Never played Highlands Falls. Also never played Wildcat Cliffs. Mountaintop wasn't open when I left.

Also, as far as public places if you are willing to drive is The Walker Course at Clemson U. It takes a little over an hour to get there but well worth it in my opinion. Also, Broadmoor by the Asheville Airport and Etowah Valley are great places as well.

If you have questions let me know.

i have heard that broadmoor is pretty nice. what would you say about it? trillium, is no longer public... unfortanetly, it is a nice course. you will enjoy sapphire mountain, get ready for a tough time. it was opened way too early, its not called sapphire mountain. the redo is impressive though.

Broadmoor is pretty good. There is one Par 5 on the back that is just goofy. But, other than that I really enjoyed playing there. It was always in good condition. The wind can be tough there sometimes.

I played Sapphire Mountain a couple of years ago and it had some Mickey Mouse holes from what I remember. But, it will be a fun weekend.