I have been trying to find/make time for months to visit a couple of courses in Tennessee that Hidden Fairways member, Garrett Roberson, suggested months ago. I've attempted to take off on 3 different occasions, but last week I finally made the trip and it was well worth the effort. Garrett nominated Laurel Valley Golf Course, in Townsend, Tennessee and River Watch Golf Resort, outside Sparta, Tennessee and both courses were ideal Hidden Fairways.
My first stop was at Laurel Valley. I left Atlanta at about 3:30 Wednesday morning and arrived in Laurel Valley just before 8am. In the dark and the fog. And temps in the low 50's. Ideal golf conditions! As luck would have it, the 8 o'clock tee time didn't show up so I was first off. Couldn't see my ball flight for the first 3 holes, but eventually the sun appeared and the fog gave way to a gorgeous Fall morning. No management types were around after I played so I left not knowing whether there would be any interest in Hidden Fairways, but less than an hour down the road, the golf shop manager gave me a buzz and said they'd love to join the Hidden Fairways community. So I returned Thursday afternoon and shot these photos. I'll be writing my review and publishing the course specifics within the next week or so, but for now... to borrow a phrase from The Arnold, "I'll be back". Sweet course. Well taken care of and run by some very nice folks.
The second course I visited was RiverWatch Golf Resort ( a name that doesn't actually fit, since there's no resort to be found ) outside Sparta, Tennessee. Unlike Laurel Valley, which nestles up against Smoky Mountain National Park, RiverWatch is in rolling Middle Tennessee farmland roughly 60 miles east of Nashville. Beautiful country, but very different from my morning stop. This course is a longer layout than Laurel Valley, at 6850 yards from the back tees, and is a real beauty. I enjoyed the design considerably, but the feature that really stoked my fire was the zoysia fairways. I LOVE zoysia fairways. I spoke with General Manager, Jennifer Silcox, and it was clear that she and the others involved in running RiverWatch love their course. The fact that they're still running the golf shop out of a trailer doesn't detract from the golf at all. Rather, it seems to me that it's an indication that keeping the golf course in good condition for their golfers is their top priority, because the golf course is in excellent shape. The greens had been punched and sanded the day before I played the course, but there was no sign at all of bare patches or weedy areas on them. They looked great... just sandy with a bunch of 1/2" holes in them!
I'm completely thrilled to add these great courses to Hidden Fairways. Watch closely for their pages to be completed, and give yourself a present... a golf trip to Tennessee!
