I’d recommend taking the trip to Henry Horton. I walked with a push cart a couple of weeks ago and it wasn’t too bad (comparable to Harpeth) and pace of play was good. As others have mentioned the greens are superb for a public course.
I have so much PTO to burn I plan on visiting Henry Horton mid week on like a Thursday or something.
Side note: I played Old Natchez last night with my dad. We walked the back nine in prep for the member guest this weekend out there. Conditions are amazing out there right now. Greens are LIGHTENING fast.
Played Henry Horton today and can report the conditities are excellent. Walked it and I think that was the best way to enjoy it. Holes were a bit more open than Montgomery Bell which I appreciated. Greens were perfect and fast but not severe as the slopes are pretty tame save for one or two holes. Had a bit of trouble getting paired up out there but really glad I went. I think I definitely prefer Henry Horton to Montgomery Bell but it is a ball buster to drive all the way down there. Thanks for the recs!
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Awesome. Glad you liked it and good choice to go there. A couple of those walks during holes are tough but the tee to green isn’t bad.
I hate Greystone during the summer. Soaking wet bent grass greens. Prefer to only play in late fall when it plays faster on the ground.
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Played in a scramble at ONCC about 5 weeks ago and had same thought. It was in such good shape especially considering the amount of play they are getting there. Best I’ve seen it since I worked there in HS back in 2000. It may be the nostalgia from my childhood but I’ve always thought it’s the most underrated club near the city.
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I hate Greystone during the summer. Soaking wet bent grass greens. Prefer to only play in late fall when it plays faster on the ground.
This was the case when I played there in August. They are watering the bent greens while play is happening so they were getting cratered with ball marks. Really need a switch to bermuda.
I think that is the thing I always forget. I have only played it once and it was on a perfect day in February so that is probably why I have such a high opinion of the course.
Also, a few other notes about Henry Horton as I want to point out a few things I had very wrong going into it. The course is quite a bit more open than it looks on Google Earth, not wide open mind you but definitely can hit driver on most holes even if you have a 40-50 yd dispersion (not me…speaking for a friend…of course…).
Nitpicking here, there are a few bland holes and I think the par 3s were fairly forgettable. The par 5 6th hole was my favorite par 5 even though it was 3 shotter for me all day and I found the other par 5s to be just okay.
There are several holes that I though really stood out. The par 4 5th (dogleg left with a cuttable corner and nice greensite) was the first hole that really got my attention on the course. And then the stretch of holes from 9-11 (13 is fine) and then 14-16 (14 was my favorite) was excellent. I was starting to get a bit tired coming off 13 and was re-energized by 14. Had two regulars senior players that were very hands on helping me strategize on the blind shots which was really fun. Basically, as per usual, you can’t tell everything about a course looking at it on google earth pro and while this course may look a little bland from above it is quite interesting, especially on the back. Also, I would say it is quite “playable” in that you can get away with a bit and many of the openings to the greens are unprotected to run shots up from the trees.
As mentioned, the greens are large, very well kept, roll true and fast for a public course so you can both make putts and, if you’re not careful, easily run a putt 10 feet past so it keeps you engaged. To top it off, they charge $28 to walk this course and if it were in Williamson County it could easily command triple that price.
Finally, shout out to the starter Jim (he only works Tuesdays), guy was awesome to me as a lone single that showed up on a day where all the foursomes kept showing up and I had to wait about an hour and a half to get paired up. Jim gave me free range balls, complimented my push cart, fed my ego about my swing…truly a class act. Thanks to the two some that allowed me to join them and also thanks to the two some that said they did not want a 3rd guy in their group. I hope you enjoyed being stuck in the middle of foursomes all day.
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Also, are all the TN Golf Trail golf courses as good as Montgomery Bell and Henry Horton? In particular, the ones that are relatively close to Nashville:
Tims Ford
Fall Creek Falls
Cumberland Mountain
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It’s been 13-14 years since I played the Cumberland Mountain but I remember liking it.
I don’t like Tim’s Ford. If you look at it from Google Map, it looks like it will have some awesome views of the lake. I kid you not, you barely see the water on like 2-3 holes. Otherwise you have no idea you are near water. It might be the worst use of land I’ve ever seen.
Never played FCF.
Harrison Bay is supposed to be good but I’ve never played it. If I’m going to Chattanooga to play public golf I’d rather just stop at Sweetens or Sewanee.
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BT Tim’s Ford is a disgrace. A couple of really cool holes out there but a mostly poorly used piece of land - 9, 15, and 17 are especially bad. If your going to drive that direction and go 1.25 hours just go to Sewannee.
But since your question was really about the TN Golf Trail, BT Cumberland Mountain is OK. It’s a fun place to
go in the fall. BT Harrison Bay (Chattanooga) is the class of that group. Best land and friendliest staff of the three.
Best people to ask are the starters as they all get the free trail pass as a perk. I’ve heard from them that FCF is solid and doesn’t get a ton of play.
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Speaking of Chattanooga, it’s really irritating to me that their golf scene is significantly better served than Nashville given the population difference. Their municipals have good layouts with conditioning not quite as good as the Nashville munis. Their private scene is so robust for the size city it is:
Honors, Black Creek, Council Fire, Lookout, Chatt CC - these put Nashville privates to shame.
It’s becoming more and more difficult to get weekend times in Nashville at publics. No sense in joining a private club because it’s arguably worse for them. At least I’m not paying to not use the course.
I suppose I need to stay committed to carving out my work calendar for a weekday AM round once a week. It’s a shame more courses don’t do 6:30 AM times.
I agree with a lot of this…
For a couple years now, I’ve challenged that Chattanooga is the real golf capital of TN, not Crossville. Like you said, the conditioning of all their courses, regardless of public/private are in good shape and boast proper layouts, unlike a myriad of courses in our area.
I also share frustration with the difficulty to access tee times in our area, or deal with abysmal pace of play due to overbooking. Our nicest public courses have the worst staffs around, and ridiculous prices to match. Nashville needs to be better, all the way across the board.
The one point I will question… 6:30 tee times… In the peak of summer, sure, but sunrise is technically 6:30 now. Even if it wasn’t for the sake of light, I used to have to get to the course around 5 to prep for a day when the tee sheet started at 7:00… it’s a lot to put on some of these less equipped staffs in our area. Not to mention the grounds crew out on the course trying to get some stuff done before the course starts to fill up. I understand the desire to get in a round early, which is why I brought Finn Cycles to the course I was working at a while ago… 6:30 tee times just aren’t a long-term solution to me.
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Trying to get out to play 18 on Friday (9/24) if it stops raining long enough for the courses to dry out if anyone else is looking to play. Leaning towards Two Rivers/Harpeth Hills/Ted Rhodes but can be convinced to play elsewhere.
Have 2 open spots for Lookout Mountain Club this thursday 9/23. Bought the round thru a charity auction, if anyone is interested.
Would absolutely love to play Lookout but can’t swing it this week.
I’m out for Friday too. I’ve got a new job and Im drinking from a fire hose right now. Hopefully the courses can drain because I want to get out there soon!
This has to be the ONE firday I am not golfing…I have family in town and wont be able to swing a round in this weekend…
@db123 and @Boomersooner523 , will try to catch you guys another time! Also, as a brief side note, I got to play The Grove this week down in College Grove, TN and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. For anyone else that has ever played it I’d like to see if I am off base here but my thoughts were:
Pros: Conditioning was excellent, as would be expected. Zoysia fairways with a sand cap that drained really well and all lies in the fairway were pristine. Greens rolled well if not a tad slow due to the rain we have had. Pretty decent practice facility but it is a decent walk away from the clubhouse. All the staff there were great and I liked the experience of being there (aside from the layout…). Greens on the front 9 were interesting and had some cool little pockets and runoffs.
Cons: Course is almost entirely flat as they used all the elevation for homesites (there is one downhill tee shot on the par 5 2nd that was cool but that was it). Only 3 holes stood out to me, from a design interest perspective, and the rest seemed like a template from “bland, super high end private club.”
My hot take if the conditioning slipped out here (and it might 10-12 years down the road when all the homes have been built and sold) I think it would be inferior to Tennessee Grasslands (Foxland and Fairvue) and already is from a design perspective. Not trying to be a brat or sound ungrateful for playing what was a very well maintained course, I just think the design was really a huge whiff and way, way, way too conservative. Huge demand on approach play as all the greens are elevated with run offs. Probably a good championship test but not much fun to play due to the repetitiveness of the holes and the same question being asked on most of the holes.
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I won’t disagree with you here. The elevation stuck out to me. There is so much good land in College Grove and this is yet another flood plain golf course in Middle TN.
It was low humidity, windy, and dry when I played so the greens experience was good - very fast and true. The holes are mostly forgettable. I thought 9, 10, and 11 was a good stretch - particularly 9 with the center line bunker, two tier fairway, and elevated green with mowed tight run off.
Everything around the golf experience was top notch to me and one of the better club experiences I’ve had as a guest. Range attendants, pro shop, post round bar. Very relaxed and friendly atmosphere for what could easily be a stuffy environment
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When you’re deciding between a tee box or $4MM homesite to put on the flood plain, the tee box usually draws the short straw, unfortunately…
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My neighbors across the street from me are members out at the Grasslands courses and I really need to tag along one time. Those courses are decently close to where I am at over in Inglewood.