Need Trip Advice for Group Outing in the SE

[johnnylongball]

preferably within about 4 hours of Nashville

Have a group of 12 guys that has taken an annual outing for years. This year we have run into a problem. Here are our considerations:

1. We greatly prefer to stay in condos/villas of some sort with a common area besides just bedrooms and bathrooms for socializing, rather than just your basic hotel rooms.

2. In addition to the above accomodation requirement, we would like to find some place that has multiple decent courses (3 or more) within close proximity to one another.

3. We're looking for something within about a 4 hour drive of Nashville.

We have eliminated Crossville, TN, Prattville, AL, and Reynolds Plantation for this year's trip for various reasons.

Does anyone know of another spot that satisfies all these requirements?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[muxi87]

Callaway Gardens. Just outside a 4 hour drive. 2 courses and by far the BEST practice facitlity I've ever seen. Their on-site "cottages" are very close to the golf courses and have ample space. Each cottage can be rented out as a 1BR or 2BR. The second BR is just that, a second BR that you need a key to open. They 2BR cottages have 4 queen beds. You could get 3 next door to each other. They have decks on the back and nice size living rooms. My group of 24 went last year and loved it.

 

Their main course just hosted the 2nd stage of Q School and hosted the PGA Tour's Buick Challenge for over a decade. The other course on property is a very fun course for groups--a shotmakers paradise with some short holes that can provide lots of birdies but big numbers also.

 

www.callawaygardens.com

[mshills]

+1 on Callaway Gardens.

 

Also a bit closer, check out Barnsley Gardens resort. Top notch golf and even better lodging!

[BParis]

Little further, but worth it...

 

Rumbling Bald Resort & Spa in Lake Lure, NC (south of Asheville). Went in early October with a group of 40 guys and played the two courses at the resort and two other ones in the area. Great price and great golf!

 

http://rumblingbald.com/

 

One of the other courses was Cleghorn Plantation... great course, bad staff, but worth it.

http://www.cleghornplantation.com/

[Mikolar]

My suggestions are based on annual golf trips to several locations in your area. But, when you say you've eliminated Prattville, does that mean you've eliminated all the RTJ Trail courses?

 

Just across the Tennessee river, you've got two really, really good courses at Muscle Shoals. Farther down, there's Birmingham, Gadsden or perhaps the best on the trail, those in Opelika. The RTJ courses in Huntsville are not good.... pass on those.

 

The accomodations will be local/nearby hotel rooms.

 

IMHO, Callaway offers the best on site accomodations... really neat cottages just minutes from the primary course. But the golf may disappoint you. Contrary to the early post, the practice area is average and the greens/fairways can be less than that. The Mountain course is decent but the Lakes course is short, usually wet and not very challenging. Both courses often mean 5, 5 1/2 hour rounds and I guess that goes to the heart of my real complaint. Most of the golf issues at Callaway are just not managed as well.

 

So, it depends on what your group wants.

[muxi87]

IMHO, Callaway offers the best on site accomodations... really neat cottages just minutes from the primary course. But the golf may disappoint you. Contrary to the early post, the practice area is average and the greens/fairways can be less than that. The Mountain course is decent but the Lakes course is short, usually wet and not very challenging. Both courses often mean 5, 5 1/2 hour rounds and I guess that goes to the heart of my real complaint. Most of the golf issues at Callaway are just not managed as well.

 

Are you serious? When exactly did you last visit it?

 

They have a 27 acre practice facility that opened in October of 2007. It has 1.5+ acres of grass tees! They have a HUUUUUUUGE chipping area with any type of lie imaginable and a huge multi tiered green to chip/pitch to. They also have a separate HUUUUUUUGE putting green right beside the chipping area.

 

The fairways, in my opinion, are the best fairways I've ever played off of--the turf there is amazing, it's almost impossible to hit a bad shot.

 

I do agree that their greens are sometimes less desirable than they were when the Tour was playing there--but more times than not they are in pretty nice shape.

 

During the winter they still from the course by overseeding the tees, fairways, and greens. It makes for a very nice experience from the norm for winter golf.

 

As for round times, I've never played a round in more than 4:30 hours--and ones even close to that are very few and far between (I've played 500+ rounds there, so I'm not drawing on a one or two time fluke experience either). The place is priced somewhat high for public play so it's not as if the tee sheets are slammed full all the time. In the peak season (late March and April) the sheets can be packed on the weekends and 4-4:30 hour round is possible if you are teeing off in the middle of a slammed sheet (just as on any course), but a vast majority of the time you can easily play the courses without any sort of pace of play issue.

 

The Lake course is somewhat easy, but it's a par 70 and as I stated earlier is a shotmaker's paradise complete with very small greens. It's a LOT of fun!

 

Sorry to jump off the OP's subject a bit, but given the state of 95% of the over-hyped courses here in GA, I'd put Callaway at the top of my list of favorite places to play.

[johnnylongball]

My suggestions are based on annual golf trips to several locations in your area. But, when you say you've eliminated Prattville, does that mean you've eliminated all the RTJ Trail courses?

 

Just across the Tennessee river, you've got two really, really good courses at Muscle Shoals. Farther down, there's Birmingham, Gadsden or perhaps the best on the trail, those in Opelika. The RTJ courses in Huntsville are not good.... pass on those.

 

The accomodations will be local/nearby hotel rooms.

 

IMHO, Callaway offers the best on site accomodations... really neat cottages just minutes from the primary course. But the golf may disappoint you. Contrary to the early post, the practice area is average and the greens/fairways can be less than that. The Mountain course is decent but the Lakes course is short, usually wet and not very challenging. Both courses often mean 5, 5 1/2 hour rounds and I guess that goes to the heart of my real complaint. Most of the golf issues at Callaway are just not managed as well.

 

So, it depends on what your group wants.

 

The reason we eliminated Prattville was there are only 4 available rental homes/villas in the vicinity, and they are booked for our weekend. We haven't eliminated any of RTJ courses, we just are unable to find any of their locations that offer anything other than a standard hotel room for lodging. We eliminated Reynolds due to cost.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[6holesn1]

Ever thought of staying in state and playing at one of the state parks...We have 32 guys coming down late Feb. to play Paris Landing and the Tennessean which is 5 miles down the road...Accomodations are great with 10 villas that sleep 5 per all within walking distance from one another.

[mtsmith]

Ever thought of staying in state and playing at one of the state parks...We have 32 guys coming down late Feb. to play Paris Landing and the Tennessean which is 5 miles down the road...Accomodations are great with 10 villas that sleep 5 per all within walking distance from one another.

 

 

Both nice courses and completely different. Also in the Pickwick area there are several interesting and fun courses to play as well as many many places to stay

[Mikolar]

Callaway has been the site of a 24 guys annual May trip for 9 years...it won't this year for the previous reasons outlined.

 

As far as HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGe practice areas..... the landing area in the old Garden Course is large, but that was all we found last May. They had the same practice tee box three days in a row. The only chipping area we've ever seen was the older one shared with the practice putting green. And as for the overseeding...that may be reason we found the conditions just so-so in May.

 

We're lucky -- we get to travel and play golf a good bit and my comparison was based on what we have found at other venues though not necessarily in Georgia. And compared to the Trent Jones courses just down the road in Auburn, the Links and Lakes courses are some of the best in the southeast and the price is pretty hard to beat.

 

Just some impartial thoughts.

[BParis]

I thought The Tennessean went belly-up...? Did I get bad info on that one? I know the course had been in a bad financial position in the past and thought it had finally caught up to them.

 

I never took the time to play it, but heard it was a great tract.

[6holesn1]

From what I heard up here in Wisconsin is that they were closed for 9 months....don't know how true that is. Website states "New Owners". They are open as I had personally talked to them in setting up tee times for when we come down. Gentleman I talked to also stated that they are building a new clubhouse that is supposed to be done sometime this winter. Looking forward to coming down to your great state...

 

Dewey

[mtsmith]

I thought The Tennessean went belly-up...? Did I get bad info on that one? I know the course had been in a bad financial position in the past and thought it had finally caught up to them.

 

I never took the time to play it, but heard it was a great tract.

 

 

You know I heard that too. I am from up around that course but havent lived there in a few years. When I said that it was a good place to play, I thought about it that it may not be open anymore....but of course I had already posted. Plus I couldnt find anything on the net saying whether it is open still or not. Anywho, it WAS/Perhaps IS a very tough track that is now a waste if it did go kaput

[mtsmith]

Well thats good news. I hate to see that track go to waste. And it is good news about a new club house, the origional one was simply a double wide trailor. That place used to be where me and the buddies went every 4th of July (not a major trip only 30 mins from my home, just a fun tough course

[Golfingbanker]

I thought The Tennessean went belly-up...? Did I get bad info on that one? I know the course had been in a bad financial position in the past and thought it had finally caught up to them.

 

I never took the time to play it, but heard it was a great tract.

 

 

You know I heard that too. I am from up around that course but havent lived there in a few years. When I said that it was a good place to play, I thought about it that it may not be open anymore....but of course I had already posted. Plus I couldnt find anything on the net saying whether it is open still or not. Anywho, it WAS/Perhaps IS a very tough track that is now a waste if it did go kaput

 

 

I grew up in Paris, TN and still go there to visit. Tennessean is a nice track-very difficult greens-lots of elephants buried under them! I will check with one of my guys there and report back later on condition.