knoxville golf in february

[jcleve]

I am gonna be in knoxville one weekend in february, was wondering what the best option for playing is.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Skeeter]

Wind River is my favorite in the area. Rarity Bay is good. River Islands is an unique course but the conditions are so so. 

[golfgoob]

I would suggest River Island or whatever it's called now. They have zoysia fairways, better than the dormant Bermuda 

[2muchclub]

Weather in February will be iffy, expect highs in the mid 40’s and wet, courses will be wet, and fairways will be thin, I like willow creek, yeah it is $5 more than the rest but still a bargain, greens are firm and fast but putt true.  It’s a great course to walk. Bring your under armor layers and have fun

 

[jcleve]

8 hours ago, 2muchclub said:

Weather in February will be iffy, expect highs in the mid 40’s and wet, courses will be wet, and fairways will be thin, I like willow creek, yeah it is $5 more than the rest but still a bargain, greens are firm and fast but putt true.  It’s a great course to walk. Bring your under armor layers and have fun

 

Thanks for the info.  Why will the courses be so wet.

[golfgoob]

The courses will be wet because of the dormat Bermuda grass. Find a course with Zoysia, like River Island, it should be better. 

[2muchclub]

3 hours ago, jcleve said:

Thanks for the info.  Why will the courses be so wet.

Knoxville typically gets 4.1 inches of rain in Feb, the cool temps minimize much evaporation, 

[Abh159]

18 hours ago, jcleve said:

Thanks for the info.  Why will the courses be so wet.

 

Just a heads up... I'm not sure what part of the country you're coming from, but if you've never played on dormant, wet bermuda it's not fun. It's great in the summer and dry seasons, but it can be a real b**** to chip off of in the winter. Be prepared to leave the course depressed with your short game.

 

 

[me05501]

On 1/27/2021 at 7:11 PM, jcleve said:

Thanks for the info.  Why will the courses be so wet.

 

When Bermuda grass goes dormant the roots stop soaking up water, so any rain settles in the soil and stays there until it's warm or sunny enough to dry it up.  

[vandyfan]

On 1/28/2021 at 1:04 PM, Abh159 said:

dormant, wet bermuda it's not fun. It's great in the summer and dry seasons, but it can be a real b**** to chip off of in the winter. Be prepared to leave the course depressed with your short game.

 

Sorry for the randomness but I am responding to this comment now because it is VERY relevant after this past weekend. I play in Nashville where it has rained almost every day the last week and I was feeling VERY good about my short game until this weekend. Was literally ready to revisit my entire approach but it is also SOAKED around here so there is almost no margin for error. FYI I was in this thread because I am trying to determine where to play when I drive between Nashville and Charlotte and I settled on Knoxville since it is about half way. 

[cardia10]

29 minutes ago, vandyfan said:

 

Sorry for the randomness but I am responding to this comment now because it is VERY relevant after this past weekend. I play in Nashville where it has rained almost every day the last week and I was feeling VERY good about my short game until this weekend. Was literally ready to revisit my entire approach but it is also SOAKED around here so there is almost no margin for error. FYI I was in this thread because I am trying to determine where to play when I drive between Nashville and Charlotte and I settled on Knoxville since it is about half way. 

River Island is always a fun one and near the 407 exit in Sevierville/Kodak. Patriot Hills is a little more east near 417 exit and is always fun.

[vandyfan]

2 hours ago, cardia10 said:

River Island is always a fun one and near the 407 exit in Sevierville/Kodak. Patriot Hills is a little more east near 417 exit and is always fun.

 

I was looking hard at WindRiver as it seems to have an upscale feel and width without being too expensive. Have you been out there recently?

[cardia10]

5 minutes ago, vandyfan said:

 

I was looking hard at WindRiver as it seems to have an upscale feel and width without being too expensive. Have you been out there recently?

It has been a couple years since I've been there. Was a part of the Rarity chain Mike Ross was doing regionally but hit the housing portion at the wrong time so the bank got it back. This was all roughly 12-15 years ago. I used to live very close to it and played it monthly for a couple years. Very fun course for sure and probably a bit better than River Island. River Island is Zoysia fairways so they are brown but not laid down like most bermuda around here. I'd choose Wind River first.

[me05501]

19 hours ago, vandyfan said:

 

Sorry for the randomness but I am responding to this comment now because it is VERY relevant after this past weekend. I play in Nashville where it has rained almost every day the last week and I was feeling VERY good about my short game until this weekend. Was literally ready to revisit my entire approach but it is also SOAKED around here so there is almost no margin for error. FYI I was in this thread because I am trying to determine where to play when I drive between Nashville and Charlotte and I settled on Knoxville since it is about half way. 

 

Yeah winter golf around here isn't that awful from tee to green, or even ON the greens, but any kind of touch shot is super hard to pull off. I usually resort to more of a sweeping chip shot with no compression or spin. Putting with a hybrid works too depending on the lie. 

 

There's always a period of time around March/April when I tend to forget that I haven't completely lost my ability to play around the greens. Once the courses start greening up it's like climbing into a warm bath.