Moving to TN - Private Clubs, Hendersonville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga HELP!

[Hstead]

Moving the family from Ohio to TN.  We are trying to decide where to relocate, Hendersonville/Mt Juliet, Murfreesboro, or Ooltewah area.  We have visited each and really like certain aspects of each town.  Golf is a big part of my life and I want to join a private club that has a lot of lower handicap guys that like to play games/tournaments etc.  What are some of the initiations and how hard are some of the courses to join, I have heard there are waiting lists.  I have a buddy that has done well in the country music business telling me to join Old Hickory in Hendersonville but I haven't been able to find any info on costs there yet.

 

If anyone has helpful info on where they would live and what club they would join it would be much appreciated.  I would like to keep the initiation below $15k if possible.  Thanks

[naws-golfer]

i live in chat and would happily talk privately, but there are not many options in the north part of chattanooga. FWIW I'm a realtor so if you choose chattanooga, i can help you buy a home!

 

1) Honors course- the pinnacle of chattanooga private course. initiation will be more that $15K, if you can get an invite. I can connect you with a member if you'd like to discuss.

2) ooltewah club- newly renovated, havent been yet. old course was a travesty of a routing.

3) Cleveland country club. - country club in name only, more like a decent public course, can't comment on the membership

4) bear trace harrison bay- public course but has memberships, not much of a club feel, but a nice layout and range.

 

IF you are flexible in chattanooga, just outside the city towards nashville is the Black Creek Club, would be my choice of places to join if i wasnt a member of a club 5 min from my house on Signal Mtn.

[smashdn]

OHCC is not in Hendersonville.  Close-ish to Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet but traffic makes a huge difference in times to get places.

 

Bluegrass is in Hendersonville proper.

Fairvue/Foxland/Tennessee Grasslands is in Gallatin but towards Hendersonville.

Edited August 9, 2021 by smashdn

[Hstead]

Thanks for the advice and input.  After seeing some more stuff today, I believe we are going to settle in the Chattanooga area, maybe Ooltewah or East Brainerd.  I have received some info regarding Council Fire and the prices are very good IMHO.  The course appears to be awesome and they have a ton of good players with good games.  It sounds like it is a perfect fit.

[airjammer]

Council Fire is very nice and you will probably meet someone who can get you on at the honors course. 

[me05501]

On 8/5/2021 at 11:13 PM, Hstead said:

Thanks for the advice and input.  After seeing some more stuff today, I believe we are going to settle in the Chattanooga area, maybe Ooltewah or East Brainerd.  I have received some info regarding Council Fire and the prices are very good IMHO.  The course appears to be awesome and they have a ton of good players with good games.  It sounds like it is a perfect fit.

 

Council Fire is a great club that is well-run and always in great shape. IIRC their bylaws don't allow for member assessments, which can mean that dues increases may be more frequent but they're never going to go into debt for renovations etc. 

 

They went through a phase recently where they'd reduced the initiation to an absurdly low amount, but a member told me that was past them and the club was either full or close to it. 

 

If I lived on that side of town I wouldn't hesitate to join there. 

[Hstead]

So we ended up putting a deposit on a new construction in Ooltewah that is going to finished at the end of January.  It is literally less than 2 miles from Ooltewah Country Club and it happens to be the least expensive option I have seen.  I haven't heard great things about the design though, but evidently they have dumped over a million dollars into it and had Cupp Jr. redesign some holes and they replaced all of the greens and bunkers with brand new complexes.  

 

I am town now between a club that is less expensive and three minutes from the house, or drive 25 minutes down to Council Fire who clearly has the best greens.  And then there is Cleveland that is 35 minutes north.

 

I wish I  had more info on Ooltewah and what the new course is like.  What the members are like etc.

[smashdn]

Could you, as a prospective member, not get the opportunity to play a few rounds with different members to both evaluate the course and the atmosphere?  Especially if you brought up that you have a deposit on a house being built.  They'd know you aren't just a tire kicker looking to get a few rounds on a private just because.

 

I personally, value convenience over conditions, provided that said conditions are not so bad that you can't play when you want or it compromises the golf.  If we are talking the difference between 9 and 12 stimp and hand raked bunkers vs. sand pro then convenience wins out, for me.  Patchy greens and an overall lack of proper conditioning is a different thing obviously.

 

Good luck.

[me05501]

On 9/10/2021 at 5:48 PM, Hstead said:

So we ended up putting a deposit on a new construction in Ooltewah that is going to finished at the end of January.  It is literally less than 2 miles from Ooltewah Country Club and it happens to be the least expensive option I have seen.  I haven't heard great things about the design though, but evidently they have dumped over a million dollars into it and had Cupp Jr. redesign some holes and they replaced all of the greens and bunkers with brand new complexes.  

 

I am town now between a club that is less expensive and three minutes from the house, or drive 25 minutes down to Council Fire who clearly has the best greens.  And then there is Cleveland that is 35 minutes north.

 

I wish I  had more info on Ooltewah and what the new course is like.  What the members are like etc.

 

1 hour ago, smashdn said:

Could you, as a prospective member, not get the opportunity to play a few rounds with different members to both evaluate the course and the atmosphere?  Especially if you brought up that you have a deposit on a house being built.  They'd know you aren't just a tire kicker looking to get a few rounds on a private just because.

 

I personally, value convenience over conditions, provided that said conditions are not so bad that you can't play when you want or it compromises the golf.  If we are talking the difference between 9 and 12 stimp and hand raked bunkers vs. sand pro then convenience wins out, for me.  Patchy greens and an overall lack of proper conditioning is a different thing obviously.

 

Good luck.

 

That club allows non-members to play, at least on weekdays, so it should be fairly easy to go try it out. 

 

The layout there is uninspired. It originally started as a short, flat and tight nine-hole layout. Later they added a second nine that looks and plays more like what most club golfers want to see. There is still a distinct difference between the two nines though I've heard they've closed the gap in overall conditioning between the sides.

 

There are funky features like consecutive short par three's and multiple trips through a metal culvert under the main road and very long drives between some holes. It's relatively flat so it should appeal to walkers, but unless they've re-routed it significantly it isn't particularly walkable. It doesn't feel like a great course when you're on it, by any means. It feels more like a $50 daily fee course. 

 

Judging the entire club experience based on quality of golf, overall cost, fellow members, food, and other non-golf amenities, I would say Ooltewah Club and Cleveland are similar and would rate about a 4 on a scale of 1-10. Council Fire would rate more like a 7.5 or so. It's a notable difference. 

 

All that aside, the best club for you is one you and your family will support and enjoy the most. I seriously doubt your wife is ever going to drive all the way to Council Fire to sit beside their small pool. You might end up playing much more golf and getting more practice time at a club so close to home. There may be some great organized games that help you meet a lot of your neighbors. All good stuff. And the price is right. 

 

I'd join Ooltewah before Cleveland for sure, because they're more or less comparable and also because Cleveland is very insular and full of people who've known each other forever and will not be motivated to get to know you. I don't know of a single person who lives in Greater Chattanooga who is a member at Cleveland. Belonging there will not expand your social circle in your new community unless you want to do all your socializing in Cleveland (and you definitely don't!). 

[ChrisSP]

6 hours ago, me05501 said:

I'd join Ooltewah before Cleveland for sure, because they're more or less comparable and also because Cleveland is very insular and full of people who've known each other forever and will not be motivated to get to know you. I don't know of a single person who lives in Greater Chattanooga who is a member at Cleveland. Belonging there will not expand your social circle in your new community unless you want to do all your socializing in Cleveland (and you definitely don't!). 

 

I moved to the Chattanooga area in December of 2019 and joined Council Fire the following month. I dropped my membership there after 9 months and have been playing at Cleveland ever since, and it's worked out just fine for me. I've communicated with the OP via PM about my experiences given that I was in the same boat as him two years ago so I'm not going to rehash all that.

 

But I responded just to say that I think you're selling Cleveland Country Club short. Is it as good a golf course as Council Fire? Absolutely not, especially when it comes to the greens. But if you prefer playing a tree-lined course as opposed to a golf course that's lined with McMansions, that might be a factor. I'm also spending about half as much each month given how much I play, and the economics should be of at least some consideration when determining expectations. And the golf staff at Cleveland is light years better than the new staff at Council Fire. Had Hunt and Richard stayed at Council Fire, my guess is I might have stuck it out.

 

I would also add that the members at Cleveland, especially the better players (and that's who I'm interested in playing with), were far more welcoming than those at Council Fire. I'm also confident that we have a lot more good players at Cleveland than there are at Ooltewah, and you can get a game any day of the week.

 

Anyway, I'm not trying to sell anyone on Cleveland. Where I live in the Chattanooga area, I might ultimately join The Farm or Dalton Golf and Country Club - both of which are higher caliber clubs/courses and closer to my house, which is in Tennessee. We'll see. I'm also not trying to pick an argument with you. I've always enjoyed your posts in this forum and read a number of them before I moved here. Just wanted to offer a different perspective and stand up for Cleveland Country Club a bit as it has been good to me. Thanks!

Edited September 14, 2021 by ChrisSP
Additions.

[me05501]

Great perspective, thanks! Let’s connect to play sometime. 

[ChrisSP]

18 minutes ago, me05501 said:

Great perspective, thanks! Let’s connect to play sometime. 

 

Sounds good - when Hstead gets settled in the area we should all get together and play!

[Destroyer]

i always enjoyed Cleveland.  i thought the course was a fun course to be a member at.  not just a bomb and gouge course,  kind of think your way around.   i always thought the food and the pool was very good, pool is pretty big.  

[Hstead]

I would love to play with you guys once I get down there.  I greatly appreciate all of the advice and insight.  Each place has it positives and negatives.  My son is going to transfer colleges to a school nearby so he will be playing a lot too.  That makes the economics of paying for a cart every time each of us play even greater at Council Fire.  My guess is I will end up at Ooltewah or Cleveland.  I am going to have to play them and see.

[Destroyer]

 

 

now comparing ooltewah to cleveland i will give you my opinion.   ooltewah is trying to make a rebound, new owners have put money in the place etc..  my sister in law and her husband are members there.  i like cleveland, they just spent a bunch of money on re-doing their bunkers and i heard they are awesome.  cleveland is probably in the best shape it has ever been in right now.  the downfall is they still have bent greens so in the summer they are slower but in very good shape.  in the fall and spring they are great.  my sister in law and her husband were going to join cleveland over ooltewah because they like cleveland better but they live like 3 minutes from ooltewah.  overall i think cleveland is better.  cleveland does have more golf things for members so you could jump in there and make friends very easily.  i never had a problem making golfing buddies at cleveland.

[bigolherschel]

Always fascinated why people move across the country and how they choose the location. Also curious why East Tennessee (Knoxville to Bristol) wasn’t considered - some sick golf that direction. 
 

I want to hear the story! With that said, (pending no family in either town) I’d consider the Chattanooga area over the Nashville area any day. I’ve lived in Nashville… no thanks. 

[me05501]

2 hours ago, bigolherschel said:

Always fascinated why people move across the country and how they choose the location. Also curious why East Tennessee (Knoxville to Bristol) wasn’t considered - some sick golf that direction. 
 

I want to hear the story! With that said, (pending no family in either town) I’d consider the Chattanooga area over the Nashville area any day. I’ve lived in Nashville… no thanks. 

 

I'm not the OP, but I'd probably never consider that area. Too much mountain golf, and too far from bigger cities. Sometimes you just want to use a hub airport or see an NBA game, ya know? 

[bigolherschel]

11 hours ago, me05501 said:

 

I'm not the OP, but I'd probably never consider that area. Too much mountain golf, and too far from bigger cities. Sometimes you just want to use a hub airport or see an NBA game, ya know? 

Yes. I forget how close Chattanooga is to Atlanta (and I’m a braves fan). But mountain golf is not a true assumption really… every course I’ve ever played in East Tennessee has been in a valley, some are even in lowlands alongside rivers. I actually want to play MORE mountain golf lol. 

[Hstead]

On 10/7/2021 at 6:41 AM, bigolherschel said:

Always fascinated why people move across the country and how they choose the location. Also curious why East Tennessee (Knoxville to Bristol) wasn’t considered - some sick golf that direction. 
 

I want to hear the story! With that said, (pending no family in either town) I’d consider the Chattanooga area over the Nashville area any day. I’ve lived in Nashville… no thanks. 

Moving from Ohio to TN for work.  I am a sales guy and my company changed my territory which now includes TN, which I asked for.  We did consider East TN as one of my very best friends lives in Johnson City.  We also looked at Knoxville, but in the end we really fell in love with Chattanooga.  We liked the downtown area better than Knoxville and Murfreesboro.  Chattanooga we found to better suit our lifestyle, we like to do things outdoors and we felt it was very laid back and slower paced than  Nashville.  The job market and economy I felt was stronger in Chattanooga vs every other place except Nashville.  And having the entire state plus the state of Kentucky as my territory, it was a little easier to cover it from Chattanooga vs East TN, although Nashville would have been much more centrally located.

 

We are closing on a house at the end of October.  The wife wants to spend Thanksgiving in Ohio so we are moving down the week after.  We are excited.  I am going to play Ooltewah, Cleveland, and Windstone and pick a club.  Council Fire is still an option but I played it with naws-golfer so I know what it is about.  By the way, naws-golfer is a very good player and even better realtor if someone needs a realtor like I did.  The guy has bent over backwards for us and it was not the greatest position to be in as we backed out of one contract when we found a house we liked better two weeks after putting a deposit on the new construction.

 

I will come back and update the thread once I pick a club.  For what it is worth, the GM at Ooltewah has been extremely helpful over the phone and email and they have some big plans to make more improvements. I believe they are totally private now.  I will check it out in two weeks.

[smashdn]

Depending upon where you have to go in KY, going up 75 can get you into east Ky quicker than out of Nashville.  West KY you are better to slide up 24 and then the new I-69 deal.

[Hstead]

I ended up joining the Ooltewah Club.  It has some quirks, but after playing it and meeting a lot of the staff and members, I think it is going to fit well.

 

So the quirks: First hole and driving range  - you have to drive your cart about two blocks to get to the driving range.  You go to the end of the street and drive past about three houses, and then you are there.  It isn't very convenient to walk to.  The first tee is then past two more houses and another half a block.  It is a little weird.  Then when you get to the tee, the first hole was changed from a par 5 to a new green that is a par 3.  I played the tees one up from the back that played at 6500+ and the first hole was playing 175-ish.  Although it is different to start on a par 3, it is a good par 3.

 

You then play a par 4 and a par 5, and back out to the neighborhood where you take a little trek to the next set of holes.  You drive through the neighborhood several times.  At first I wasn't crazy about it, it would make walking a real PITA.  But, the houses on the course are pretty cool with several in the multi-million plus range so it is kinda neat checking out some of the McMansions.

 

There are a couple of holes that are a little quirky where you can't hit driver and need a long iron off the tee, and then there are two back to back par 3's on holes 9 and 10.  There are 5 par 3's and five par 5's.

 

Now the good.  The greens were very very good.  We didn't see a putt bounce all day, smooth as glass, and they were running around 10 which is where they keep them most of the time.  They could easily get them faster.  The shape and slopes on the greens were exceptionally well done.  Bobby Cupp reshaped the greens and he did an excellent job.  They were really interesting but nothing crazy.  There are two greens with some pretty big slopes and tiers, but most are fairly gradual and make putting and trying to get up and down very fun.  The greens were one reason I joined.

 

The overall conditions were very good.  They just started a weed program and eventually I do not think you will see a spec of crab grass anywhere, not that there is much now anyway.  The tee boxes were in good shape, the rough was fair, and the fairways were very good.  I didn't have a bad lie all day.  the bunkers were very good too, all re-done and the sand was a perfect mix of firm and the right depth.  Made bunker shots very predictable and consistent.

 

The course has some really good holes, some average holes, and a couple of quirky holes, but to be honest they weren't as bad as I expected because I had heard they were weird.  #8 in particular I heard was not a good hole.  After playing it, I didn't feel that way.  Yeah I hit 5 iron off the tee, but I could easily take 4 iron now that I know the hole and hit it 225.  The 5 iron left me with 160-ish 8 iron in to a really good green.  Sure you can't hit a wood, but I didn't mind trying to hit a well placed long iron for a 150+ iron shot into a great green.

 

They have big plans, building a new short game area, expanding the kitchen, adding a new grill room to separate the crowd from the dining room, building a new simulator room, and changing some hole layouts in the future.  

 

The members and staff were incredibly friendly, down to earth, and laid back.  It isn't a stuffy place, although a couple of the staff were honest and admitted there are that 10% of special folks in there minds anyway.  Not my cup of tea.  So that is a plus.

 

One real estate developer is the majority owner, and then there are three minority owners, the Chef, the GM, and the Super Intendant.  So the three guys running the place have skin in the game and you can see it in the level of customer service.  

 

I think the future looks bright at this place.  There were three people that joined the day I did.  They are picking up members right and left.  It wouldn't surprise me if the membership isn't full in a couple of years the way they are heading.  They don't let the public on any more and the tee sheet is pretty consistently full now with 335 playing members.I   think they want to get to 400 playing members.  If anyone ever wants to play it send me a DM and I would be happy to play with you.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Hstead

[me05501]

Congrats on finding your club. How's your house coming along?