Golf near Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge or Sevierville

[Birdie Retriever]

Family rented a cabin in Gatlinburg early June and I’m planning to sneak away for a quick round.  Any recommended courses within 1 hour drive?

[Buzzkill]

I played the River course which was fun/tough.  First hole from the tips is a 460 par 4.  Course is like 7 1/2 miles running through out community, obviously walking not permitted.

 

https://www.seviervillegolfclub.com

[Young Provolone]

Island Pointe

[golfgoob]

Sevierville Golf Club is a great option. 36 holes. I played the River course several years ago and was nice. Played Highlands Thursday. It was really wet and still dormant. It was nice too but I think River is more challenging. 

[Buzzkill]

14 hours ago, golfgoob said:

Sevierville Golf Club is a great option. 36 holes. I played the River course several years ago and was nice. Played Highlands Thursday. It was really wet and still dormant. It was nice too but I think River is more challenging. 

Highlands course didn’t exist when I played River.

[cardia10]

On 3/19/2022 at 9:48 PM, Buzzkill said:

Highlands course didn’t exist when I played River.

The Highlands 18 takes about 9 of the original River course and adds about 9 new ones. It is a fun day to play all 36 in a day there. 

[jholz]

I can't speak to the golf in the area, but you are in for a cultural experience if you've never been to that part of the world before.

 

Be sure to bring plenty of cash for airsoft guns and ninja throwing stars. A solid pair of jean shorts and a flick knife attached to your belt also seem something of a pre-requisite.

 

Beautiful country though. 

[me05501]

21 hours ago, jholz said:

I can't speak to the golf in the area, but you are in for a cultural experience if you've never been to that part of the world before.

 

Be sure to bring plenty of cash for airsoft guns and ninja throwing stars. A solid pair of jean shorts and a flick knife attached to your belt also seem something of a pre-requisite.

 

Beautiful country though. 

 

My son traveled to Pigeon Forge last week with his lacrosse team. 

 

He said "That place...is a fever dream."

The contrast between the strip and the nearby mountain hideaways is stark. 

[me05501]

On 3/18/2022 at 2:12 PM, Young Provolone said:

Island Pointe

 

Yes. 

Be forewarned, there is a bigger-than-usual difference between the back tees and the next set up. I think the back ones are Blue but they play more like Black. The next set up are White so it's easy to choose the wrong set if you're not a long hitter. 

Edited March 22, 2022 by me05501

[jholz]

15 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

My son traveled to Pigeon Forge last week with his lacrosse team. 

 

He said "That place...is a fever dream."

The contrast between the strip and the nearby mountain hideaways is stark. 

 

Your son definitely summed it up nicely.

 

I can't believe I forgot to mention the Dixieland Stampede too. It's a "must do."

 

I mean, they ride around on ostriches. You don't see that every day.

[cardia10]

4 hours ago, jholz said:

 

Your son definitely summed it up nicely.

 

I can't believe I forgot to mention the Dixieland Stampede too. It's a "must do."

 

I mean, they ride around on ostriches. You don't see that every day.

Just don't enjoy too much. Some of the lowest taxes and cost of living in the country and while we enjoy the tourist stopping in and leaving their money, it is easy to wear out your welcome. Totally kidding, but there is a reason our area is seeing record housing growth and cheap golf is just a small part of it!

[jholz]

40 minutes ago, cardia10 said:

Just don't enjoy too much. Some of the lowest taxes and cost of living in the country and while we enjoy the tourist stopping in and leaving their money, it is easy to wear out your welcome. Totally kidding, but there is a reason our area is seeing record housing growth and cheap golf is just a small part of it!

 

Yes, the constant lament of the tourist town resident. I lived in a couple of resort towns in the Colorado mountains growing up. Can't afford to live there any more, either fortunately or unfortunately - I'm not sure which. Those tourists do wear one out. If I had a nickel for every time I had to say: "No, I'm sorry, we don't have any ski bindings that will fit your cowboy boots..."

 

And yes, the Central Appalachians through N.C. and Tennessee are astoundingly beautiful. Again, growing up in Colorado, our mountains were bigger, but we really only had evergreen trees and aspens. The sheer diversity of the flora and fauna in the Appalachians is, again, utterly astounding.

 

Outside of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park area, I'm a pretty big fan of the area around Boone N.C. and Johnson City Tennessee, as well.  

[cardia10]

17 hours ago, jholz said:

 

Yes, the constant lament of the tourist town resident. I lived in a couple of resort towns in the Colorado mountains growing up. Can't afford to live there any more, either fortunately or unfortunately - I'm not sure which. Those tourists do wear one out. If I had a nickel for every time I had to say: "No, I'm sorry, we don't have any ski bindings that will fit your cowboy boots..."

 

And yes, the Central Appalachians through N.C. and Tennessee are astoundingly beautiful. Again, growing up in Colorado, our mountains were bigger, but we really only had evergreen trees and aspens. The sheer diversity of the flora and fauna in the Appalachians is, again, utterly astounding.

 

Outside of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park area, I'm a pretty big fan of the area around Boone N.C. and Johnson City Tennessee, as well.  

You totally get the pain. I do live about 30 minutes outside of Sevier County toward Johnson City so I shouldn't complain too much. Used to, locals had a few months of the year where it was all ours and peaceful. Sevier County has done a great job marketing and the "off season" no longer exists sadly. Interestingly, I worked a few years over there during college. Always neat when the groups would come around and ask how many Eastern Europeans all of the hotels wanted for 6 months during busy season. They basically would order so many desk clerks and so many maintenance people and they worked on some visa for so many months at a time. They used to cram them in hotel rooms and work them to death., Now they have built dorm style housing for them in many cases. Overall a great area with a huge variety of cheap golf with about every layout imaginable. 

[Jsp3316]

Sevierville golf club is always a solid option in my opinion.

[garyt]

How is the Gatlinburg Golf Course?