Etowah Valley Golf Club

My brother and I first played at Etowah many years ago. We were on a golf vacation to NC from PA, and walked 36 holes in a day there. I remembered it as not being a particularly interesting course to play - but it was in good condition and very walkable in all respects.

Now I happen to live nearby. I was very disappointed to find out last year that Etowah was restricting walking only to certain times in the afternoon. I was told this policy was initiated by new ownership in recent years.

Then I went for the first time this year (and likely the last). My disappointment turned to disgust when told that, unless you're a member, you may NEVER walk the course. Ridiculous. I was told that this new policy was necessary for the increased revenue. I responded that I played for 20 years at a very nice course near Lynchburg, Va (London Downs) that allowed walking at ANY time... and that, somehow, they remained profitable. Heck, most people choose to ride a cart anyway... Then, consider the British Isles - where almost nobody rides a cart... they're there for the handicapped and elderly (if needed). And yet, they've survived hundreds of years without that "critical" increased revenue....

So here we have a course laid out to be played as golf was intended to be played - by walking... and it is no longer allowed. To add salt to the wound, the course does not drain very well, it rains a lot in this area, and "cart path only" rules are often in effect. What a pain THAT is.... we'd have played our round more pleasantly and quickly if we could have walked...

The course is nothing spectacular. The layout is average. It was not about the course, it was about the company, my son. We had a great day on an average course just playing golf. There was nothing more I could ask for, as the dad, than the chance to spend time with my son. It was perfect weather on a perfect day for time to just be.

Staff at the course was very friendly and accommodating. We arrived early and they allowed us to fit into an open tee time.

This was our first time here. We played the North and South courses. I think we would have had a more enjoyable round had we played the South & West Courses. Water comes into play at least once & sometimes twice on 8 of the 9 holes on the North course making for some well thought out club selections or a lot of lost balls. Water came into play at least once on 4 of the 9 holes on the South course. We didn't play the West course but looking at the score card it appears water comes into play on at least 4 of the 9 holes.

The only bad thing I have to say is the new group of owners does not allow locals to walk it was a Great business then now not so much they are trying to turn it into a resort. The starter for the day was absolute wonderful. I played by myself to get in some practice and he direct me around 2 of the 3 sides where I would not be held up to long. For the amount of rain we had the past 2 days course was better than I expected.

Played it on St Patricks day with my son and his friend from college. On vacation for their spring break we fished the Davidson river and played golf. Ver nice track ,played south to west. Greens were punched but still enjoyed the day. Had some beers and food at Zekes Tavern after, really good time over all.

Be forewarned! The pro shop staff fell short of my customer service expectations and didn't mention before we headed out that the greens were aerified recently. The greens were very sandy and bumpy. We were told we'd be playing the same nine (North course) twice since the other two courses were closed for maintenance. The grass on the fairways, tees and around the greens was an uneven mix of varieties, some dormant. The regional drought appears to be affecting course conditions here quite significantly. The sand in the bunkers is very thin. I expected much better from Etowah. There are better golf options in the area.

Great course, really good layout, will steadily improve with Spring and Summer coming. We drove 100 miles to play and will definitely return, next time hopefully we can play all 27 holes

Etowah Valley Country Club has always been a tremendous 18 hole layout since its mid 60's inception, and further enhanced by the addition of the North 9 in the late 80's. What hampered its appeal starting about the year 2000 were the combination of 3 separate unrelated problems, namely (1) a disintegrating clay tile drainage system (causing water accumulation to "fan out" rather than be whisked away); (2) overgrowth of sheer number of trees on original 18 hole layout, with result of aged trees hoarding water from nearby grass areas as well as producing excessive shade leading to killing of grass areas; and (3) inattention of the course's many bunkers (grooming, maintenance, drainage, and sand replenishment). The state of things began causing discriminating local players and vacationing visitors to turn away from playing the club, not wanting to see their scores and enjoyment negatively affected by the "condition" (state of disrepair) of things.

Consequently, the original owners felt the need to "sell" rather than attend to the task of renovation, and subsequent buyers were also not up to the task of full restoration. The "new" (present) owners are vowing to bring Etowah back to its full glory and when I played the original 18 on February 1st improvements were underway with numerous trees (especially on South 9) being removed or noticeably trimmed back and greens were in very good condition (especially for it being mid-winter). It remains to be seen if traps will be "tended to" and each receive a load of sand as things "green up" coming out of winter, but hope springs eternal.

Now if only a plan of irrigation and drainage replacement could be settled upon.

Considering the snow on the course 1 week ago, the fairways and greens were in good condition for the winter.

Speed on the greens was hard to judge of winter conditions. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes balls didn't break when they should have, buts that's Golf.

They're cutting down a lot of trees on the sides of many fairways. I would assume to open them up even more. What a shame. They really helped to make tee shots interesting.

Pace was slow as the Ranger only used 2 of the 3 sides. We had 3 women walking catch up to us near the end of the round. It was a slow 4 1/2hr day. Had they opened the 3rd side, we would have been done in under 3 hr. Come on Mr Ranger, we don't want to worry if we'll finish in daylight when we start at noon

Beautiful weather for January around these parts. The pace of play was very slow on the first nine but opened up good on the second nine, that was because we decided not to follow the three some walking in front of us. So we played the North Course again. Overall the course had a good layout with some rewarding holes and challenging ones. I would do it again.

Not many par 3s. Long and tough course with trees in key areas. Made it tough to see landing spots on fairways.

This course took my ball many times in the fairway. The leaves were too plentiful and would hide the ball on one side. It was cart path only even though it hadn't rained in a month and it is reported that we are currently in a drought. The rough was rough deeper than the ball could be seen unless you were lucky to walk over it. I lost more balls that round than most of the season.

I've played the course for years, but won't be back. Made tee time on GolfNow the night before but was informed when I arrived for round that they no longer participate. Huh? Why was it still on GolfNow. They got us on the north course and the first nine went well, but we could not make the turn because it was logjammed. The starter was rude and would not let us go to the west course even though the first two holes were open. He said, oh well, that's just the way it is. We left after nine. The bag drop guy was also very rude and was in a tirade about people asking which cart to take. I'll spend my money somewhere else. This place really needs some serious customer service training.

This course would be awesome if they used a little weed and feed once in a while and pay attention to the tees and sand traps.

I played South first and it was good from fairways through greens. The West couse fairways are in bad shape with a crust and no grass in many areas. I presumed they have a disease on the fairways.

The tees and fairways are in pretty rough shape. The fairways are pretty hard so you get a lot of roll, unusual for the typically soggy mountain courses. My wife liked the relative flatness of the south and west courses. A nice break from some of the cliffhanging shots you get on many other courses in the area.

Very nice track and completed 18 in 4.5 hours on a day when the course was very busy. Greens and fairways very good for the most part. A few spots in a few fairways the weather has not been kind to. Tremendous value at the golfnow hot rate but according to the pro shop they soon will not be working with the golfnow rates.