Dogwood Hills Golf Club

My round today reminded of why I love playing golf. Meeting wonderful people, being surrounded by beautiful a landscape, all while participating in the most challenging sport I've every played. I can't wait to bring my wife here to play a round and possibly stay in the "on course" cabins!

Dogwood Hills is in the middle of nowhere, lying near the Alabama state line near Chattanooga. I wasn't sure what I would find, but was pleasantly surprised.

The course is billed as a "resort and gardens" and has a couple of cabins out-of-towers can stay in. I'm not sure I would consider this a destination place, but to each his own.

The course itself was better than I anticipated. It is well-maintained for a rural course. The fairways were excellent and the bentgrass greens, though a bit hairy, were faster than they looked. They had recently been aerated, but were well on the way to recovery and did not affect a single putt. Perhaps the bentgrass thrives a little better at this slightly higher elevation.

There were some memorable holes - including a couple of well-designed holes by the late co-owner who was also the architect. The first design feature that I thought was brilliant was on the short par-5 fourth hole, a paltry 446 yards from the men's tees and 458 yards from the tips. The hole doglegs 90 degrees to the left and plays straight uphill at the bend. Trees guard the corner from the tee, making cutting the corner improbable, if not impossible. I hit a driver off the tee that favored the left side but went just through the fairway. When I arrived at the ball, I noticed three pines planted in succession working from the right rough back into the fairway. I then realized that the correct play was a shorter club off the tee to avoid having to punch my second shot short of the green. It was a smart design feature to give the hole some defense.

The four par 5s are all extremely gettable. I hit my drives between 250-275 yards and all were reachable in two. Pars will definitely feel like bogeys on the par 5s.

The course offers a lot of width off the tee, so longer hitters will be at an advantage and will likely score well. Most anyone will likely score a few strokes better than normal here.

The greens had a good bit of movement in them and there are some perilous pin placements. This is necessary, again, to protect against par on many holes.

There are a handful of ho-hum holes, but all-in-all it is a good value play, particularly if you like to walk. There aren't too many leg-weakening climbs, so if you normally walk, $20 is a good deal.

My only constructive criticism of the course has to do with the hole diagrams on the scorecard. As a first-timer here, I had to rely on the diagrams a couple of times where there were blind tee shots and water hazards were shown. On the seventh, 11th and 13th holes, water hazards appeared to be in play according to the diagrams, but actually weren't. It wasn't a big deal, but did affect club selection off the tee on one of the holes.

In summary, it was a pleasant course to walk that was maintained better than the price tag of the greens fee. I wouldn't hesitate to return.

Second time playing this course, both of GolfNow, so it was the 1st tee time of the day. BEAUTIFUL that time of day and the course is in great shape!

very nice for the money. staff were helpful and outgoing. would recommend to any handicapper, high or low.

a bit "out there", but worth it, good folks, nicely kept course, good pace of play, and a real value.

We are hooked,

this is a keeper, a real tucked gem, but it is a drive

This course is always fun. The layout is different from front to back, so it's like playing two different courses. Staff couldn't be more friendly, one of the reasons we like to play here. I highly recommend it!!!

Fairways were wide open but still offered their own hazard placed difficulties. Bent grass greens were in good conditions they had just been punched so I was not able to see them at their best! I will definitely revisit this unexpected beauty!

Dogwood Hills is an excellent layout, expecially the back nine. A fair layout with some challenging holes and surprising beauty.

I will recommend you play the course at least once

Course was wet from heavy rains but still playable. Always a beautiful and challenging course.

Greens were pretty good, but fairways and teeboxes left a lot to be desired. Was still pretty wet from recent storms (not sure why people on here fault the course for that), so that might have been why fairways weren't cut tighter. They were actively mowing and trimming while i was playing the back nine.

Staff was very nice, with no reaction ro my purchasing from golf now.

You can get great deals through GolfNow which makes it even a greater course to play. Love playing there.

Very friendly staff, it was extremely wet the day we played, but still a good time. They let us play an extra 9 free of charge because the course was so wet. I'll definitely play there again!

If I lived closer would be a member. Never had a bad day at this course. The Slater Family is very nice .

They had a ton of rain two days prior and some of be fairways were soaked, but all in all it was in good shape. The price was good. The staff wasn't exactly friendly. They seemed perturbed that we had booked on GolfNow. The views were spectacular and we will be back in the summer!

Ball position on this course is easier than most mountain courses. Greens in excellent shape and very eye pleasing surroundings. Play this if you get a chance in the Chattanooga area...about 35 mins away.