Bear Trace at Tims Ford State Park

Bear Trace at Tim's Ford is a challenging track from the Nicholas Tees and did not disappoint today. Staff was friendly, helpful and made us feel welcomed. Course conditions were great.

Look forward to return visit.

Nice course; pretty average for the price paid. The tee boxes were a little rough but the fairways and greens were in good shape. Would play here again

Not sure why this staff has got bad reviews, they were very friendly and helpful. Loved the course layout, greens were in great shape, fast. Course is a little rough around the edges, in spots but other than that no complaints from me. Look forward to playing again

The place is pure Jack Nicklaus......Its been here for a few years and yes around the edges which takes buckets of money to keep pristine....are fuzzy....But I'd move there and play it everyday.....Hey A Nicklaus design for $30 as a Senior you have to be crazy to not find your way here......The Staff which has large portion of retired super friendly guys......and a Absolute Gem of a PGA Class A Head Professional in Jerod Nelson....Stop in Covid has made it hard on the pro shop to sell Merchandise but man o man the Shop is Full of great goodies.....We joined a couple local ladies Phyllis and Linda...made the wife super duper happy to boot.......Dont miss stopping in best greens ive seen the winter......hands down......

And incredibly beautiful place to play! Beautiful scenery beautiful fairways beautiful greens can’t say enough about how great this place is!

I think the pro thinks he works at Augusta National with the amount of arrogance he has but it’s really ignorance on how to run a business and a golf course. They are rude and literally run golfers away from this golf course. I don’t know how they are going to stay in business with this staff. The course superintendent is not any better. This course looks more like a municipal course every year. I know tax payers pays for the losses this course incurs every year but someone at the state needs to take a business class and realize poor management is the reason they are loosing money every year. Jack Nicklaus would be completely ashamed of this course.

Terrible customer service. You get the feeling that these people that work there don’t want you to be there or bother them why they are trying to watch Tv. Too expensive for the shape of course. Bunkers and erosion issues are plaguing the course. The staff is bringing this course down to a municipal course level. If the state doesn’t step in this course might as well just close. It’s not worth going to now.

This course has went downhill in eight years. Maintenance issues are all over the course with lots of erosion. The worst part of this course is the customer service. Their policy is if you don’t like it, go somewhere else! They are the only course I have ever been to that closes down before sunset. It may be 30 min before or two hours just depends how early the state employees want to go home. They will tell you t times are full and not a golfer in sight. It’s obvious they don’t care about customers because Tennessee tax payers are gonna pay their check regardless. I expect this course to close soon they can’t keep losing tax payers money and running away paying customers.

I can’t imagine this place staying open much longer with the negative attitude of the pro at this course. I have never witnessed a business trying to get rid of customers like the pro does at Tim’s Ford. He would have been fired the first month in a private course but I guess the state will not get rid of this cancer until the place gets shut down After he runs all the customers away.

No sand in bunkers. Liner fabric showing. Just mud and gravel. The greens are really tiny. Way smaller than they were 15 years ago. I think in an effort to save money the state has managed to ruin this course. I would not play here again at any price.

It's awesome that you get charged full price to play a beautiful and well maintained course...well tee to green the course is in great shape except the bunkers. The bunkers really come into play on this course both on tee shots and approaches. The problem is that they are not being maintained AT ALL, unless you consider having the grounds crew rake hardpan in the mornings and also by seeing how many varieties of weeds you can cultivate in them. All the lips on all of the bunkers have 4 or 5 foot high lips that are impossible to play out of from hardpan especially when the hardpan makes the ball run to the lips of the bunker really leaving you no shot because you are supposed to be hitting from sand and not hardpan. The really frustrating thing about it is that there is a big pile of beautiful white sand in...the parking lot and not one grain of sand from is in any of the bunkers. It's a 4.5 rating for the rest of the course and a negative 50 for the bunkers. How can you do so good on the rest of the course and then look like you don't know how to maintain a cow pasture much less a golf course regarding the bunkers.

I have played all the Bear Trace Courses that the State of Tennessee started years ago, with one of the nicest put in such a remote place Clinton, TN that it was such a hassle to get to. Now it's growing 2 ft weeds! The last few of these Bear Trace courses are great, but the State of Tennessee won't keep them up. This course at Tim's Ford is a great layout. But washed out sand traps and some bald spots in some areas. Granted this will never rival the RTJ Trail courses in Alabama, but come on keep these courses up. Just a FYI for State officials, next time you invest in a trail course that someone of the status of Jack Nickolas please put them in well populated areas. Check where The Trails course are in Alabama, that and maintaining those courses makes it a desirable place to host golf trips for out of state guest. And please take care of the courses you have left of The Bear Trace courses in Tennessee.

Good course Challenging without being extremely penal. Good staff. Average snack bar Practice area for chipping ,putting and driving trange

The marshals have really put off me and my friends. Split up a 5some on a very slow day. All around very rude. These are the same ones who drove off majority of clientele from another local golf course.

This is the first time I have played a full round at Tim’s Ford. The greens were excellent - rolled smooth all day. The course itself has a good variation of tee shots requiring both cuts and draws on par 4 and par 5. There were a few thin areas in the rough and other areas at the edge of the course. That is the one thing keeping this from a 5⭐️ rating.

Great course. Enjoyed it, can’t wait to play it again. Greens were a 10 on the stemp. Very challenging but get able. The only downside of the course were the bunkers, but I think they are working on fixing the bunkers. If they fix those the course is a joy to play but challenging.

This course was well worth the hour plus drive for me and the 3 hours from Atlanta where my Dad drove from. Beautiful course with a wide-open layout and plenty of picturesque views. Will definitely be back hopefully when it warms up a bit!