Patriot Hills Golf Club

Set in the Appalachian Valley of eastern Tennessee, Patriot Hills offers some of the most commanding views to be found on golf courses anywhere. In this part of Jefferson City, the “Valley” is anything but flat. Nearly every fairway either swoops down or climbs over a tall hill. Landing areas stretch out and glide along the hilltops. Other fairways are situated at the bottom of vales. What gives Patriot Hills a cutting edge as a test of golf is its hilly and lush terrain, endlessly rolling and relentlessly varied.

Atop the hills are several outstanding vistas, including one at the twelfth tee reaching fifteen miles or more to the Great Smoky Mountains. The course’s eighteen greens, set on small plateaus, on rises, or on shelves sunk into hillsides (none are in hollows), make attractive targets whether their surfaces are fully visible or not. Many holes start from a high tee, affording clear views of the landing areas or greens. With so much ground movement, it may feel like you’re aboard a slow-moving roller coaster. And because the hills alone provide stern challenges, water hazards may seem unnecessary, though three of them show up at seven, seventeen, and the par-five ninth (this one positioned most strategically and affecting the second shot). The other two ponds, at par-threes, are used equally well, and several bunkers, modest in number, appear around the greens.

Patriot Hills is hardly “wide-open,” as each fairway is proportionate to the driving task, yet nearly everywhere it feels spacious, open, and inviting. A good deal of this effect derives from the hilly terrain and expansive views, but much more comes from a general restriction on heavily tree-lined fairways. While a few fairways are ‘wooded,’ trees appear mostly on one side of the fairway, often at the course’s periphery.

Another key landscape feature is the towering bluff on which the eighteenth fairway sits; to reach it, you must drive over a valley, avoiding the falloff, as well, that extends around the fairway’s right flank. Similarly, the green at the par-three thirteenth can be reached only by a decisive strike: it lies on the other side of a pit laden with heavy rough. Standing on the tees at one, five, ten, and twelve should quicken your pulse, as each plummets to tempting fairway landing zones that twist and tumble, roll and curve.

PAR-FIVES: Patriot Hills boasts six five-pars of superior design and variation. Eight, a 584-yard behemoth, travels to landing area banked on the left, and then, on the blind second, falls downhill to a deeply tilted fairway. You may find it difficult to hold the ideal line of approach down the fairway’s left side, and your second will likely find a big depression preceding a well-guarded green complex, set on a knoll. On the impressive fourteenth, where securing a par is challenge enough, you’ll hit uphill off the tee to an offset fairway. The second shot then offers a choice between a layup to the fairway’s neck (becoming meager before the green), versus a bolder, go-for-broke laser to this reachable putting surface. But unless you carry the ball like Jason Day, hope for a favorable bounce.

TOP HOLE: Among a bevy of challenging short holes, the 3-par seventh stands out, especially when with pin positioned back-right. Fronted by a pond, the hole still offers a small landing area short of the green for weaker players, but this is complicated by a strategically-placed bunker.

MOST INTERESTING HOLE: Sixteen requires a well-placed drive. In the landing zone, a pair of right-side trees may punish any drive struck down this aggressive line to the hole, opening up, as it does, a green protected by trees. But it’s the second shot that counts most, as—hit from the fairway’s left side—several lofty trees may interfere on this less aggressive line of approach, perhaps forcing you to draw the ball in. The green itself is pitched back-to-front.

My son and I enjoyed the temperate spring climate of Tennessee while playing today. The only fly in the ointment was the recent aeration of these large and well-kept modern greens.

Little—if anything—is dull at Patriot Hills, but nothing is unreasonable: it strikes a balance between challenge and playability. And like characters in a great drama, this course’s holes are chiseled with boldness. For match play the course delivers a clear crescendo at holes sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen. It’s an ideal conclusion for a layout that demands precision throughout.

Patriot Hill has a nice layout, good condition and friendly people. The greens were a little bumpy due to recent treatments. Yardage markers are limited to fairway plates.

Overall a great value and I'll be back.

Fun, short, and accessible for all handicaps. The course has it's challenges with tight fairways that weave in and out of a beautiful neighborhood. Long hitters would be smart to exercise restraint off the tee and grab an iron for most tee shots. There are a few grip and rip opportunities, but not many.

The course was in pretty good shape for this time of year. The greens were recent punched and rolling slow even without aeration, but from the looks of it they'll be some nice dance floors for this coming season.

The staff was really friendly and so were the regular players I bumped into on the course (an often underrated factor when choosing place to play). I'd be happy to play Patriot Hills again.

Always enjoy playing Patriot Hills. Well maintained even after the cold weather experienced recently. Would like to see masking enforced in the clubhouse.

In good shape for winter.

Greens in good shape . Best weather day we have had in a while it was very busy and slow play. Had fun and will be back .

Gary and his staff do a great job at Patriot. My favorite course in east tn. Always in good shape and the surroundings are great.

Unusual lay out with a lot of scoring opportunities. Frost delay pushed everyone back but wasn’t really a problem. Greens were frozen over so you couldn’t fly anything into the greens. Real test of short game. I will be back.

Always enjoy driving down from northwest Ohio and staying in Gatlinburg and playing patriot hills . We love the layout and the elevation changes and views. We wish we lived closer. It our favorite course in the area.