Rock Barn Golf and Spa - Jackson Course
About
Rock Barn Golf & Spa offers two championship courses, one designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and the other by Tom Jackson. Nestled within the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the golf courses are provided with swiftly moving brooks and sparkling lakes that accent the wooded hills and lush, grassy meadows. The Jackson Course tumbles across picturesque valleys, offering both dramatic elevation changes and beautiful scenery. The layout is shorter and less demanding than the Jones Course but it is a challenge nonetheless. The undulating terrain demands accuracy and perfect ball placement. Fast greens are balanced by generous fairways. Water hazards also come into play. The course starts out intimidatingly with a narrow, uphill par 5 but the rest of the course is not quite as daunting.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament | 71 | 6427 yards | 71.9 | 135 |
| Jackson (W) | 71 | 5926 yards | 74.8 | 141 |
| Jackson | 71 | 5926 yards | 68.9 | 132 |
| Member | 71 | 5433 yards | 66.7 | 126 |
| Member (W) | 71 | 5433 yards | 72.2 | 134 |
| Club | 71 | 4856 yards | 64.2 | 117 |
| Club (W) | 71 | 4856 yards | 68.5 | 127 |
| Forward | 71 | 4363 yards | 62.2 | 114 |
| Forward (W) | 71 | 4363 yards | 65.8 | 118 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold M: 71.9/135 | 555 | 341 | 208 | 362 | 424 | 202 | 327 | 506 | 217 | 3142 | 514 | 359 | 400 | 170 | 390 | 398 | 145 | 506 | 403 | 3285 | 6427 |
| Blue M: 68.9/132 W: 74.8/141 | 518 | 293 | 173 | 334 | 397 | 173 | 303 | 477 | 188 | 2856 | 491 | 333 | 379 | 143 | 367 | 379 | 129 | 477 | 372 | 3070 | 5926 |
| White M: 66.7/126 W: 72.2/134 | 463 | 274 | 146 | 305 | 358 | 149 | 279 | 447 | 173 | 2594 | 467 | 300 | 357 | 122 | 344 | 339 | 115 | 453 | 342 | 2839 | 5433 |
| Green M: 64.2/117 W: 68.5/127 | 425 | 243 | 112 | 288 | 316 | 106 | 249 | 422 | 147 | 2308 | 437 | 261 | 335 | 84 | 320 | 260 | 102 | 428 | 321 | 2548 | 4856 |
| Red M: 62.2/114 W: 65.8/118 | 282 | 238 | 106 | 283 | 390 | 85 | 244 | 415 | 95 | 2138 | 380 | 223 | 291 | 78 | 288 | 228 | 90 | 374 | 273 | 2225 | 4363 |
| Handicap | 1 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 4 | |||
| Par | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
| Handicap (W) | 5 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 12 | 4 |
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Course Details
Rentals/Services
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Policies
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RidingReviews
Reviewer Photos
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grass growing in traps. Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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bad Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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does this look like a $70 course? Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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horrible tee boxes Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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Photo submitted by Winsam3 on 06/19/2025
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Photo submitted by u000003922969 on 05/13/2025
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Photo submitted by u000003922969 on 05/13/2025
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First hole Photo submitted by tjdemski on 06/29/2023
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Photo submitted by okstatepokes96 on 04/15/2023
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Photo submitted by okstatepokes96 on 04/15/2023
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Photo submitted by Cr8zyboutgolf84 on 03/01/2023
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Photo submitted by Cr8zyboutgolf84 on 03/01/2023
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Photo submitted by Cr8zyboutgolf84 on 03/01/2023
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the kids tees off on the 16th Photo submitted by hoosierdaddy on 10/23/2021
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All you need Photo submitted by uYXTV9348YX on 06/17/2021
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Beautiful par 3 Photo submitted by u000001694190 on 10/14/2020
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Photo submitted by DenisDotson on 08/10/2020
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Photo submitted by DenisDotson on 08/10/2020
8/19/25 Greens a bit tattered
I have played this a lot. It’s a go to course. I love the set up, staff, and availability. For some reason greens are a little beat up in the Jackson course right now. Could be a bad mower knicking it up or a disease. Either way some bare spots on edges
Other than that really enjoyed the round.
Good Layout...Club Damage and No Resolution From Staff A Huge Negative
Played this course last week with my family.
No complaints about the course, but my bag was loaded up by their staff. Putting full faith in them that their staff had done this many times before I went on my way to play my round.
My bag was not properly secured and my clubs went flying out onto the pavement of the cart path after driving off the first tee. My driver sustained damage in addition to scratches on my irons.
When I went to the pro shop afterwards seeking a resolution, I was offered no immediate solution, instead handed the director of golf's business card. I received no response back after multiple emails and voice message unreturned. I have no resolution.
I wont recommend this club to anyone.
Poorly Maintained
Played this course years ago and decided to take a buddy and drive up from Charlotte. I was very disappointed in how the maintenance had fallen. Tee boxes were rough, several greens had large bare spots, fairways were in good shape. I would much rather play Deer Brook in Shelby for $42 and it's in much better shape. Skybrook in Charlotte is in much better shape as well. Defineatly not a $70 course and not worth the drive from Charlotte. I can drive to Grandover in Greensboro in the same time for a much better course that is impeccably maintained.
actually grandovers traps were rough all summer. as was the west course fairways..
Good track
Ive always wanted to play here and finally drove west to miss the rain east and had an enjoyable round. The course has some beautiful par 3s, one even tees from what looks like a cliff from the the first tee. Lots of par 3s it seemed. Fairways and greens were perfect, some bunkers look washed out. Overall, great track. Birdie friendly and some gorgeous homes throughout the round
not sure which course you played… the greens and conditions were nowhere near ‘perfect’. See recent reviews.
What the heck happened !!!
Unbelievable how fast this course went from good to very bad! I’ll let this week's photos do the talking!
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grass growing in traps. Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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bad Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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does this look like a $70 course? Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
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horrible tee boxes Photo submitted by TeeTimeTerry on 08/07/2025
Does this look like a $85 / $70 course? pitiful !
Great except greens
Played Rock Barn for the first time today. It is a wonderful layout. Beautiful scenery. A lot of elevation changes. And a lot of really pretty holes. I would have rated it much higher-4 or maybe even 5 stars. But the greens were not in good shape. Almost all of them had bad spots. Bent grass is just so hard to keep in good shape in the heat and humidity of NC summer. Other than that. The tees, fairways, and rough were in great shape! The bunkers were washed out and unplayable. But it stormed here bad last night. And several trees were down around the course. All in all worth a play. Especially if you can score a hot deal on golf now.
but they still roll WAY Better than Bermuda greens which are sanded constantly in mid summer! not to mention punched!
Bent looks odd or bad to many people who are unfamiliar.
Wonderful day
Another great NC track…. I really enjoyed the undulating fairways.
Note to course- please send someone around to fix the ball marks on the greens… far too many not repaired for your caliber of course.
This is an easy drive from CLT, nice lunch spot across from the pro shop and a nice selection of merch.
Enjoy the included range balls and get ready because number 1 will challenge your skill.
I’ll definitely be back for another round!
Nicest Golf Club in the area.. but
I play quite a bit of Golf, have for many years, and now rotate weekly to various courses! Rock Barn is by far the nicest overall Golf Facility for public play in this portion of the state! Is it priced reasonably? Well, no its about $10 to pricey. Verdict Ridge Golf club is one of its closest competitors for this slice of the golfing market, and Seniors there can play for $15 less than RBarn on weekdays, however the environment, facilities and practice area at Rock Barn are nicer. Surprisingly Rock Barn is never packed/crowded like the aforementioned course, and several other courses in this area! The Bent Grass greens at Rock Barn are a major draw and roll far better than any Bermuda conversion I have ever played. The greens here are worth a few extra bucks for sure. The Jackson course is a nice ‘old school’ layout with lots of elevation changes, huge bunkers, and water and is extremely well maintained. it also has 2 new Restroom/water/ice facilities on the course as well. I actually like the Jackkson far better than the Jones course and it rather odd & inconsistent layout.
Within the past month the Jackson course has become Horrid! Its like the maintenance crew went on a 3 week vacation!
Course has went downhill badly in the past month! someone needs to be demoted!
Course is Horrible now… many greens have bare spots.. grass growing in sand traps, bare dirt tee boxes, and they haven’t bothered to clean up wind debris from 7 days ago!
Warm Day in the Foothills
Been a few years since we’d played the Jackson Course, but always enjoyed coming up to Hickory area hoping to get a bit of relief from the central piedmont heat. Not sure it was much cooler, but humidity was down. Course was in as good a condition as I could remember, fairways, tees and greens. Not a long course from regular tees , but you use every club. Not very crowded on a Wednesday afternoon, so we moved around in well under 4 hours, even taking our time due to the warm day. Highly recommended if you can get on with a hot deal.
Solid conditions where it mattered
Some burnt out spots on greens and one or two bunkers had liners exposed; lots of pitch marks but I think it’s because they’re fighting the heat with bent greens. None of the conditions impacted play (dead spots on greens were far away from all of the pins etc). Tee box, fairway , and rough conditions were some of the best I’ve seen for public courses.
Great day, great golf. Few areas for improvement
Course layout was great, fairways in good condition. Bunkers in good condition. Greens - beat up and dried out. There were also several kids fishing on the course on the back 9, standing all around where we were hitting - not ideal, not safe. Otherwise really enjoyed the day!
Great Course ; Fair Value
Really enjoyed our round. Fairways and greens were very good. Layout wonderful. Staff very helpful and friendly. We will be back soon!!!
Best greens we have play in Catawba played 18 holes in 3 hours
Great condition… except for….
I’m fairly hard to impress when it comes to golf courses.. and I’ll rarely spend over $65 to play, however I was impressed with this place EXCEPT FOR the areas around #7 Tee Boxes as well as everything to the left of the length of this entire hole! Just plain ugly, snakey, eroded and not maintained! Its so bad as opposed to remainder of their 2 courses it had me scratching my head! The bent grass greens here will definitely keep me coming back here to play! Course fairways grasses were awesome and as good as you’ll find in the area. Nice bunkers and lots of them, my only issue was the fact that they were not consistent in their condition, maintenance and amounts of sand.
All in all.. and enjoyable outing!
Wonderful round!
Played early in a Sunday morning and the course was beautiful- well-maintained and the staff could not have been nicer or more helpful. Play got a little slow on the back 9 but the Marshall worked his magic in a timely manner. Will be back here again soon!
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Hard to understand how unsecured clubs are able to make it all the way to the first tee without falling off, then suddenly fall off while driving off the first tee.
Alert patrons alway check on such before driving off… especially since you’ve already gotten clubs from it prior. In fact I use my own bungie strap in addition to the carts strap!