The Golf Club of Mississippi (Old Waverly and Mossy Oak)

Great course, great layout, excellent conditions. This was my first time booking through GolfNow, the process was seamless once I got to the course. The nicest course I’ve played in MS.

When a golf course melds seamlessly with its surroundings, that’s Nature’s Golf. When environmental preservation and forward-thinking course design come together, that’s Nature’s Golf. When you play Old Waverly and Mossy Oak Golf Clubs in West Point, MS, that’s Nature’s Golf. It’s Southern Golf at its finest.

When most golfers think of golf in Mississippi, they are probably thinking of the Gulf Coast and the Biloxi area. But if you want to experience the best golf in the state, you’ll need to head about four hours north, past Jackson and Hattiesburg, to the little town of West Point, MS. That’s where you’ll find Old Waverly and Mossy Oak, two of the best golf course layouts in the state.

The George and Marcia Bryan family has an ownership stake in both courses and, if the Bryans have any say in it, West Point, MS will become one of the country’s most popular golf destinations. There aren’t many places you can go and play two Top 100 golf courses within a driver of each other. West Point, MS isn’t near any large city – Memphis is the closest and it’s 2 ½ hours away – so it provides a great sense of tranquility and solitude. However, it’s also a convenient location - most major southern cities can be reached by car in less than 4 hours, so you can drive over in the morning and get in an afternoon round.

Old Waverly across the street is not without its share of accolades. Old Waverly was designed by U.S. Open Champion Jerry Pate and Bob Cupp and has hosted many significant tournaments including the 1999 U.S. Women's Open and 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur.

Old Waverly Golf Club captures the essence of the Scottish Highlands. It is routed around numerous lakes, the largest being Lake Waverly which you’ll encounter on the 18th hole. The course is highlighted by holes that place a premium on accuracy and shot making as well as a host of risk/reward shots, all while navigating through some of the most scenic views the Mississippi Black Prairie has to offer. You’ll find many deep and well-defined pot bunkers in the landing areas off the tees as well as greenside.

Number 7 at Old Waverly is aptly named Palmer Falls for the waterfalls and brook that trickle down the fairway on this uphill par 3. From the White Tees, this demanding par 3 plays 170 yards. Trees line the right side and there’s a pot bunker about 50 yards short of the green and a large, deep bunker on the right. Left of the green is a lot of mounding that can make for a tricky up and down.

Number 15 is a pretty par 5 that plays 447 yards from the White Tees. A creek meanders down the middle of the fairway in front of the tee and then continues down the left side. Play your drive down the right side and you’ll take the creek out of play. There’s a lake to the left of the green that needs to be avoided on your approach shot as do the two front left bunkers. Three good shots can yield a par…or better!

Number 18 plays 342 yards from the White Tees and is Old Waverly’s #1 handicapped hole. The lake creates a dogleg left and sets up a risk/reward opportunity off the tee. The more of the lake you carry off the tee, the shorter your approach shot is. The lone fairway bunker on the right side has seen its fair share of balls hit through the fairway by players avoiding the water. A good drive will leave a mid to short iron into a slightly elevated green protected by the water on the left and sand in every other direction. Par is a great way to end a memorable round!

Both Old Waverly and Mossy Oak offer accommodations. At Mossy Oak, guests stay in spacious cottages and villas directly on the golf course. Four-bedroom “cottages” give way to a large, spacious common area, each equipped with a giant flat-screen TV, tables for take-out dining, and comfortable furniture, as well as all the amenities you’d find at a first-class hotel.

Old Waverly offers several different options for your stay including two and three-bedroom condos with fully equipped kitchens. It’s like being at home, only you’re at a world-class golf facility.

When it comes to dining, guests have several options. All are located on the grounds of Old Waverly. Murphy's is located on the lower level of the Clubhouse and is a great place to eat a casual lunch, watch the big game, play darts, or just relax with friends.

Cameron's is the perfect place to relax and celebrate the end of the day or the beginning of the evening, depending on how you look at it. Cameron’s is reminiscent of a Scottish landowner's library with its rich warmth complemented by a wide selection of fine cigars and wines as well as your favorite libations.

In the event your tastes are a little more discerning and you desire something a little more elegant, The Magnolia Room welcomes dinner guests with a panoramic view of Lake Waverly and the golf course.

The English Garden at Old Waverly provides the perfect setting for afternoon tea, an outdoor cocktail party, or a hearty barbecue feast. The highlight of the garden is the original smokehouse, where superb meats are prepared for even the most discriminating of tastes.

Old Waverly and Mossy Oak offer some tremendous packages that allow you to play both courses and experience everything they have to offer.

When most golfers think of golf in Mississippi, they are probably thinking of the Gulf Coast and the Biloxi area. But if you want to experience the best golf in the state, you’ll need to head about four hours north, past Jackson and Hattiesburg, to the little town of West Point, MS. That’s where you’ll find Old Waverly and Mossy Oak, two of the best golf course layouts in the state.

West Point, MS isn’t near any large city – Memphis is the closest and it’s 2 ½ hours away – so it provides a great sense of tranquility and solitude. However, it’s also a convenient location - most major southern cities can be reached by car in less than 4 hours, so you can drive over in the morning and get in an afternoon round.

Mossy Oak is one of the newest courses in the State of Mississippi and was built in conjunction with Toxey Haas, founder of the Mossy Oak brand. The course was designed by Gil Hanse, the world’s top minimalist golf course architect. In true Hanse style, not much dirt was moved to build the course; according to Co-Founder George Bryan, the work could have “been done with a mule and a plow.” However, the dirt that was moved helped to create the ponds you see as you make your way around the layout.

Mossy Oak is built on 180 acres of what used to be the Knob Hill Dairy Farm, complete with rolling terrain and significant elevation changes. One feature I found quite helpful was the guideposts that helped steer you toward the fairway on several blind tee shots. Elevated greens with tightly mowed surrounds make for challenging up and downs if you miss the green.

Two of the course’s more memorable holes are Numbers 3 and 4. Number 3 is a very short par 4 that plays 253 from the White Tees. Long ball hitters can have a go at the green; it plays uphill, so you’ll need to carry the ball about 275 yards off the tee. Whether you go for it off the tee or not, the deep, cavernous bunkers on either side of the fairway are an intimidating sight. Number 3 requires a very accurate approach shot; the green is its plateau. Anything not on the green will either drop off the grid behind the hole or find one of the bunkers. It’s a short but demanding hole!

Number 4 is Mossy Oak’s signature par 3. The hole plays 162 yards from the White Tees and is fronted by a massive bunker that sits well below the putting surface. You’ll need to carry the ball onto the green from the tee to avoid the false front. Find one of the two bunkers in front of the green and par just became a lot tougher!

Another challenging par 3 is the 11th hole. From the White Tees, the hole plays 224 yards and is all carry over water. The green is shallow and finding one of the two pot bunkers in the back can make for an intimidating sand shot with the lake looming in the background. Take a par and run!

Both Old Waverly and Mossy Oak offer accommodations. At Mossy Oak, guests stay in spacious cottages and villas directly on the golf course. Four-bedroom “cottages” give way to a large, spacious common area, each equipped with a giant flat-screen TV, tables for take-out dining, and comfortable furniture, as well as all the amenities you’d find at a first-class hotel.

Old Waverly and Mossy Oak offer some tremendous packages that allow you to play both courses and experience everything they have to offer.

This course is worth the cost to play!!!!!!!!!!

By far the best manicured course I have played in the state of Mississippi. We had a rain delay and the course was in just as awesome shape after the rain as it was before. If you get a chance go PLAY! AWESOME

This course is beautiful yet challenging. Only complaint is there could be better signage to know what hole you are at.

I had a enjoyable and fun round of golf. The pro shop staff was welcoming, friendly and very helpful. The staff was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout my round of golf. There is so much to say about this golf course. Very challenging, fair and so many beautiful views. All of the tee boxes and greens are in great condition. This course was everything I had expected to be. I'm really looking forward to coming out here again. Thanks!

Best course I’ve played in MS by far! 100% Recommend to everyone if they get the chance to play it!

Only reason for 3 star is the punched greens. Everything else was literally perfect!!!!!

Mossy Oak gets a lot of accolades. It is a very nice course. When I played in November 2020 it had wonderful conditions throughout. The greens were very fast. Add in the slopes on the greens and they were certainly a challenge. Most had at least two tiers.

As a first time player my impression was a wide-open course. Very few trees, a couple of lakes, but nothing much looked like it would pose a challenge. I also noticed the lack off rough. Many Southern courses have deep bermuda rough-even in the fall/winter season. You generally have the fairway, and then a first cut. But the challenge comes after that, where tall native grass will make your play both unplayable and unfindable, See the photos for a sample. The course reminded me a lot of Cuscowilla, a Crenshaw/Coore design near Lake Oconee/Reynolds in Georgia. It also had the same wide open feel of Sweetens Cove, a much celebrated 9-hole course in Tennessee.

The course is fairly flat with some rolling hills but no dramatic elevation changes. It seems that the course boundaries constrained some holes that needed to be "tucked in" to make an 18 hole layout. Take the very short par 4, 3rd hole and the par 3, 9th hole as examples. With 5 sets of tees you get a choice of yardage challenge but the scoring difficulty is on and near the greens.

Another interesting feature is the placement of the tee boxes close to the previous green. Some would call that "old school" but I found it a nice touch.

All in all a wonderful course. The course offers caddies for walking and fore-caddies for riders (available if you arrange ahead of time). Next time, I might take them up on that as I had a hard time finding my way around on a few holes.

Old Waverly has been on my “to-do list” for a while now.

Upon arrival, it is easy to see why this Golf Digest Top 100 American Public access golf course has garnered its reputation: stately gated entrance, unique lavish clubhouse, and a quality practice area. If true, rumors that the club is enduring some hard times is not evident at first blush.

I was eager to see how OW stacked up to some of the courses I’ve heard it compared to, notably Shoal Creek.

The opening hole is a good way to ease into the round, with a shortish par 4. But for me, the round really didn’t begin until the sixth hole, which easily became my favorite hole on the property. Here’s why: there are an abundance of long, straight, narrow holes at OW and I found the sixth to be anything but that. A variety of club choices off the tee still leaves a short iron in a player’s hand. The approach shot is made memorable by a carry over a small pond, dotted with bright flora to a narrow green buttressed by a stone wall. I would never tire of playing this hole. The seventh follows, and in my opinion is the best par 3 on the course. Eight is a brute of a par 4, especially into the wind. The outward nine concludes with a rather straightforward, bunker-laden par 5.

The par-5 10th was my second favorite hole. You tee off up a hill with the green nowhere in sight some 90 degrees left of the landing area. The second shot offers a chance to get home in two with equal parts nerve and skill. I thought it was a well-designed hole. The eleventh follows, using sort of a reverse-cape design along the lake. The 14th hole stood out as well, as it made you think of how to fit whatever club you pulled into a landing area framed by creeks in front of and behind a small patch of fairway, a thicket of trees on the left and a fairway bunker guarding the right.

This was a recurring theme on the course: strategy and accuracy off the tee to find the proper landing area and angles into the rather large greens that rely more on slope than contour.

I liked that the course played into and out of hardwoods, then emerged into wide open spaces with the holes that play around the lake.

But is it rightly ranked among Golf Digest’s best 100 public access courses? These rankings are highly subjective from one player to another. I would be hesitant to firmly place it there, but will reserve that notion until playing it again when the fairways aren’t water-logged from torrential rains the area has endured over the last few months and in calmer conditions than the 25 mph winds that made holes 17 and 18 real challenges playing dead into it.

Also keeping me on the fence is my sense that to be among the best 100 public-access courses in the U.S., every hole must be strong and holes shouldn’t be too similar. In this regard, the collection of par 3s were a little mundane in my opinion. I liked seven and 17 is a nice hole. The third and 12th holes, however, were very vanilla. The par-5 second was pretty bland as well. The bunkers were a bit below par, but I cannot say if that was again, due to all the rain, or neglect. But a top 100 course gets the little things right.

I would describe OW as a good tournament golf course - demanding, yet fair - and can see why the USGA has chosen it for several of its women’s championships.

The first time I played this golf course I shot 74 with 2 double bogeys. I hit 14 greens and only missed a couple of fairways. The course seemed scoreable. The next time I played, the course reached out and bit me. I was a little off of my game and fired an 80. The course was just a grind and missing these greens is a grind to get a par. The course is the perfect balance where, if you play well, you'll score well but if you're off or miss one in the wrong place then you're going to be punished. It's a great layout and an extremely fun course. Can't wait to get back.

Old Waverly is a course that never grows old when playing over and over again. Paired with the contrasting Mossy Oak Golf Club across the street, West Point is lucky to have one of the top 36-hole destinations in the Southeast. With the contrast the two courses offer, a traditional Southern tree-lined course with Waverly and the wide open links-style of Mossy Oak, this is undoubtedly one of the most unique golf getaways in the country.

As soon as you finish your first 18, you'll assuredly already be thinking about your next 18 here. Mossy Oak Golf Club is as good as a links-style course can be without being on the coast. Gil Hanse was the ideal architect for this tract, as his minimalist approach was perfect for a course that feels like it was meant to be a part of the land. The course is tough but fair with a lot of risk/reward shots that give you plenty of options to think about, including a couple of drivable par-4s. Paired with Old Waverly across the road, West Point has one of the top 36-hole golf destinations in the Southeast. While Mississippi has hot and humid summers, a cart is often going to be necessary on hot days. But this course is best experienced walking, and the close tee-to-green layout makes the course a perfect walk when the weather is cooler in the spring and fall.