Etowah Valley Golf & Resort

Be forewarned! The pro shop staff fell short of my customer service expectations and didn't mention before we headed out that the greens were aerified recently. The greens were very sandy and bumpy. We were told we'd be playing the same nine (North course) twice since the other two courses were closed for maintenance. The grass on the fairways, tees and around the greens was an uneven mix of varieties, some dormant. The regional drought appears to be affecting course conditions here quite significantly. The sand in the bunkers is very thin. I expected much better from Etowah. There are better golf options in the area.

Great course, really good layout, will steadily improve with Spring and Summer coming. We drove 100 miles to play and will definitely return, next time hopefully we can play all 27 holes

Etowah Valley Country Club has always been a tremendous 18 hole layout since its mid 60's inception, and further enhanced by the addition of the North 9 in the late 80's. What hampered its appeal starting about the year 2000 were the combination of 3 separate unrelated problems, namely (1) a disintegrating clay tile drainage system (causing water accumulation to "fan out" rather than be whisked away); (2) overgrowth of sheer number of trees on original 18 hole layout, with result of aged trees hoarding water from nearby grass areas as well as producing excessive shade leading to killing of grass areas; and (3) inattention of the course's many bunkers (grooming, maintenance, drainage, and sand replenishment). The state of things began causing discriminating local players and vacationing visitors to turn away from playing the club, not wanting to see their scores and enjoyment negatively affected by the "condition" (state of disrepair) of things.

Consequently, the original owners felt the need to "sell" rather than attend to the task of renovation, and subsequent buyers were also not up to the task of full restoration. The "new" (present) owners are vowing to bring Etowah back to its full glory and when I played the original 18 on February 1st improvements were underway with numerous trees (especially on South 9) being removed or noticeably trimmed back and greens were in very good condition (especially for it being mid-winter). It remains to be seen if traps will be "tended to" and each receive a load of sand as things "green up" coming out of winter, but hope springs eternal.

Now if only a plan of irrigation and drainage replacement could be settled upon.

Considering the snow on the course 1 week ago, the fairways and greens were in good condition for the winter.

Speed on the greens was hard to judge of winter conditions. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes balls didn't break when they should have, buts that's Golf.

They're cutting down a lot of trees on the sides of many fairways. I would assume to open them up even more. What a shame. They really helped to make tee shots interesting.

Pace was slow as the Ranger only used 2 of the 3 sides. We had 3 women walking catch up to us near the end of the round. It was a slow 4 1/2hr day. Had they opened the 3rd side, we would have been done in under 3 hr. Come on Mr Ranger, we don't want to worry if we'll finish in daylight when we start at noon

Beautiful weather for January around these parts. The pace of play was very slow on the first nine but opened up good on the second nine, that was because we decided not to follow the three some walking in front of us. So we played the North Course again. Overall the course had a good layout with some rewarding holes and challenging ones. I would do it again.

Not many par 3s. Long and tough course with trees in key areas. Made it tough to see landing spots on fairways.

This course took my ball many times in the fairway. The leaves were too plentiful and would hide the ball on one side. It was cart path only even though it hadn't rained in a month and it is reported that we are currently in a drought. The rough was rough deeper than the ball could be seen unless you were lucky to walk over it. I lost more balls that round than most of the season.

I've played the course for years, but won't be back. Made tee time on GolfNow the night before but was informed when I arrived for round that they no longer participate. Huh? Why was it still on GolfNow. They got us on the north course and the first nine went well, but we could not make the turn because it was logjammed. The starter was rude and would not let us go to the west course even though the first two holes were open. He said, oh well, that's just the way it is. We left after nine. The bag drop guy was also very rude and was in a tirade about people asking which cart to take. I'll spend my money somewhere else. This place really needs some serious customer service training.

This course would be awesome if they used a little weed and feed once in a while and pay attention to the tees and sand traps.

I played South first and it was good from fairways through greens. The West couse fairways are in bad shape with a crust and no grass in many areas. I presumed they have a disease on the fairways.

The tees and fairways are in pretty rough shape. The fairways are pretty hard so you get a lot of roll, unusual for the typically soggy mountain courses. My wife liked the relative flatness of the south and west courses. A nice break from some of the cliffhanging shots you get on many other courses in the area.

Very nice track and completed 18 in 4.5 hours on a day when the course was very busy. Greens and fairways very good for the most part. A few spots in a few fairways the weather has not been kind to. Tremendous value at the golfnow hot rate but according to the pro shop they soon will not be working with the golfnow rates.

Played the West/North combo. The tees and fariwars were average, bare in spots. The greens were very good and though a little slow rolled excellent. they layout was interesting and provided a good mix of holes. I would reccomend the course.

I live close by and always drive by going to work and always see the crew working on the golf course. What an outstanding job they have done at restoring the course after it was not taken care of a couple years ago. My brother drove up from Jacksonville Florida and was impressed with how outstanding all 27 holes were we ended up playing 36 holes and Larry and the staff are first class. If you have not played etowah lately you need to come play again and see an outstanding course!!!!!

This course offers all you want in a round of golf. It has three nine holes, very challenging & a good driving range. It has an excellent dining area, bar & a large area for hosting parties, meetings, receptions etc. It also offers excellent lodging.

I enjoyed playing both the West and the North courses. The North course was more challenging due to the undulating fairways. Greens were in very good shape. Started and played two holes as a single before the threesome in front of me asked me to join them. Two of these golfers were locals and the third was visiting the area for a month. He, like me, had scheduled through golfnow.com. Weather was excellent. I'll be back to play this course!

This is a good course that was allowed to erode. Clearly they have made a commitment to restoring the course to its old glory. Still a way to go, but there are signs everywhere of improved maintenance and investment.

The greens are in excellent condition! Tee boxes are a mixed bag- some where renovated last fall while other still need work.

Overall, a great value.

nice course! also have a driving range and a large practice green and chipping area! beverage cart runs on weekends.

Under new ownership. Plans for improving the course, but it is going to take several years in my opinion

The day I played was the day after our area had received well over an inch of rain, so I was expecting the course to be extremely soggy. However, after the first couple of holes, we did not have any real issues with water. There were a few spots of standing water, but considering the weather the day before, the course had drained exceptionally well. The fairways were starting to green up pretty well also. The greens were still a little bumpy from the spring aerification, but that was really the only real bad mark I would give the course. All in all, for the price we paid to play, I was very pleased with the overall condition of the course, and I look forward to returning to Etowah for another round once the fairways and greens have had time to completely come back to life from the winter dormancy and spring aerification.