Springdale at Cold Mountain

Course is in incredible condition. Have played here several times in the past and it just keeps getting better. Fairways and tee boxes are in great shape and the greens roll true. Tip of the cap to greens crew and staff. New clubhouse and restaurant are very impressive. Can’t wait to play again!

Vacationing in Cherokee so made the hour drive over as I had played the course in the Spring and enjoyed it. Mike in the pro shop is so personable and welcoming to guests. Was invited to play with some regulars (Jack, Don & Harry) who were a lot of fun and made me feel at ease despite them all being better players. Course was in great shape despite the heavy rains with just a few patches of standing water on a couple of fairways but all the greens were dry and well drained although playing a bit slow.

A fun Mountain golf course well-kept, interesting at a times very challenging.

Pros:

This course was in great shape and a very nice layout. The off course amenities were very nice.

Con:

Place to play was ridiculously slow, and I did not see a ranger while on the course.

Played on a Friday afternoon the day before a tournament. It was already busy when I arrived at the course. Pacing on the front nine was ok to slow, pacing on the back was awful. Waiting ten+ minutes on each tee box led to poor play. Saw no sign of or attempts by the Marshals to speed up play. Course was in excellent condition, but an otherwise beautiful day was hampered by the poor pacing and no attempts by marshals to fix.

Pros: fantastic layout & course conditions; the superintendent and staff should be commended. One of my favorite tracts in the western NC area.

Cons: GPS system alerts were over the top interactive, a non-stop sensory overload which couldn’t be turned off or muted. Pace of play was terrible. A 5 hr & 15 minutes round is completely unacceptable, but not surprising when I witnessed a 12-some with 7 carts on the 17 green as I was standing on the 11th tee. To add insult to injury, the GPS system alerted at 6:30pm the carts would shut off, which is rich since we’re 3 groups deep on the 14th tee. The carts started constant, annoying beeping/alerting at 8pm, while we were in the 18th fairway.

The course was in excellent condition the green spotter drew the staff was extremely friendly and helpful

Everything was great! Beautiful day not too crowded. I just want to say that Mike and the rest of the staff couldn’t be nicer. Always friendly and helpful which isn’t always the case when you use GN at places. Will be back again soon!

If you are ever near the Great Smoky Mountains in the western side of North Carolina you must play this course. Gorgeous doesn’t do it justice. Paired up with a guy from Miami. First ones out and it was as if we owned the place. 7:30 and we were done by 11AM. Two different nines. Front side mostly flat in the valley by the road. The back side is up and down mountain golf. Mountain vistas, mountain stream you hear and see, fast green carpet putting surfaces, maintained fairways. 13th hole is called The Spasm, find out for yourself. Go there and play it. If I could have I would have played it again after lunch.

If you ever get to western North Carolina you have to play this course. It’s one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Trust me, it was a pleasure. The front side is far more flat than the back side. The back nine plays up and down through the Great Smoky Mountains. The conditions are private course level, the greens are green carpets and the people there couldn’t have been nicer. I play the gold forward tees now, the slope is still 121 and the blue boys play at 134!!! Hole 13 is called The Spasm. 😂 It’s a test for anyone , but it’s a bucket list must play for sure.

What a beautiful course from tee to greens. Great condition. Fun to play and very challenging. Long course!!

Course is in great shape. Challenging and fun. Top tier in all areas

Such a pleasure to go play at Springdale course! Perfect conditions and such warm feelings getting with people from the club house and restaurant. The layout is giving you all kind of excitement, nice and open holes mixed with some, that requires length and placement in the fairway to get close to the pins. I think the greens are on the slower side... But they roll as they should. Great place!

Springdale golf course was absolutely Beautiful! Great layout, perfect condition, friendly staff and delicious lunch after our round. Plan to go back and stay on site to enjoy playing there a couple more times.

Very challenging and some long par 4's. Helps to have local knowledge and hope to score much better next time.

The course is in incredible shape. I was taking photos on many of the holes. The fairways are rolling and the greens are fantastic. This is a must play if you are in the area. It is a relatively unassuming course but is just so incredible.

I make it up to Springdale once a summer, and its as good as it gets aside from a high end resort course like Harbour Town or Kiawah Island. The course is outstanding, it is in great shape, the layout is awesome, the scenery is beautiful, and the staff is outstanding. If would say that the morning rate of over 100 dollars and 10 dollars for a bag of range balls is a little rich for my blood, but I felt like the $75 I paid for the afternoon rate wasnt a bad deal. The tees and fairways are in near perfect shape. The rough wasnt as high as I remember it being last season, but it was still hard to get down to the ball at times. The greens are outstanding, very firm, and a really good speed. The only negative to the course was the bunkers were pretty wet. But it rained pretty hard for about the first 3 holes I played before the sun came back out. The superintendent and his staff are doing an awesome job. All in all, if you can make the drive up it is well worth a round, especially if you get the afternoon rate. The course is pretty long from the white tees. I'd say 5-6 par 4s are 400 yards or more. However, the par 5s are pretty short. 3 par 3s are short to medium and 1 is long. There is a blended tee set on the scorecard with a combination of some white and some gold tees that I have played before, but today I played the longer white tees. The greens are generally pretty flat with suttle breaks.

The first tee shot is a doozy. 1 is a long hard dogleg right par 4. Its a downhill tee shot, but the dogleg is early and you really need to be able to hit a fade, as a good straight ball goes through the fairway. If you pull it left, forget getting to the green in 2.

2 is a long straight away par 4. About 400 yards, and pretty open.

3 is a medium length par 3 with a long narrow green. The green has a huge ridge in the middle of it, and you need to be on the right section of the green.

4 is a shorter downhill par 4. A small pond takes up the left 1/2 of the fairway, and forces less than driver off the tee unless you want to try to thread the needle.

5 is a shorter par 5 that moves around to the left. It is relatively wide open.

6 is a really tough hole, a long dogleg left par 4. As the hole turns it goes steeply up the hill, and there is a pond on the inside of the dogleg. Its a long way from the white tees to drive it past the pond and take it out of play.

7 is a shorter par 4 but plays straight uphill into a cove. Its pretty open, but plays longer than the distance.

8 is a long par 3 with a very tight landing area. I've played it at nearly 200 yards, but today it was in the 180s. Still a challenging hole.

9 is a cool par 5. A pretty open tee shot, but the fairway narrows as you go and then drops straight off and you cant see where your ball lands on your second shot. A small creek fronts the green about 75 yards out.

10 is another par 5. This one is longer and still pretty open. A good tee shot to the right of the small tree puts you in perfect shape for the uphill turn to the left. You want your layup to be to the right of the fairway.

11 is a medium length par 4 with a downhill tee shot and the creek in front of the green again.

12 is a shorter downhill par 3, but with a pretty tight landing area around the green.

13 is the signature hole, the Springdale Spasm. Very difficult hole, and long from the white tees. You need to take your tee shot over or just left of the fairway bunker. Right of it is gone, and left of it you dont have a shot to get there in 2. Then the hole moves more uphill to the right and gets tighter as it goes. Very tough.

14 is a medium length par 4. At 150 out the hole doglegs hard left, and drops straight downhill.

15 is another longer par 4 and it plays steeply up the hill. Its very open, but the elevation change really makes it long.

16 is a VERY long par 4, but it plays steeply down the hill. A wide fairway you need to be on the left hand side of. The approach is over a creek and waste area to a small landing area around the green.

17 is a shorter par 3, but again, not much room to miss around the green.

18 is a great finisher. Its a shorter par 5, with a downhill tee shot. There is a creek about 100 yards from the green that comes into play on your layup. And the green is very deep, so check your yardage to the flag.

I play this course regularly. Often with folks from out of town. Everyone is impressed with the course, the conditions, and the views. The staff and facilities are excellent. You won’t be disappointed you made the trip.