3791 Clubhouse Drive, Conover, North Carolina 28613, US
(828) 459–1125
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About The Rock Barn Country Club & Spa

The Rock Barn Country Club & Spa, set within the foothills of western North Carolina, is part private club, part resort. The playing public has access to the Jackson Course, the Fresh Chef Cafe, lodging, event spaces for weddings/conferences and the spa, which is home to a saltwater pool, indoor and outdoor jacuzzis, saunas and steam rooms. Visitors must stay in a four-bedroom townhome (there are two) or the five-bedroom Lodge for access to the spa and course. Only members can use the tennis and fitness facilities, five other restaurants and the Jones Course, which has hosted the PGA Tour Champions.

Facts

Price Range$$$, $$$$
Property Class★★★★
Year Opened1969
Number of UnitsLess than 100

Amenities & Services

RestaurantsBar, Casual
TennisYes
Fitness CenterYes
Practice FacilityYes
Banquet SpaceYes
SpaYes

Rules

Is the resort pet friendly?No
Is resort stay required for a tee time?No

Golf courses at The Rock Barn Country Club & Spa

Reviews

4.3
636 Reviews (636)
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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

Very Nice Course

Beautiful day and course was in great condition. A couple of fairways were a little narrow, but other that that really liked this course.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Quintessential RTJ

Very challenging course. Stay in the fairway...getting out of the rough makes for some very long holes. Fairway position is everything. Lay ups are often the most prudent shot selection. Greens had been punched the week prior, but not in terrible shape. However, they were expectedly slow and bumpy. This is a great layout. Enjoyed my round.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

Outstanding

WOW. Everything there was outstanding. We had a tee time for the Jackson course, but played Jones course. Course was in perfect shape. Great value.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 8
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
2.0
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

Expected more.

Here's my review of the Jackson Course at Rock Barn. Going to use the "10 scale". Greens: 8-good public golf speed. Fairways:8-they were pretty good except for the 2 holes where it was carts on path. Rough: 1-if you didn't hit the fairway, be ready to go on a hunt. It took this two-some over 3.5 hours to play...not because of bad play or an overcrowded course. The rough hadn't been mowed in weeks!! Bunkers: 0-It was hard for me to believe the level of neglect. Grass in every single bunker. Edges were nonexistent. Extremely disappointing. They were horrible!! Layout: 3-Typical Tom Jackson layout. Great par 3s, decent par 5s, and horrible par 4s. I'm guessing the Jones course is where they spend their time, money, and manpower.

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Extremely Easy
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

Well balanced course with nice greens

It was my first time at this course. I played from the blue tees, and shot an 80 on this Par 71 course (it has an extra par 3, and one less par 4). I did not think the course was overly challenging... it might have been on the easier side, actually - but I was hitting the ball fairly well so I only found trouble a couple of times. On another day my opinion might change! My short game, however, was pretty poor this day, so my score did not reflect how well I was striking the ball.

As for the course itself... It has some well shaped holes, with some water here and there, though not a lot of fairway bunkers that mattered to me (unlike the Bobby Jones course!) - I did find one fairway bunker and one greenside bunker, though. It has some neat "island" type holes... not really islands but well guarded by water. It has some narrow fairways and some wide fairways, and it has two par 3's with big elevation changes (2 clubs off because of the big downslope).

Negatives... hole #14 isn't in very good shape. It's almost all rough (I think it's under repair?) and you can easily lose a ball in it. Hit it straight and watch your drive closely so you don't spend a lot of time hunting for your ball.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 4
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Jackson Course

Greens were in excellent shape. Course trying to overcome winter kill in fairways and some tee boxes. Spending a lot of money to recover.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Nice views

To many roped off areas. You couldn't see the fairways. I didn't think it was as bad as it was. Maybe two months from now I would try it again

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing

Very Nice

Although the course has had winter kill, the staff were up front with the conditions. The course is excellent and I will return to play it. Topping off the course was the friendly staff. Had a chance to interact with one if the groundskeepers and beverage lady "Ashley". Friendly staff make the difference between a good experience and a horrible one.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 8
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

Rock Barn

Fairways torn up from winter kill. In terrible shape. Greens OK.
Wish I had known how bad the conditions were before committing to play there.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Friendliness Fair
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
First Time Playing

Terrible staff

From the cafe to the club GM, all terrible. First hole up the club staff member played a single behind us and rushed us on his "break". The GM got on us on the 18th after driving in the rough....cafe members acted like they didn't want to be there or offer any help. I've played many courses from MN to FL and this is the worst.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Friendliness Poor
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
2.0
Previously Played

Disappointing Day at Rock Barn

We have played numerous times and always enjoy Rock Barn Golf. However, yesterday was a tremendous disappointment. We booked a tee time and paid regular price for a round. We were aware of significant fairway and tee box winter grass kill from our last few visits. We also understand the need for significant resoding and aeration to repair the course. However, we found the majority of most landing areas on fairways unplayable and roped off for ground under repair which had became mud. We. dodged numerous water from many sprinklers, lost balls in sunken mud and dirty clothes from mud and mud splashes. We had a groundsman follow us on most holes waiting and staring making us very uncomfortable as he watered the greens after we finished the hole. He passed us on 18 to water the green just before we reached it to putt. Trying to be understanding we went into the Pro Shop after our round to relate our frustration and asked why we were not told or given a discounted because of such poor conditions. We were told that they were going to start telling people with no concern for our bad experience. I do hope their work improves the course and hope ou next customer service experience improves if we decide to return as we like the course.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once every three months
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Used cart

Beautiful course in good condition

had a great day - not many on the course so able to play all 36 holes (Jackson course and Jones course) - staff very friendly and helpful - can see why this course is a stop on the Senior PGA tour

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 23
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing

Great layout with plenty of "teeth"

I'll preface this review by saying this was my first time playing the Rock Barn Jones course. The staff was great, starting me (a single) on 4 to avoid getting trapped behind a large group of members teeing off on 1 just before my time. The layout requires absolute concentration on most any shot. The contours of the fairways must be used to keep the ball in play and at times away from hazards (hole 16 being a great example). With that said a yardage book is a must for this course. The combination of blind tee shots, severe downhill landing areas, and tee shots that point you in many cases toward danger (see the long par 3 3rd) a golfer playing the Jones Course at Rock Barn for the first time can easily get into trouble. For me I started to play safe after smoking a drive up the right on 6. According to the line you can see from the tee my drive, a slight draw up the right, should have been fine but a lateral hazard actually juts out further than can be seen from the tee. Had a yardage book been provided I probably would have hit 3 wood and hit a mid iron in rather than trying to bomb it with trouble on the right and a short porch left. As for course conditions the waterfall and surrounding foliage are beautiful back drops but after a tough winter many of the fairways are under repair due to winter kill. While the course is still totally playable expect a few hard bounces and big hops. The greens were immaculate and IMO were just on the edge of being considered "glassy" making putting a challenge but with a chance for a mid handicapper to make some putts. Also the little homage to Augusta on 16 and 17 is a cool and well done touch. Great course overall.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

Beautiful Course

Staff was very friendly and provide a very relaxed experience. The course is truly stunning. They do have some issues with some significant dead spots in the fairways. Greens were in excellent shape, just a bit and I do mean just a bit slower than I anticipated. I will make the long drive again soon based off of this experience.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 40
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

Shot Makers Course

A fun course to stay within yourself and see how good you really are at the game we love. Left the driver in the bag most of the round, yes I played it forward at the white tee's, I like to see the course the first time through. It became a shot makers course. Elevated tee to the end of the fairway, next shot over the water to a layup, pitching wedge in to the left pin. Beautiful scenery, a waterfall becomes a crossroads area shared with at least four holes. Sometimes I found the signage to be lacking, "which way to the next hole?" Course conditions were great, clean, well kept. Greens were in great shape. All in all a very nice course to enjoy.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great Course

A couple of minor issues in the fairway, but an amazing layout. I will be back!!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Jones course - still a little winter kill but otherwise great

great course. Greens were near championship condition. Bunkers smooth and consistent. Some remaining winter kill in the fairways but much better Han many other Nc courses these days. Definite one I would repeat.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Rock Barn Jones

Great course with natural setting. Plays long from the blue tees at 6500+ yards, with some challenging par 4s. Bent grass greens are fantastic.
Food in the clubhouse restaurant was very good too.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Nice course but fairways need word

First time playing the course it a great layout that makes you think about your shots. I am not sure if the sell yardage books in the club house but if they do I will be picking one up next time. The signage could be better need to add some arrow to help navigate around. The fairways need some work but the greens were near prefect. The pace of play was great never was had to wait and was never pushed.

Conditions Fair
Value Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

Fun lay out

Good greens , collars and fairways have lots of winter kill

Conditions Average
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
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