Mt Mitchell Golf Club — Attraction in North Carolina

With a name like Mount Mitchell Golf Club and a location in the mountainous terrain of Western North Carolina, you’d expect the golf course to have a tremendous amount of elevation change. Although this is not the case, the Mount Mitchell Golf Club is a fantastic facility with wonderful views. The Mount Mitchell Golf Club opens for play in April and closes sometime during the month of November, depending on the weather. The course has received a 4 ½ star rating by Golf Digest’s “Places to Play.” Golfweek Magazine ranked Mount Mitchell Golf Club #11 in 2016 – NC “Best in State.”

The golf course is the only U.S. property designed by English golf architect Fred Hawtree. The design takes advantage of a relatively flat piece of property located near the bottom of the mountain and is surrounded on three sides by the Pisgah National Forest. It is Bentgrass from tee to green with no blind shots and mountain views that are tough to beat. The South Toe River meanders its way throughout the course and can come into play on about 11 holes. The river also offers some of the best trout fishing in the state.

Although there isn’t a whole lot of elevation change on the front nine, it’s not without its share of trouble. Many of the holes are tree lined, placing a premium n accuracy, especially off the tee. There’s a lot more movement on the back nine, starting with the short (330 yards from the White tees) par 4 10th hole, which plays uphill, followed by the short (125 yard) par 3 11th, which plays downhill and at least a half-club shorter.

The next three holes are the three toughest holes on the inward nine. The long par 5, 12th hole is the second-best hole on the course. This tree lined dogleg left requires straight tee and layup shots, followed by a precise approach shot over two front bunkers to a long narrow green. Thirteen is a 410-yard, par 4 with a slight dogleg left. Play it down the right side and avoid the fairway bunker and you’ll have the best angle in to a well-protected and deep green. This gets you ready for the toughest hole on the entire layout, a 420-yard par 4 that doglegs to the left and requires an approach shot over the South Toe River, which crosses the fairway about 100 yards shy of the green. The putting surface is protected in front on either side by sand as well.

As you cross the bridge to the green on the par 3, 15th hole, look over the side and you’ll probably see several trophy-worthy trout. Fish food is available at the snack bar and when you throw a little to them, you’ll witness a feeding frenzy similar to a Best Buy sale on Black Friday. Just don’t set your hopes on taking it home and fixing it for dinner; save your appetite for a savory entrée at Hawtree’s Pub.

Named in reverence of the course’s designer, Hawtree’s Pub is open Tuesday – Saturday for dinner. Chef Stuart Jensen and his staff serve up a menu that is not your typical clubhouse fare; it’s more of a full-blown, fine dining restaurant, with all kinds of steak, poultry and seafood dishes. Prime Rib is served on Friday and Saturday nights. Stuart even puts his personal touch on such dishes as his famous Taco Salad.

There’s plenty to do at Mount Mitchell Golf Club besides golf. The stream that meanders through the course has some of the best trout fishing in North Carolina. There are also hiking trails that offer some magnificent views within the Pisgah National Forest as well as horseback riding nearby. Mount Mitchell has become much more than a golf club, as can be seen by the new line of hats for sale in the pro shop, proclaiming the facility “Mt. Mitchell Golf and Fish Club.”

Mount Mitchell Golf Club offers some incredible stay and play packages for 2019. Two or more golfers can arrive on Sunday - Thursday, play that day, spend the night in one of Mount Mitchell’s condo rentals and play a second round the following day for $125; $139 if you want to do it over a weekend.

If you’re looking to get away for a great golf vacation with limited interruptions, consider the Mount Mitchell...

For decades this course was immaculate…the owner kept it perfect. Then once ownership changed (his son I think) it wasn’t properly maintained for numerous years and conditions declined greatly. Course was purchased approx 20 months ago and new owners (Asheville) are attempting to slowly revive the place.

Membership prices are now laughably ridiculous … as much, or even higher than the high-end country clubs with top notch facilities thru-out the piedmont of NC & SC. (ie. Rock Barn CC in Newton) As for the course itself, aside from some coastal courses I have never played on softer fairways than these, which is primarily due to years of NO CART traffic as prior owners never allow them on the fairways! Generally conditions here are wet/often soggy on many fairways as its lowland near creeks. It was a pure pleasure to experience this fairway grass (even though full of weed ) as most courses today are rock-hard & worn from golf carts being unrestricted! As is, the course fees are WAY over-priced at $89. Laughably over-priced actually! This summer for example Green Fees here were like $10 more than Grandover Resort which is immaculate, with concrete cart paths, Covered Bridges at creeks, and nice Bathhouses on each 9. And fees here were $15 more than Rock Barn Country Club (where Senior Tour Tourneys have been held). Even Membership fees here are ridiculous & equal to the above mentioned Clubs. 🙄

I can’t recommend Mt Mitchell since the sand traps are hard as a rock, little sand and the soft greens shaggy. I really do like the place however its a $55 tops (weekend rates) golf course.

I’ll wrap this up by saying… if you are a good to very good golfer you will NOT enjoy this place, but folks who can’t break 95 on a good day, or retired Seniors...

I recently visited the area for a golf retreat with 2 of my best friends and my 21 year old son. He's in college and I wanted to make his 21'st birthday memorable. We rented an Airbnb cabin for a weekend male bonding and golf. We had an 11 am tee time and after paying our green fees were were greeted by the field marshall. He asked if we'd ever played the course. Since we told him that it was our first time, he was happy to give us the cliff notes of the course. He also told us the history of the course which was also cool to learn about. The course is cart path only all the time. This is the first course I've ever played that is cart path only all the time. I have never experienced fairway like this. It's like hitting your ball off silky butter. I was hitting green all day, and that's not normal for me. I have to think that it had a lot to do with the condition of the fairway. The course was more challenging than I'm used to, with sand traps strategically place for difficulty. The streams that ran through the course on seemingly every hole weren't really a problem unless you had an unruly slice which one of my mates did. It's as if the stream just followed you around to enhance your scenic experience. My son beat me for the first time and I couldn't have been prouder. We take some kind of men's trip every year. This by far tops them all and this beautiful course played a big part. I can't...