Island Pointe Golf Club — Local services in Tennessee

Island Pointe is unlike any course I have ever seen with the way it weaves seamlessly into the French Broad River Islands. Arthur Hills took that uniqueness and incorporated it into the golf course. The three islands in the middle of the French Broad River play an integral part in the design and routing of the golf course with holes 3, 4, 5, 15, and 16 sharing the islands. And, while each of the 18 holes at Island Pointe provides its own unique challenge.

Based on its slope and course rating, Island Pointe is the most challenging public golf course in East Tennessee. From the back tees, Island Pointe plays 7,001 yards with a course rating of 74.3 and a slope of 146. Members play from the White Tees (6,223/70.3/137) while the ladies will find Island Pointe enjoyable for the Island Tees (4,873/69.1/122). There are five sets of tees in all so you’re sure to find one that suits your game.

Island Pointe is situated on more than 175 acres with breathtaking views of the Great Smoky Mountains and the French Broad River two features you will become more familiar with as you play the golf course. The ball sits up nicely on the well-manicured Zoysia fairways - often regarded as some of the best in the area –and leads to small, well-contoured mini-Verdi Bermuda greens. This area of East Tennessee is rich with wildlife and it’s not uncommon to see river otters playing on the riverbanks and the occasional bald eagle soaring overhead.

It’s important to get off to a good start at Island Pointe and the first four holes can make or break your round. But not to worry, just take a look at all of the beauty Mother Nature has surrounded you with! The course starts with a modest 365-yard, par 4, with a slight dogleg to the right. The entire hole plays uphill so your second shot will probably require an extra club to reach the green.

Number 2 is another medium-length par 4 and starts with a somewhat blind tee shot up and over a hill with a deep grassy hollow on the right and worse things to the left! Your approach shot is into a shallow green with a steep grassy bank and a trap behind the green. My advice is brains over brawn off the tee.

Number 3 is the course’s first island hole. From the Member Tees, the hole plays 160 yards and is all carried over water. Rocks line the shore leading down to the water with long, gnarly grass between the rocks and the green.

Before your round, warm up on Island Pointe’s full-length driving range where you can hit every club in the bad. There’s also a short game area and a large practice putting green. Island Pointe has some of the most extensive practice facilities in the area.

The ongoing goal of Island Pointe is to help families in East TN and to give golfers a whole new reason to play their golf course to help a variety of special causes. Island Pointe plans to operate as a nonprofit. Course owner Dan Feehan has created a foundation that will raise funds to help battered women, homelessness resulting from addiction, and early childhood development. While this may sound like quite an endeavor, each of these areas has touched Feehan personally through employees and friends. The official launching of the foundation, its name, purpose, and intention will be formally announced in late 2023.

“We are excited to continue to provide an incredible playing experience for all golfers while directing daily proceeds from the golf course operations to helping East TN families. The foundation will not diminish the Island Pointe golf experience in any way or increase the daily fee rate. It offers our golfers a chance to play at a first-rate facility that they know is working to make a significant difference in the community.” We are thrilled to do this for...

If I could give a zero or negative rating I would! In my 47 years I have played a lot of golf. In those years I don't think I have ever felt the need to write a negative review about a golf course. Sure there have been courses that I've played that I felt weren't in the best of shape, but despite that, most rounds I have played in and around the Knoxville area have been enjoyable. However in this instance (yesterday April 11,2020) I never even made it to the first tee before I, and my playing partner, called it quits. First of all, upon arriving we were informed that they were an hour and a half behind schedule. I have NEVER had to wait that long to tee off...EVER. We were told that all the carts were out on the course and so they were having to wait for people to end their rounds before they could give carts to those waiting to start playing. Again, this has NEVER been an issue at other courses. Then in the midst of this pandemic, we were told that we were being paired up with two others, that we didn't know, and who had not actually made a tee time. They just happened to know somebody and were being given special permission I guess. In terms of Covid-19 we were told that we would have to figure out a way to do our social distancing out on the course. My partner protested us being paired up and he was told there was "no other option". It's funny that they post on their site that they are taking extra precautions to ensure everyone's safety, and I saw very little to validate that. They had a guy assisting the starter (some guy with a neon yellow worker vest) that would put a couple of squirts on a rag and pretend to disinfect the carts. This same gentleman was also being very rude to the guests as I witnessed it several times while waiting for almost an hour to begin play. He was smarting off to people and at one point I could not believe what I was hearing. He looked right at two golfers who had begun walking over to a cart, pointed his finger at them, (as if scolding a child), and said "you stop right there, don't you step any closer"! He then said that he was about to spray bleach on their cart and didn't want them to get into it. I can understand that but come on, there had to be a better way to say that. People don't pay good money to be talked to like that! Then at another point, I overheard a conversation (along with about 10 other people due to his obnoxiously loud voice) he was having with a group of young boys about a woman that had moved in with him and how he would tell her to "shut the fk up bch anytime she would try to tell him what to do. The f-bomb was dropped several times. I was standing a good 20-30 feet away and I still could hear every word he was saying. Needless to say, I wasn't very impressed with his ability to bully a woman. Have I dropped a few f-bombs in my life? Sure, but not loud enough for that many people to hear me, and I certainly wouldn't brag about being abusive to a woman. Finally after about 45 minutes of waiting, my friend and I decided to get a tee time elsewhere, which turned out to be a much better experience. They were very accommodating and when we told them about the lack of precautionary measures at River Island/aka Island Pointe they laughed in disbelief that they were still trying to pair people up with strangers. Anyhow sorry for the long review but I feel people need to know what they are getting into before they head to this joke of a golf course. I definitely will...

worse golf experience i’ve ever had. first, they said to even book a teetime on the weekend you had to prepay on the phone. I explain that i will pay for 2 people but we will have 4 players. when we arrive 4 days later they had paired us up with some other two people and the guy behind the desk starts literally hollering at me, saying he was trying to help me. I was explaining we had driven along way to play. had it booked for days. then, when we get to the starter we explain they had sold our other players spots so they was moving a time slot around. he said the guy came to explain it to him. so he proceeds to try to offend me by calling the lady with me my grand daughter. i’m 45 years old. she is 42. it was obvious he was doing it on purpose. then the ranger starts telling us to hurry up on hole 4. when the whole course was oversold and backed up party to party. then follows us from hole to hole. by hole 6 i’m asking for a refund. sprinklers on the greens with no motion sensors, which i feel was done on purpose. so you are putting while getting a shower. they are the only course within along way. the course isn’t in terrible shape and a fun layout. . one par 3 is literally all tees 42 yards away from the flag saying they had damage from a storm.which i understand. even the kid taking cart returns had a bad attitude. you could tell the whole place is a bunch of owners friends and family who can’t get fired. like someone is mad they invested in the place and taken it out on the patrons. we met 4 other groups talking about how rude the ranger is rushing shots, and telling everyone to hurry along. i’ve never posted a review until today. DO NOT RECOMMEND! whole place has terrible attitude. municipal courses in knoxville ran by the city is easier to deal with. We were literally waiting for the course to clear before every shot with the ranger telling us to hurry every shot. I have read through the reviews and it seems like the course likes to give a rebuttal. can’t wait for mine! trust me, every word i said...