The Honors Course

Rankings

Golf Digest:  #31
Golfweek:  #23 Modern

How I got on:  I qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship in 2007.  

I played like garbage during the tournament, but the course was a privilege to play and I've been able to play it a few times since.  As a tribute to amateur golf, the club feels exactly like you'd expect for a Southern golf club.  It will always be one of my favorites due to the circumstances of my first rounds there.  It is a true championship course, and while not very old, the clubhouse, lockers, and cabins (where you can stay on-site) have a throwback feel to them.  

You'll likely miss the driveway to the course on your first visit.  It's in the middle of nowhere outside Chattanooga.  But once you make it down the first 100 yards of nondescript driveway, the trees open up into a perfect plot of land for a course.  

Most of the holes are perfectly memorable.  I do remember teeing off on the first during my opening round of the mid-am, and I'm shocked I made contact.  I think my full arm, no shoulder turn landed in a fairway bunker less than 200 yards off the tee.  But I didn't whiff!  

The greens are lightning quick and do not present many simple putts.  You need to think your way around the course and set yourself up for easier approaches.  And don't miss on the wrong side of the greens.  Most of the course winds through dense trees, with a few that open up a bit.  But the ones that do open up have thick rough or fescue to defend.  Maybe I just didn't have my game (every time I played there), but from the tips it has beaten me down.

I'd recommend a trip to Chattanooga if you can find a host to get on Honors.  Bring some extra balls - there's a lot of fescue, water, trees...I believe I found other trouble, but have blocked the rest out.