This course --
course -- in 2005 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Some would say the primary defense of its preservation was lack of governmental funds. So be it.)
It is the first municipal course built in North Carolina, and originally I believe if in Asheville this was an obligatory stop for the hoi polloi keen to make the scene. A Ross design, it opened in 1927.
The back tees play to 6,420, par of 72, although this course is at elevation so all other things being equal it plays a little (3-5 percent?) shorter. Of course, being a Ross design "all other things" are
not equal, as we will be making ascents and descents through the back nine, making some holes play longer than the card and some shorter.
1st hole, 386-yard par 4: you start from an elevated tee, hitting down into the milieu of the front nine: the alluvial plain of the mellifluous Swannanoa River. This hole actually (as well as the 9th and the green of the 8th) sits on the “bank” of the plain.
Approach
Green. Earlier that morning, I played Pinehurst #2. Perhaps because those mental images were freshest, I saw striking similarities between the green complexes of each, in particular Ross’s use of raised greens on the flattish ground of the front nine at Asheville. But you can look at the pictures and judge for yourselves.
The second hole is a 474-yard par 5. Note "cop"-like feature left: it doesn't obscure the view to the -- elevated! -- green, and sadly in this age you just blow your drive right over it.
Approach. It looks like a gentle rise, and it is, but the dropoff to the right is much more severe than appearances suggest, something like a good 8-10 feet.
And look at this (arghh-blurry photo of) green -- huge and contoured!
The 3rd hole -- I ask you, doesn't this look like a full-blooded two-shotter? It did to me. I couldn't believe this was but a 268-yard par 4! How the heck do you pull off a visual trick like that? It must be the lack of any features defining the "end" of the hole.
More visual deception: on approach your view of the green is obscured, but you assume the green and bunker fit together in a standard way...
...only to discover another crowned green!
The 4th hole is a dogleg right, 536-yard par 5, with a stream running down the right side of the hole. The temptation to steer right is great, but the play is to the left.
Approach
4th green. Standard-issue neglect here: many green outlines on the course have devolved into saucer-like patterns. But the contours are still there -- and the slopes. Along with the Grove Park Inn course, this course taught me the difference between slope and contour. Based on my limited experience, a Ross mountain green will not have much contour, but will will have a ton of slope -- and good luck figuring which way. The man was a master "confuser." (Apologies to Chief Decider Bush on that one.)
The 5th hole -- we have reversed course on every hole so far, check out the Google aerial: (I was too lazy to label the holes, but the upper of the two "paths" is the first hole, the lower is the second. The cluster of holes at bottom is the front nine; the "sausage links" up top is the back nine and plays in the mountains.) And Bunkerman, count the bunkers!
The 5th, a dogleg left 414-yard par 4
5 Green
6th, a 169-yard par 3 -- another great green and an example of what Ross was about: this sucker's huge, that's how he made it playable for all (it's a muni) yet a challenge for the better golfer. (BTW the "better golfer" out there tends to be a junior; it's very affordable for kids. Can you imagine, growing up playing on an original Donald Ross, with hugely-sloping greens that'll sweat the starch out of your shorts in a hurry!)
Closer look at 6 green
Still closer; balls give some sense of contour
7th, a 406-yard dogleg right, the number-one handicap hole...
...approach to elevated green...
...that screams "Pinehurst!"
Right-side view of green; look at how high it is, it's Pinehurst #2 high
Interestingly, my first thought was they ought to shave the green sides, they've let maintenance go too far. But did you know that in Richard Mandell's excellent book on Pinehurst he quotes an old-timer who said #2's green complexes were intended NOT to have shaved sides. Ross wanted balls to get caught on those slopes; the idea was to make for highly-challenging chipping. So maybe Asheville got this one right!
8th hole, 190-yard par 3, and we're making our ascent into the mountains.
8 green
9th hole, our first (but not last) taste of a Ross "up and over." 403-yard par 4.
Approach. Note excellent use of "dead ground"
9 green, benched into hillside
Mark