Butternut Creek GC - Some Quirk Here - Blairsville, Georgia

[Richard Hetzel]

I go down to the Smoky Mountains a few times per year to drive my sports cars on the awesome roads down there. I usually do not take my sticks, this past October I did however. I have driven past this course quite a few times so I thought I would play here after my round at Old Union GC.

Butternut Creek is a municipal course owned by the town of Blairsville and it was designed by Bill Watts. Never heard of the guy. Looks like he designed three courses in Northern Georgia (Sky Valley CC, Butternut Creek, and Innsbruck GC) and three courses in Florida (Lago Mar CC, Davie Golf and CC, and The Senator Course at Shula's golf club). The course opened in 1930, so it's almost 100 years old. Not sure if they have had any renovations/changes over the years there either. It was a fun round.

I only had time to play the front nine on this day. Here are the pics of the front 9:









Next time I am down that way, I'll play the back nine and post the pictures.

[A.G._Crockett]

I lived in GA for 40 years, drove by Butternut many times, but never played it; wish I had.


Out of curiosity, how is Old Union now?  I played there many times, and loved the layout, but I know there have been struggles with conditioning over the years.  Also, I think at one point Denis Griffiths, the GCA of Old Union and a bunch of other good courses in GA, was the owner.  Don’t know if that’s still the case.

[Tim_Weiman]

A couple of the pictures highlight a feature a can’t stand: clearly artificial mounding behind a green. Real turnoff. Looks awful. The holes without it look far better.

[Richard Hetzel]

I lived in GA for 40 years, drove by Butternut many times, but never played it; wish I had.


Out of curiosity, how is Old Union now?  I played there many times, and loved the layout, but I know there have been struggles with conditioning over the years.  Also, I think at one point Denis Griffiths, the GCA of Old Union and a bunch of other good courses in GA, was the owner.  Don’t know if that’s still the case.

I played with a few members and they said that a new superintendent was hired and was doing great things. Many of the bunkers were in the middle of being improved. Conditions were OK for late Fall golf. I do not think Dennis owns the course any longer. Although pretty flat on most holes, the course was fun, but not worth driving out of your way to play. I'll post some pics later this evening of all 18 holes.

[Keith Williams]

Thanks for posting these.  Like A.G., I drove by Butternut a bunch but never stopped to play.  Always thought it was cool just how close the course sits to the center square of Blairsville.


The North Georgia mountains have decent set of diverse and very good (probably none of them qualify as truly great) courses to sample.  Old Toccoa, Old Union and Sky Valley probably lead the pack amongst them.


Okay, you have to spill the beans on the driving...what's the sports car and where all have you taken it?  I am betting you have probably driven through my family's little corner of the mountains in Tellico Plains and the Cherohala Skyway.

[Richard Hetzel]

Thanks for posting these.  Like A.G., I drove by Butternut a bunch but never stopped to play.  Always thought it was cool just how close the course sits to the center square of Blairsville.


The North Georgia mountains have decent set of diverse and very good (probably none of them qualify as truly great) courses to sample.  Old Toccoa, Old Union and Sky Valley probably lead the pack amongst them.


Okay, you have to spill the beans on the driving...what's the sports car and where all have you taken it?  I am betting you have probably driven through my family's little corner of the mountains in Tellico Plains and the Cherohala Skyway.

I'll get Sky Valley in the next time I am down there. I really liked Old Toccoa Farm, a lot.


I typically take one of these two cars, and I have driven pretty much EVERY road in the Smokies, they are that good! If I golf I take the Supra, the Miata does not have all that much room for clubs and golf stuff.





funeral blues by wh auden summary

[A.G._Crockett]

A couple of the pictures highlight a feature a can’t stand: clearly artificial mounding behind a green. Real turnoff. Looks awful. The holes without it look far better.

Tim,
I don’t know this, but it’s possible that the mounds are granite that couldn’t be removed without so much blasting that it would crack every foundation in Blairsville.  I think issues like that come up fairly often in mountain golf courses.


I was a member for 9 years at Crystal Falls, also a Denis Griffiths course not too far from Blairsville.  It’s a very good golf course ( and a GREAT golf-only club, btw) with one hole, the 16th, that’s just a train wreck.  The problem is that it was impossible for Griffiths to do anything else with the hole because of bedrock.  I don’t know if that was in play when Butternut was built, but  Blairsville is a lot farther into the mountains than Crystal Falls.

[Peter Sayegh]

A couple of the pictures highlight a feature a can’t stand: clearly artificial mounding behind a green. Real turnoff. Looks awful. The holes without it look far better.

Tim, are you certain those mounds are clearly artifificial? I wasn't offput by any of the photos.