Bill, Holston Hills and The Honors Course are tops in the state - solid 7's in my book. The herd thins quickly thereafter. Remember, Lookout Mountain is in Georgia.
The courses Jimmy mentions are quite good, though I'm hard pressed to assign anything more than a weak 6 to Memphis CC (a great routing of two loops within a boundary loop on a tight site) and Black Creek and strong 5 to the others.
Sewanee benefits from the weak field. I so want to assign it a solid 6 but there are two glaring weaknesses: 1) the shallow 1st green benched into the far side of a dip in the fairway doesn't work for a hole that requires a blind second on a 450 yards opener from the forward tees; and 2) the abundant bunkering around the 8th green is an eyesore but likely intended as a photo opportunity with the new lodge in the background. The excellent principal's nose fairway bunker on that hole is overwhelmed by the greenside bunkers and their presence precludes any short grass around the green - a feature deployed with great affect and effect elsewhere. My approach was one foot short and I had to chop out of the bermuda.
The Bishop deserves great credit for the routing. While the two one-shotters are somewhat redundant as Jimmy notes, they are nonetheless a brilliant use of the two ridge knobs in the routing. The routing also makes great use of the small valley running through the first and second fairways. The half par Hanse exacts on the first hole is brilliantly reciprocated at the 264 yards (from both the tips and forward tees!) fourth. That green - almost a smallish double-plateau, places a premium on the drive's placement. Hanse's greens in general are varied in size, orientation and undulation - plenty of short-game interest while blending seamlessly with the rolling site. Tree clearance is outstanding. Frilly bunkers work surprisingly well with the natural setting, perhaps due to their judicious use - with the exception of the outburst fronting the 8th tee.
The course now features the best green to tee proximity of any course I've played, though the relocation of the golf shop to the far end of the property necessitates a long hike from the 8th green to the 9th tee.
Okay, so it's a tie for 3rd. I get why others might disagree.
More later.
Mike