This was the first time I’ve ever played this course and think this is a good track overall but it has it’s issues.
The staff were all nice and very professional. The practice area is in good condition, both putting and driving range. A bucket of large balls is 6 bucks, which you hit off a grass range. The course isn’t very long but does make up for difficulty elsewhere like challenging greens, water, and narrower fairways.
The course has a fun layout, on both front and back 9s, however, I do prefer the back, which is more challenging as well. There’s also something Ive never seen on a golf course before, an old tiny graveyard. It’s not really in play, but there’s some old graves there that were fun to look at while we were waiting for the fairway to clear.
Fairways, rough and greens on the course have been maintained well, however, the greens were some of the gnarliest I’ve played on in the Knoxville area or anywhere for that matter.
“Wait, you just said they were well maintained?”
Let me explain, I can tell the greens are maintained well by the staff, there’s no doubt about it. However, there must be something wrong with the patrons because I have genuinely never seen so many unfixed ball marks on greens in my entire life.
That’s a massive claim, I know, but it’s the truth. Almost every green we came across, except the tough to hit greens (of course) was riddle with ball marks. It looked like a WW1 no mans land on some holes and would truly effect putts.
I fixed my own and a few of the other worst looking marks in my area. When I did, the green looked to recover fine. So it’s not the green itself that’s the issue, it’s the patrons not fixing them.
There were some other issues around etiquette as well. Several different groups of very loud patrons that seemed to be unaware that others were playing on the hole right next to them.
Of course, every once in a while that just happens, it’s golf. Someone drains a long putt or something. But this wasn’t excitement, it was just people unaware of golf etiquette. It seemed to happen on every 3rd hole.
My last issue around etiquette was the lack of raking bunkers or fixing divots. None of the bunkers I saw, despite having rakes in all of them, were raked out after someone played through it. A picture is attached of one such issue I encountered when my ball landed in someone’s deep footprint. Not just a standard print, but someone really left a major foot hole and just thought, “who cares”.
Our play time was rough, and took almost 5 hours as well. However, this time of year frost delays can happen, so I can’t blame the course for that. Perhaps it’s better in different times of the year, but I did want to mention that.
Overall, it’s a decent course that I wish I could recommend, but the issues caused by patrons make it not worth playing right now. Idk how you teach your patrons basic etiquette for repairing ball marks, replacing divots, raking bunkers and watching the volume they speak at, but if they get that sorted, I can see myself coming back one day.
Maybe they add a marshal or two to remind people about those basics throughout the course and call offenders out when they cause issues?
3 months ago
My son, Carter, went fishing with the cub scouts on Saturday! He didn't catch anything, but he had a great time! Also, he is selling popcorn if anyone is interested!!
5 months ago
Friendly staff. Excellent greens even though they had been punched a week and half earlier. Some fairways had repair areas but then again this is September. The rates are also very affordable. (No Photos).
5 months ago
Nice course, one of the nicer public courses in Knoxville. Fairly challenging layout, I've played 4 or 5 times now and it's usually in pretty good condition overall.
5 months ago
Good little golf course. However one rude employee can ruin a place! When a twosome skips one hole to get in front of two foursomes to speed up play for basically everyone, it’s not a good idea to give them an unnecessary lecture and interrupt their golf game. This cocky employee has now cost Ruggles 200-400 dollars a week! I understand that is just a drop in the pan, but I will never be back again!
6 months ago
