Each June, Golfweek publishes its ranking of the best modern golf courses in America, defined as any course built in 1960 or later. This year, Western North Carolina punched well above its weight, with four courses from the region earning a spot on the list — placing them in elite company alongside celebrated venues like Friar’s Head and Whistling Straits. Three of these four WNC courses came from the same hand: That of pioneering modern architect Tom Fazio, who spent years living and working in our mountains. (Fazio had an impressive showing overall with 23 courses on the list, including Shadow Creek and Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course.)

Modern golf courses began to emerge in the mid-to-late 20th century as heavy earthmoving machinery and advanced engineering techniques allowed architects to break free from the constraints of natural topography, shifting from the traditional lay-of-the-land approach toward highly sculpted, intentional landscapes. This technological evolution radically impacted mountain courses, enabling designers to transform jagged, erosion-prone peaks and steep ravines into playable layouts by utilizing massive cut-and-fill operations, subterranean drainage networks, and cart-centric routing. By artfully blasting rock faces and carving terraced, benched fairways out of the mountainside, modern design softened severe uneven lies and blind shots, creating highly playable platforms that safely frame dramatic targets.

Highlands Plateau · Private

Tom Fazio opened Wade Hampton in 1987, tucked within a pair of sheltered valleys nearly 3,500 feet above sea level outside Cashiers. What distinguishes Fazio’s work here from his other mountain projects — and from modern mountain design more broadly — is an unusual degree of deference to the land. He avoided the blasting, benching, and heavy earthmoving that characterize so many courses of the era, instead threading the 7,154-yard layout through existing streams, forest clearings, and rolling meadows, allowing the terrain to dictate the routing rather than the other way around. The result feels less built than discovered.

The par-3s are the holes that linger in the memory, particularly the 8th, where the tee shot descends to a green tucked beside a mountain stream and framed by native plantings and lichen-covered boulders. No stranger to accolades, Wade Hampton currently sits #27 in Golf Digest’s national rankings and #1 in North Carolina. Guest access strictly requires a member connection, placing it among the most exclusive tee times in the Southeast.

Highlands Plateau · Private

Whereas Fazio exercised restraint at Wade Hampton, he chose ambition at Mountaintop: He blasted the layout from solid rock, and the evidence is everywhere. The par-4 sixth plays alongside a sheer 30-foot granite wall, the opening tee shot plunges 100 feet, and six holes play over the deep gorge cut by Hurricane Creek. A textbook example of modern course building techniques, the course opened in 2006 and plays as a par 70 at nearly 7,100 yards; the difficulty is built into every inch of the terrain. Private membership only.

High Country · Private

Ellis Maples’ stunning Championship Course opened in 1968 and plays to 7,010 yards at the foot of Grandfather Mountain in Linville. The course occupies a wooded valley between two ridgelines, with fairways tucked so deeply into the forest that the layout has an almost sequestered feel. It has appeared on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Courses list multiple times and is ranked by the NC Golf Panel as the second-best course in the state, behind only Pinehurst No. 2. Bobby Weed Golf Design has more recently provided ongoing renovation and improvement guidance to the club, with a significant phase completed in 2016. Private membership required.

Hendersonville Plateau · Private

Tom Fazio’s 1991 design for Champion Hills in Hendersonville was once his home course — he lived in town and the affection shows. The layout measures just over 6,500 yards from the tips, a number that undersells it considerably: A course rating of 71.7 and slope of 144 tell the truer story. Working with 500-plus acres of ridges, ravines, and mountain streams, Fazio solved the central puzzle of highland design — how to give golfers level footing on terrain that wants to tip them sideways — by pulling ridges down and filling hollows to create stable playing platforms throughout. Fourteen of eighteen holes play predominantly downhill, making the course feel more generous than the scorecard suggests, right up until it doesn’t. Golf Digest ranks it the No. 1 year-round course in Western North Carolina. The par-3s are the great equalizer — effective yardage can swing dramatically depending on the drop to the green.

On a classic Donald Ross course, understanding the greens is straightforward: Ross found natural plateaus, crowned them slightly, and let the terrain do the rest. As a result, most classic greens have a dominant, consistent break. On a modern mountain course, greens are often heavily contoured in ways that betray the dominant slope of the surrounding topography. Modern architects use these contours to determine where you can — and can’t — miss. Unlike classic greens, these modern greens have been manufactured; you will need to look for clues that reveal where to leave your approach.

Spend time on the practice green reading manufactured slope and use this time to understand flat collection areas and dangerous fall-off zones. On the course, aim your approach shot away from severe slopes and toward the safest tier. Remember that leaving your ball underneath the hole — even if it means a longer putt — is almost always better than chasing a tight pin and trickling off the green. By understanding the architect’s blueprint, you can place your approach exactly where the designer intended for you to score.