The section of the Smoky Mountain Corridor running south from Waynesville through Cherokee to the base of the Plott Balsam range doesn’t get the attention it deserves. The terrain is deeper than the Asheville Basin, the valleys are narrow, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park sits right on the doorstep. Because most golf tourists gravitate toward Asheville or Banner Elk, the tee sheets typically have room for golfers on most weekends.
Consider making the town of Waynesville your base camp as it’s the most practical hub within an easy drive to every course in the area. The historic Waynesville Inn & Golf Club is a natural anchor. Staying on property puts you steps from the first tee and gives you access to a lighted putting green — a genuinely relaxing way to spend the evening before the rest of the weekend.
Begin your weekend on Friday in Waynesville.
Donald Ross designed the original nine at Waynesville Inn & Golf Club in 1926. For decades, the course featured 27 holes across three separate nines: Carolina, Dogwood, and Blue Ridge. A comprehensive Bobby Weed renovation in 2023 restored the Ross-designed Carolina nine while creating a new back nine from the original Dogwood and Blue Ridge loops. The course now reads as a blend of two very different design eras rather than one architect’s vision, and the result is an 18-hole layout that plays tougher than it looks. At 6,515 yards with a slope of 139 across 165 acres, tight hardwood corridors keep you honest off the tee.
The Bobby Weed renovation of a Ross original is no accident: The greens reward players who take their time, so don’t rush them. The small, undulating surfaces reward patience over aggression and this is a good round to arrive a little loose and find your mountain legs.
Overnight guests at the historic resort unlock full member-level access — a privilege typically reserved for the club’s 400+ private members. This includes access to the championship golf course, pristine practice facilities, outdoor pool, and signature 18,000-square-foot, lighted Himalayan-style putting green. Complete your stay with a round on the innovative, 5-hole “Wedge Park” short course. It’s an incredible value for a weekend getaway. Call (828) 564-1567 for more information.
Spend your Saturday at Sequoyah National.
Drive to Sequoyah National Golf Club in Jackson County for the most exhilarating round of the weekend. Robert Trent Jones II’s 2009 design on land owned by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation is the most awarded public-access mountain course in WNC — it’s on Golfweek’s top 50 casino courses list and ranks #15 among public courses in North Carolina in the GolfPass Golfers’ Choice listings.
The layout plays 6,602 yards with a slope of 142, and the numbers don’t fully capture what you’re in for: Tee shots drop hundreds of feet through canyon terrain, forced carries over ravines are a recurring feature, and panoramic views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park appear on nearly every hole.
Book early morning if you can. The topography creates its own wind as the valley floors heat up: Shots that play calm early will fight a crosswind by noon. Don’t skip the range before the round, but know that Sequoyah’s elevation changes make warm-up distances unreliable on the course. If you want to extend the Saturday experience, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort is 10 minutes away. Call (828) 497-3000 for more information.
Finish strong on Sunday at Laurel Ridge.
Sunday’s round at Laurel Ridge Country Club is five minutes from the Waynesville Inn — and plays nothing like it. Bob Cupp’s 1986 bentgrass design is widely considered one of the most challenging mountain courses in WNC, a distinction backed by the Asheville Citizen-Times. At 6,904 yards with a slope of 141, the routing moves through severe mountain terrain with a physicality that catches first-time visitors off guard.
The par-4 12th makes the case immediately with a dramatic drop from the elevated tee box down to the fairway, playing 416 yards from the tips. Blind shots are a recurring feature throughout, and precise iron placement is how locals score well. Visitors who try to overpower the course find it unforgiving.
Outside tee times are available — this is a semi-private club, not a completely private one. Afternoon slots offer the best value, and weekend mornings tend to favor member start times, so plan accordingly. Call (828) 452-0545 for more information.
Consider a bucket-list alternative on Balsam Mountain.
Arnold Palmer called his work at Balsam Mountain Preserve “different from any course I have ever designed,” and Golf Digest ranks it among the top courses in North Carolina. The layout sits at elevations reaching 3,700 feet in Sylva and is one of the highest courses in the eastern United States. Swapping in Balsam for Laurel Ridge — or adding an extra round over the weekend — is an enticing opportunity.
The routing plays 6,824 yards at a demanding slope of 152, and every par-3 plays downhill through terrain that members consider the most challenging and quirky on the course. The par of 70 is not because the course is short, but because the difficulty is built into every hole.
Balsam offers a day on the greens program for outside players: 18 holes, a cart, and access to the Palmer Practice Park, limited to 16 players per day. Inquire early and apply online — spots go fast in peak season. After your round, The Mine Tavern on the property is worth a visit. Call (828) 631-1000 for more information.
At the turn…
Asheville local tees it up — As we previously highlighted, Asheville local David Noto, a golf professional at the Omni Grove Park Inn, qualified for his first USGA national championship. He tees off this week at the 46th U.S. Senior Open Championship at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, running July 2–5. Check out the viewing schedule on The Golf Channel, Peacock, and NBC.
Amateur golf circuit — The Amateur Players Tour (APT) Western North Carolina Chapter offers competitive, handicapped amateur golf tournaments across the region. The APT WNC Chapter runs its summer schedule through August with upcoming events at Kenmure Country Club, Sequoyah National Golf Club, Rumbling Bald, and Bright’s Creek Golf Club.
Perfect 19th hole — After your round, check out Frog Level Brewing at 56 Commerce Street in Waynesville. It’s a working microbrewery in the Historic Frog Level District with creekside beer garden, live music most weekends, and a pub menu that takes the post-round burger seriously.
Playing a hard course cold: How to score on a first visit.
With every first visit to a demanding mountain course, local knowledge beats raw ability: Play for information before you play for score. Laurel Ridge and Balsam Mountain Preserve both reward that patience and punish the opposite. Each is built around a strategic logic you can only learn by being on the property.
The greens break in ways that contradict the visible slope, and the blind shots demand a framework you haven’t built yet. Treat your first few holes as reconnaissance rather than a scoring opportunity. The lessons you bank early are what make the back nine playable.
Play to the fat part of the green — On fast, undulating greens with precise miss zones, the fat part of the green is a birdie putt. Aiming for the flag will often leave you needing a chip instead. Play to the fat part of the green, then putt aggressively once you’re on.
Walk every green before you putt — Your eyes will mislead you on unfamiliar slopes. What you feel underfoot is more reliable than what you read from the fairway. On a course like Laurel Ridge, that extra thirty seconds per hole is the cheapest stroke you’ll save all day.
Find where to miss early and apply it all day — Architects like Bob Cupp and Arnold Palmer don’t vary their green contours at random from hole to hole; they build them around a repeating set of decisions — which side feeds back toward a false front, where the fall line pulls toward a collection area, how the green tilts relative to the approach angle. Identify the pattern early and apply it all day; the same tendency that costs you a bogey on hole 3 will cost you another on hole 15 if you don’t adjust.
Par early isn’t the ceiling — it’s just what patience looks like on a course you haven’t solved yet. The strokes you save by the back nine are the ones you banked by paying attention on the front.
