Back to the Mountains: Brasstown Valley
Brasstown Overview
Brasstown Valley Resort and Spa is a under the radar mountain resort tucked away in the North Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. The resort is located in Young Harris, Georgia and sits just inside the North Carolina border. It is named for Brasstown Bald Mountain, the highest point in Georgia, just a short drive from the property. Outside of that, the most recognizable land mark I could point out is Lake Chatuge which sits just to the North East and turns into the headwater of the Hiawassee River. From inside the perimeter in Atlanta you are looking at roughly a two hour 120 mile drive to the Young Harris area. Outside of a small college nearby, Young Harris, there is not much around the resort which is nice and really helps provide and hold the overall rustic feel of the property. The resort sits on a 503 acre property and was developed as a model to help protect local wilderness areas including trout streams.
Outside of golf, Brasstown is a tranquil North Georgia Mountain getawy with a variety of different outdoor options
Brasstown Valley has a little bit of everything from hiking trails, horse stables, a spa area with a pool, and three on site restaurants. I would recommend Brasstown if you are looking for a relatively low key moderately priced spot to get away tied to a very peaceful escape from big city life of Atlanta or other surrounding metropolitan cities. The interior of the resort is nice, but I would not classify it as a five star resort or high end by any means, which is probably not what they were going for when the resort was built. 102 hotel rooms and a number of on site cottages provide plenty of lodging options. I have been to Brasstown twice and on both occasions and it was not anywhere close to full capacity. Brasstown Valley is not a resort I would come back to year after year, however I did walk away very impressed with their golf course.
The par four 12th is a perfect visual of how open much of the course is, but also provides grand North Georgia mountain views
Course Background and History
The Brasstown Valley golf course was built as part of expansive state funded project that opened in unison with the resort in 1995. The course was designed by Denis Griffiths and is built into the natural mountain beauty and plays to more of a links Scottish style design. I really appreciated this as the course has beautiful mountain backdrops throughout, but is very open and playable for a mountain track. The greens also were in suprisingly good shape and rolled really nice all day. The course comes in with a very respectable ranking 59 on Top 100 Course List for the State of Georgia. Greens fees area very reasonable playing to a 18 hole cost of around $80 which I imagine may fluctuate some based on the time of year and demand. Brasstown has four sets of tees with the Golds playing as the tip at 7,047 (no thanks) with a slope rating of 140. It carries a traditional layout with two par fives and threes on both the front and back nine.
Stand Out Holes
Hole 1: 307 Yards Par 4 (Handicap 11)
The opening hole at Brasstown was one of my favorite holes on the golf course. The hole provide symbolism of the whole course: mountain golf, but very manageable mountain golf. The opening tee shot is on a elevated tee box and requires carry of a ravine, though from the tees I was playing on this day (whites) there is not too much intimidation to clear. The landing area is a nice size and can accommodate some miss off the tee, just don’t go short. Your first tee shot plays as an opposite of the opening tee shot, a elevated green. At only 307 yard from the white tees, the approach shot should be a very comfortable distance. I ended up playing close to 27 holes this day and really enjoyed the chance to play this one twice.
The first hole seen from the practice green provides a great visual of some of the mountain golf holes to come
Hole 11: 440 Yard Par 5 (Handicap 6)
The par five eleventh comes in the midst of a series of relatively open and flat holes for this mountain course. The key call out out on this hole is the five with expansive bunker outline on the second half of the hole. Your approach shot to the green requires carry over a set of large bunkers maybe 125 yards out and then another set in front of the green. One of the marks Griffiths put on this course was building in some very deep bunkers throughout the course, I fortunately did not have to experience too many of of them.
The story on the par five 11th is steer clear of the beach, after all, you are in the mountains
Hole 15 : 464 Yards Par 5 (Handicap 12)
The fifteenth is one of a few holes that probably could be in play for the signature hole on the course and the second par five back nine. The tee shot is a fun, but dangerous one. water lines the entire right side of the hole and comes more into the play the more you try to bite off, don’t go right (whoops). The play off the tee is anywhere middle left side of the hole. The second shot should not bring the water into the play as the hole starts a gentle climb for what should be a manageable approach shot if you managed to stay dry. Big hitters will certainly be going for this green in two, report back.
The par five fifteenth offers risk and reward but also begs question if the risk worth the reward
Key Takeaways
Brasstown is a very solid golf course, one that I would highly recommend an venture back to play again. It’s built into the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains but carriers a overall golfer friendly layout and strays away from typical narrow chutes of mountain courses but also still feels like you are experiencing a round of golf in the mountains at the same time. The greens were also another nice takeaway. There is a great blend and variety of holes with plenty of hazard and playability options to make the golfer think throughout the round. Give this one a go if your in the North Georgia region if you are looking for a great mountain golf course where you won’t lose too many golf balls as some of the others out there. Come for the golf and stay for the mountains, or vice versa
North Georgia mountain views never disappoint