PINEHURST has engendered more than 600 courses in the state

  in the mountains

The western region of North Carolina is dominated by two mountain ranges from the Appalachian Chain. Some names are familiar (Sugar or Grandfather Mountain), some promise adventure (Roaring Gap or Chimney Rock) but one, Mount Mitchell, is the highest point east of the Rockies over the Mississippi. Some other have Indian names remembering that this country is homeland of the Cherokees where they have their reservation. In the heart of the Smoky Mountains, the Cherokee Museum and the old village deserve a visit: it is a good reminder of Native Americans history.

Driving all along the Blue Ridge Parkway offers the opportunity to discover the real immensity of the Appalachians, from peak to peak, with breathtaking viewpoints over waterfalls flowing in whitewater rivers slaloming into the valleys. Unforgettable.

Asheville is the most important city of this country and the Biltmore House with his 250-room château and his winery remains the largest private residence in America. Chimney Rock and its spectacular 75-mile views is one the most visited park in the States. The death scene of the Last of the Mohicans took place along the nearby Hickory Nut waterfalls.

In this country, called "our backyard" by local people, golfers can find more than a hundred of courses scattered on the mountain slopes, along the rivers and the lakes, in the valleys…


- The Mount Mitchell and its golf course

Mount Mitchell Golf Club at Burnsville is certainly the most representative of these mountain courses. Spectacular views, roaring river, bushes of flowers and in October, the beginning of the Indian summer colors… But closed from November to March.
Located at Burnsville in a valley at an elevation of 5,000 feet below the majestic peak of Mount Mitchell, the course is surprisingly mostly flat. apart from a few of the last holes, which slalom on the hills under the trees. This course is one of Golf Digest's four star places to play in 1998 and North Carolina magazine top 10 public courses in 1998. The signature hole is the par-4 n°14th where the second shot has to carry the South Toe River. The slope is 141.

Views of 6,684 feet high Mount Mitchell are spectacular from many different holes but particularly from the terrace of the club-house where you exceptionally can get wine and spirit in this dry county. So you can stay in the local private owned houses opening their windows over the course and the peak. But when the club-house restaurant is closed for diner, buy your drinks at the bar before going to get your food at the next door to a very friendly German restaurant… which serves only nonalcoholic beer.

On the way to or back from Mount Mitchell, there are different ways. If you have time take a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy the landscape and the multiple secrets of life in the undergrowth.

The great Sequoyah, Indians' alphabet inventor, and the Cherokee"s Museum

Mount Mitchell and the terrace on the golf coursei

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