Roaring Gap Club and Highlands CC, NC, USA

The stunning view from the 5th tee at Highlands captures the charm of mountain golf.

Located more than a three hour drive from one another in the western half of North Carolina, the Roaring Gap Club and Highlands Country Club still have much in common. Each course was designed in the 1920s by Donald Ross to provide a place for relaxation during the summer's heat for its wealthy members. Both are located well above sea level and yet measure under 6,300 yards. While neither was ever intended to be a 'championship' course, they both remain as popular and fun to play today as when they originally opened.

The golf course at Roaring Gap was built first in 1925 and was driven by a group of investors from Winston- Salem who weren't profit driven as much as they were interested in creating a relaxing place for their friends to gather in an invigorating climate. Indeed, though Leonard Tufts was instrumental in getting Ross involved and in assisting in the early development of this retreat, he withdrew his involvement in mid 1929 when it became evident that the social aspects were to outweigh the economic benefits.

In typical Ross fashion, the course is relatively wide off the tee  and for the umpteenth time, he chose to defend par at the green. However, as this was meant to be a retreat for their friends,  the interior green contouring is not but so elaborate. This fact is exacerbated today because the greens have shrunk in size by as much as 20% and are now largely presented as ovals, which is certainly not how Ross drew the greens nor how Hatch built them. Still, the tilt of the greens, especially the ones located on knolls like the 7th, 9th, or hollows like the 12th and 16th, are an easy three putt waiting to happen.  

Ironically, Ross's instructions from the founders of building a fun, relaxing course is rarely issued today by many owners/developers. Rather, they are more likely to instruct the architect 'to build us a championship course that will be ranked in the Top 100 the day it opens.' Such misguided orders lead to 7,000 yard, par 72 courses ill-suited to both their property and their potential members.

The bunkerless 11th hole at Roaring Gap is an example of Ross using the terrain in lieu of bunkers.

Roaring Gap is a succession of fine holes, save for the two end holes (the 280 yard uphill 9th is saved by a ingenious green and the 18th is a 230 yard one shotter of greater difficulty than merit). Ross uses the slope of the terrain well both in the fairway and by the greens and a flatlander is going to struggle during his first few rounds as the course requires some getting to know. When you combine the uncertainty of the lie with the small 4000 square feet greens, the golfer may not hit quite as many greens as he would normally expect on a 6,200 yard course.

Taken from behind the 14th green, Roaring Gap features less treelined fairways than at Highlands.
The brown fescue rough provides some excellent texture to Roaring Gap. This green
is typical of what to expect: small, oval, pitched from back to front, and no
extraneous mounding to 'frame' the approach shot.

As at Holston Hills, a highlight of playing Roaring Gap is once again seeing Ross's great penchant for locating natural green sites:  the wonderful three shot 7th and 11th greens on top of dramatic plateaus, the 12th green perfectly placed in a saddle, the three shot 16th green located in a dell, and the famed 17th green perched on the edge of a bluff with views into the valley below.

The graceful placement of the 13th green complex looks as if it has been there forever.

Holes to Note at Roaring Gap:

4th hole, 400 yards;

Another perfect horizon green - the 4th at Roaring Gap. The deep green side bunkers
are below the surface of the green and are out of sight but not out of mind.

The picture perfect clubhouse at Roaring Gap is found in between today's 4th green and 5th tee.

6th hole, 145 yards; Described by one well travelled golfer as a volcano green complex (as pictured below), the construction of this green site is certainly unique within Ross's design career. As at Rye, the second shot on this hole is often the most important one!

The golfer walks toward the hard to hit 6th green with
the 7th fairway stretching out in the distance.

7th hole, 525 yards; Ross located the fairway in between a hill on the right and a creek on the left. Assuming that the golfer can avoid either obstacle on his first two shots, he is left with a pitch to an elevated plateau green that is tilted markedly from back to front. In many ways, this hole captures the essence of the course's design: plenty of room off the tee with ever tightening shot requirements thereafter to the point where even the best of golfer will drop a shot if he gets careless with his ball placement around the green.

10th hole, 395 yards; Roaring Gap is a wonderful walking course, with no real hilliness to speak of save for the three hole stretch from 10-12 which features the most topography of the property. In the case of the 10th, the green

The obvious task at hand on the approach to the 10th is to avoid the deep greenside bunker.
The less obvious challenge is to make sure one's ball stays below the day's hole location.
The green follows the flow of the land, making it extremely quick from back to front.

As seen from behind the green, the 10th plunges down the hill. The ornamental trees
along the right of the fairway should be removed.

12th hole, 350 yards; Once the golfer has successfully played the dramatic tee shot from the elevated tee, he may be lulled to sleep when he sees the innocuous green, which lies seemingly defenseless in its own saddle. However, the back to front tilt of the land (and green) is such that any ball that goes fractionally beyond the hole location is a genuine struggle to get down in two shots. 

How perfectly integrated into its surrounds is the 12th green?

16th hole, 510 yards; The clever green placement in a natural dell area makes the hole. Golfers going for the green in two - or those who get in trouble along the way - face a blind shot into the green. As with the 5th green, the golfer must use the surrounding slopes to work the ball in toward the hole. Learning how to judge such approaches is something that the golfer will never tire of trying.

17th hole, 340 yards; A hole of great strategic value, with a fairway bunker and out of bounds right and a serpentine greenside bunker left that then wraps in front of the green. The ideal tee shot must flirt with the trouble down the right in order to give the golfer a clean look down the green. A 'safe' tee shot to the left leaves a trickier approach over the serpentine bunker.

The 17th green is on the edge of a bluff, from where it is 1,000 feet into the valley below,
and is protected on its left side by the sepentine bunker pictured above.

The undeniable charm of mountain golf is captured in the photograph of the 17th green above.

Without a single par four longer than 400 yards, Roaring Gap is not 'great' by modern definitions but that may signify that such definitions need re-visiting more than anything else. The tilted greens remain swift thanks to the mountain climate but don't approach the level of sophistication that Ross demonstrated at such courses as Wannamoisett or Salem. Still, all in all, Roaring Gap is just what the founders envisaged - an engaging course for all to enjoy. Too bad more owners don't allow today's architects to worry less about distance and difficulty and focus more on fun and charm.

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