Bear Trace Golf Trail

Crossville to Harrison to Winchester to Henderson, TN
(In more roundabout terms, Knoxville to Chattanooga to Memphis)

www.beartrace.com; www.tngolftrail.net

Golf Digest, 3/12

T&L Golf

Bear Trace TENNESSEE, T&L Golf

THE COURSES  The trail's name combines Jack Nicklaus's nickname with Natchez Trace, a historic thoroughfare blazed by early settlers. Five housing-free Nicklaus-designed courses, each tucked away in a lovely state park, opened between 1998 and 2001. Walker-friendly layouts are playable from forward tees but have plenty of muscle from the tips. A rustic log clubhouse with a green tin roof anchors each facility. There are 6 classic area courses scattered through 3 area codes that are part of the trail, but the Must-plays are the Bear Trace courses at Harrison Bay, Chickasaw, and Ross Creek Landing. Ross Creek Landing is hands-down the best public course in the state.

LODGING  At Ross Creek Landing, the Bear Inn B&B has spacious rooms. At other locations, national hotel chains are the best option.

SAMPLE TRIP  Four weeknights (Bear Inn, LaQuinta, Jameson Inn) and five rounds (one at each course), including daily continental breakfast: $439 total*

BOTTOM LINE  Solid courses, superb bass fishing at Harrison Bay and Tims Ford, great barbecue and plenty of C&W music on the car radio.

Away Game:  Tennessee

Happy Trails

By Peter Finch, Golf Digest, March 2012
Photos By Michael Clemmer

'I think you've made a mistake," my friend Rob told the woman behind the counter at the Bear Trace course at Tims Ford in Winchester, Tenn. He was buying breakfast for both of us--two messy egg-cheese-bacon-biscuit things, two large coffees and two 20-ounce bottles of water--and the total was just $10.20.

"Did you forget to charge us for something?"

"Nah, honey," she said. "I added it up all right."

The price of just about everything will surprise city slickers in this part of the country. Our three-day road trip took us to five high-quality golf courses in northern Alabama and south-central Tennessee, none of which charged us more than $45 to play. If you're looking for value in golf, not to mention breakfast, this is where it lives. 

Head for the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg. Fans of the famous whiskey will get a kick out of the free 75-minute distillery tour, though not the kind of kick they might be expecting. The only drinks available for tasting after your tour are lemonade and iced tea, as the company is based in a "dry" county. (The gift shop does sell bottles of Jack Daniel's.)

Be sure to leave a little time to explore Lynchburg's kitschy but energetic little downtown, the site of multiple gift shops and several funky restaurants. The Rebel Yell cheeseburger ($4.50) at NeNe's Diner lives up to its name, smothered in a spicy blend of habanero, chipotle and NeNe's special sauce.

The Bear Trace course at Tims Ford State Park is less than half an hour away, putting it squarely in the middle of nowhere. "I have to give out a lot of directions," concedes head professional Matt Daniels. The course is worth finding. Designed by Jack Nicklaus as part of the Tennessee Golf Trail--the state's sort-of answer to Alabama's RTJ Trail--it was built on a peninsula in the Tims Ford Reservoir. Most of the holes adjoin the water and, though it's seldom in play, it makes for a picturesque round.

The breakfast biscuit isn't half bad, either.
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Where To Grub:  BBQ  Memphis is one of the four best cities for barbeque in the region that invented it, so when in Rome… Best known as the dry rub barbeque capital (meaning no sauce; the meat is rubbed with a blend of spices during slow-cooking to highlight the natural juices). Travel Channel and local PGA Champ Shawn Micheel say Rendezvous Ribs is a Memphis dry rub tradition so good, they do a brisk website/mail order business with former locals (www.hogsfly.com). If you still prefer your ribs wet, Food Network and Travel Channel both like the tasty, tangy sweet sauce at Corky's BBQ (www.corkysbbq.com, 175 Peabody Pl, 5259 Poplar Ave, and 1740 N Germantown Pkwy in Cordova TN) and it's one of my favorites as well. Bobby Flay digs Central BBQ. Southern Living magazine says locals love Cybill Shepard's fave Neely's Interstate Bar-B-Que, try the BBQ spaghetti (?!). Golf Digest says the Whole Hog Cafe, just over the river in Arkansas, is even better than Rendezvous (their pulled pork won the 2002 Memphis In May competition), with 6 kinds of sauces. Or hit Cozy Corner BBQ or The Bar-B-Q Shop. Personally, I'll take (now former) fat boy John Daly's recommendation for A&R BBQ (http://aandrbbq.com/, 1802 Elvis Presley Blvd, 901-774-7444) over all the others myself.

In Lexington, hit Scott’s Bar-B-Que. Smoke rings are evident in these perfect pulled-pork sandwiches, which are topped with carrot-flecked slaw and suffused with a medium-hot sauce. Dinner for two $20.

In Henderson, try Siler’s Old-Time Bar-B-Que. The most recent in a succession of barbecue establishments cooking whole hogs on this site. Ask for rib meat, pit meat, or tenderloin if you prefer. Lunch for two $15.

Fat Guy Note: If you get anywhere near the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, those crazy Vols were named to Playboy's Top 10 Party Schools in the country for 2006… Best 2 AM Eats: Taken with the grain of salt it deserves (as a transplant Philadelphian), Playboy recommends the cheesesteak at Gus' Good Times Deli.