Cashiers: A Cool Place to Relax and Play Golf

By JAY ALLRED

North Carolinians don’t know what they’re missing.

Cashiers, located in a quiet corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains in southwestern North Carolina, is actually visited more by golfers and tourists from four other states than it is by Tar Heels.

Located just four hours from the Triad, Cashiers sits at 3,500 feet in the valley surrounded by the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And golf is just part of the attraction. There are resorts, lodges, country inns, and bed and breakfast facilities. More than 90 shops are available for those looking for antiques, mountain crafts and apparel.

Visitors can play golf or tennis, hike a mountain trail, or fish a stream for trout and lakes for bass. There’s whitewater rafting and plenty of exploring. Four states can be seen from Chimney Top Mountain.

The beauty of the Cashiers area is enhanced by a myriad of 19 scenic waterfalls, including the king of them all, Whitewater Falls, the tallest in eastern America. Whitewater has an upper cascade of 411 feet and a total drop of 800 feet. Another scenic sight is Whiteside Mountain, which has the highest sheer face in the entire Appalachian chain.

High Hampton has a distinguished history going back more than a century. It was originally the summer home of General Wade Hampton and his family of South Carolina. High Hampton Inn celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. E. Lyndon McKee of Sylva, the father of the present owner, William D. McKee, founded the inn.

The tradition of the inn’s original founder flourishes today. High Hampton is a place where time seems to stand still. The staff readily admits that the rustic inn doesn’t have TVs or phones in the rooms. But 70 percent of the guests return annually, often picking out a specific room they enjoy year after year.

High Hampton is based on a 1,400-acre mountain estate at the foot of Rock Mountain and Chimney Top Mountain. During June, July and August the resort offers a popular kids’ club. A private 35-acre lake is a center of activity for guests. Swimming, sailing, canoeing, rowing, and pedal boating are popular. Guests can fish for rainbow trout, bass and bream. The picturesque lake glistens beside the par-3 eighth green of the golf course. This backdrop is one of the most photographed and painted backdrops in the world. Many rooms at High Hampton feature paintings guests have done of the eighth hole and given to the resort.

The original golf course consisted of 11 holes. During construction of the course the builder presented McKee the bill, after he found out it was for 11 holes he halted construction and called it done. The builder tried to explain there is not an 11-hole golf course in the world, McKee responded, “There is now.”

The 11-hole course existed until the venerable architect George Cobb came in and redesigned the course in 1958. The course is limited to 6,012 yards and features narrow tree-lined bentgrass fairways. The resort offers six tournaments throughout the year: the Spring Senior Golf Classic in June, the Summer Open in August, the Fall Senior Golf Classic in September and the Western Carolina Ladies Best Ball Tournament hosted in May, June and October.

Green fees are $39 per day and carts are additional. Resort accommodations range from $92 to $124 and feature an American plan with all meals included. The resort has a no service charge and a no tipping policy. Gentlemen are required to wear a coat and tie for evening meals. Meals are severed buffet style and usually include such southern items as fried chicken, ham and fresh vegetables grown at the resort during the season.

Trillium
Trillium Links is part of a club community that sits on a 700-acre site above Lake Glenville. The course was founded in 1998 and designed by professional golfer Morris Hatalsky, now a member of the Senior PGA Tour. The clubhouse sits on top of a mountain ridge and the holes wind up, down and around the mountain. The course, 6,505 yards with a rating of 72.4, requires a multitude of shots and is geared toward better golfers and excellent putters. Hatalsky, known as the best putter of his day, requires golfers to be at the top of their putting stroke when playing the course.

Many of the holes feature dramatic views. The eighth, a 287-yard par-4, requires an iron off the tee and a wedge into a green that appears suspended on the edge of the mountain. The 12th hole is one of most challenging. The 499-yard par-4 requires a draw from an elevated tee shot to a narrow fairway. The second shot must land on a narrow green with a vertical design.

The par-3s are all challenging and the 13th – named waterfall – is the most enchanting. The 162-yard hole features bunkers left, a trout stream with a waterfall that curves behind the green.

Over the winter, two greens were rebuilt and three greens were reshaped. The course recently received a 4 ½ star rating from Golf Digest. Rates in season including carts are $95 Monday through Thursday and $125 Friday through Sunday and holidays.

Highlands Cove
The newest golf course in the Cashiers area sits just six miles west of Cashiers. Tom Jackson designed Highlands Cove with two distinct sides. Significant elevation changes are featured on the “Highlands” side and the “Cove” side plays on a relatively flat piece of property.

Highlands Cove does not seek to be a private course as many real estate golf endeavors often do but to be a semi-private “pay as you use” type of environment. From the practice tee you will have to climb several hundred feet to the first tee of the Highlands side of the golf course for the opening par-5. From the hole you can see most of the 440-acre development.

This side of the course requires a lot of judgment when it comes to club selection as holes rise and fall between the tee and the green. The ninth hole of the Highlands, a 397-yard par-4, features a 300-foot drop from tee to fairway.

The Cove side is 300 yards longer that the Highlands side but scoring may be better due to the relative flat lay of the land. However, streams will play havoc on errant shots.

Rates in season including carts are $81 Monday through Wednesday, $91 Thursday through Sunday and $50 any day after 3:00pm.

Sapphire Mountain
Sapphire Mountain Golf Club opened in the early 1980s as Holly Forest. The course designed by Ron Garl features a variety of elevation changes but much less than Trillium and Highlands Cove. There are several memorable holes on the course including the island green hole on number 15 and the par-4 13th hole.

Garl started 13 from an elevated tee to a landing area with a stream cutting across the fairway and trailing along the left side of the hole. The second shot features an uphill approach to a green fronted by a rushing natural waterfall.

The par-70 course plays 6,185 yards. The current ownership took over the course in 1999 and still has a mix of bentgrass and other grasses on the fairways but they have made significant improvements in the conditioning of the course.

Sapphire Mountain is five miles east of Cashiers. The price in-season is $78 and $58 if you are staying on-site. The cost goes down to $47 after 1:00 p.m.

Dining
Dining in Cashiers is as good as the golf. There’s the famous High Hampton buffet and several quality area restaurants. Nick’s at the Cove features a great trout almandine. The Orchard Restaurant just north of High Hampton offers an intimate country setting and three different versions of the local trout along with the popular fried green tomatoes.

The Chamber of Commerce is a great source of places to stay in the area and can provide local maps to the area’s waterfalls. The road less traveled for North Carolinians leads to Cashiers where Tar Heels can find out what the rest of the southeast already knows.