The Best Golf Resorts in Tennessee
Tennessee does resort golf its own way. Instead of one famous mega resort, the state offers a 90 hole plateau community that calls itself the Golf Capital of Tennessee, a Larry Nelson links ten minutes from the Nashville honky tonks, a chain of Jack Nicklaus courses threaded through state parks, and the most talked about nine holes in America hiding in a valley near Chattanooga. Spring and fall are prime, summer is playable, and the value beats almost any neighboring state. Here are the four bases that matter, ranked.
Photograph: Gaylord Springs Golf Links, via Google
How we chose
This list was researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk, and every designer, opening year and fee on it was checked against resort, state park and ranking sources in June 2026. Tennessee's best golf does not always come wrapped in a single hotel, so we ranked complete trip bases: places where the golf, the beds and the evenings work together. The measures were course quality first, then depth of golf within easy reach, then the stay itself. Everything below is open to the public, and nothing on this list requires a member's introduction.
Timing is kind here. April through early June and September through October are the prime windows, with the Cumberland Plateau courses running ten degrees cooler than the lowlands in high summer. The fees quoted carry their season and year and are indicative rather than guaranteed, so always confirm directly before booking. Book Sweetens Cove well ahead regardless of month; the tee sheet is the scarcest commodity in the state.
The best in Tennessee, ranked
Fairfield Glade Resort, Crossville
The Golf Capital of Tennessee earns the billing. Fairfield Glade spreads five championship courses and 90 holes across the Cumberland Plateau above Crossville, with Joe Lee's Stonehenge the jewel: a 6,549 yard par 72 framed by walls of native stone that Golfweek has ranked second among courses you can play in the state. Druid Hills and the two Heatherhurst courses, Brae and Crag, fill out a rotation that can carry a full week without a repeat, and the resort's condos, lakes, marinas and restaurants make it a self contained buddies trip machine. Package rates through the resort and local operators are some of the best golf value in the South; always confirm directly before booking. Our verdict: the most golf per trip in Tennessee.
Access: public; stay and play packages bundle the courses. Check stay and play rates.
Gaylord Opryland Resort and Gaylord Springs Golf Links
Music city's golf base. Gaylord Springs, designed by the three time major champion Larry Nelson and opened in 1990, plays as a Scottish links style par 72 along the Cumberland River, bordered by limestone bluffs and wetlands, and it has sat among Tennessee's best public courses ever since. The course is five minutes from the vast Gaylord Opryland Resort, whose glass atriums, restaurants and shuttle access to downtown Nashville make the non golf half of the trip as easy as the golf. Posted 2026 rates ran around 111 dollars for 18 holes including cart, with resort guest rate categories at booking, indicative only; always confirm directly before booking. Our verdict: the best city and golf combination in the state.
Access: public; resort guest rates available. Check tee times.
The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay
The flagship of Tennessee's boldest golf idea. The Bear Trace is a series of Jack Nicklaus designs built through the state park system, and the Harrison Bay course, opened in 1999 on a wooded peninsula 15 miles from Chattanooga, is the best of them, with fairways running to the water of the bay and conditioning that embarrasses its modest state park fee. Tennessee State Parks publishes rates directly and they sit far below resort pricing; always confirm directly before booking. The park's campground and Chattanooga's hotels both work as bases, and the rest of the Tennessee Golf Trail, including its sibling Bear Trace courses across the state, turns this into a road trip rather than a single stay. Our verdict: the best public golf value in Tennessee.
Access: public through Tennessee State Parks. Check tee times.
Sweetens Cove Golf Club
America's cult course, and the reason golfers route through Tennessee at all. Rob Collins and Tad King rebuilt a faded valley nine called Sequatchie Valley into Sweetens Cove, reopened in 2014: nine holes, par 36, 3,301 yards, with greens so huge and wild that two loops play like 18 different holes. A 2017 New York Times feature lit the fuse and investors including Peyton Manning and Andy Roddick followed, but the course has stayed defiantly simple, a shed for a clubhouse and golf as the entire point. There is no hotel on site; stay in Chattanooga and make the half hour drive. Our verdict: not a resort, and we do not care, no Tennessee golf trip is complete without it. Book well ahead and confirm rates directly with the club.
Access: public; tee times release ahead and sell out fast. Check tee times.
Designers, opening years and fees verified June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk from resort, state park and ranking sources. Rates shown carry their season and year and are indicative only; always confirm directly with each course before booking.
Plan a Tennessee golf trip
Tell us roughly when and who is traveling. One concierge secures the Sweetens Cove tee times, routes Nashville to the plateau to Chattanooga sensibly, books the rooms, and prices the trip honestly. We reply within one working day, with no obligation.
Building the trip
The natural route runs east from Nashville: two nights at the Opryland with Gaylord Springs, two on the plateau at Fairfield Glade, then down to Chattanooga for Harrison Bay and the Sweetens Cove pilgrimage before flying home. Spring and October are the windows worth fighting for, and the plateau stays comfortable even in July. From Chattanooga the road keeps going: south into Georgia and the Atlanta orbit, or east over the mountains toward the best golf resorts in Virginia and the North Carolina golf holiday circuit, with the Pinehurst and the Sandhills itinerary the logical grand finale. Weigh the value against the best golf resorts in Florida and the timing against when to play golf in Georgia, then let plan my trip put the whole thing in one brief.
Related
The Tee Sheet
Tee time releases, access changes and the booking windows worth moving on first. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Courses, designers, fees and access verified June 2026. Last reviewed: June 2026. See how we rank.