The second course at this Peach State resort/community promises an unparalleled mountain golf experience
Already equipped with a layout that offers one of the game’s best finishing holes—a 435-yard par four with a stunning green perched atop a mountain precipice—northwest Georgia’s McLemore Resort is upping the ante and betting big with its second 18-hole design above the clouds from architects Bill Bergin and Rees Jones.
“This course could host a major,” Jones has boldly claimed of The Keep, a links-inspired, headlands-style course stretching more than 7,800 yards on an elevated plateau over a sea of sky 1,500 feet above the valley floor. “Be sure to bring two things: your A-game and your camera.”
In name, The Keep evokes the historic castles and fortresses spread across Europe. McLemore’s sequel has four more cliffside holes than its original Highlands Course, with the starting and finishing holes of each nine—along with the par-three 11th—balancing on the eastern edge of Lookout Mountain.
A surprisingly walkable design, The Keep offers generous fairways and large greens that reward precision and don’t severely punish mishits. Without any homes on the grounds, players encounter nothing but an array of natural features, including mountain streams, waterfalls, wetlands, canyons, and rock outcroppings that frame holes and form a citadel wall flanking the sides and back of the 17th green.
Anticipated to open by the fall, The Keep will be mostly exclusive to a group of 125 initial Member/Investors but will offer limited play for McLemore members and resort guests. A 245-room Curio Collection by Hilton property called Cloudland, with new restaurants and a world-class spa, opened in early 2024.
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