City: Sevierville, TN

Category: Golf

Telephone: (865) 429-4223

Address: 1556 Old Knoxville Highway

Description: Laid out along Tennessee Highway 66 between Interstate 40 and Dolly Parton Parkway, Eagle’s Landing opened in 1994. The course is owned by the City of Sevierville. Golf Digest gave this course three and a half stars—the only rated course in the county. From downtown Sevierville, go west on Dolly Parton Parkway (U.S. Highway 411/441) less than a mile from the TN 66 intersection to the next traffic light at Old Knoxville Highway. Turn right and go about 2 1⁄2 miles. You’ll see the course on the right before you see the driveway. If you’re somewhere on TN 66, go west on Boyd’s Creek Road (Tennessee Highway 338—there’s a traffic light) about 1.2 miles to Old Knoxville Highway and turn left. The course entrance is a little more than a mile on the left. The course is essentially flat, wide open for now (that’ll change as the trees planted along the fairways mature), and very forgiving. The par-72 layout runs from 6,900 yards at the championship tees to an almost pitch-and-putt 4,600 from the ladies’ tees. Rough that isn’t a real hazard borders wide Bermuda grass fairways. The Little Pigeon River wanders through the course, providing more scenery than anything else, but it can jump up and bite you if you’re not paying attention. Information on course layout approaches the overload stage, with five tee levels to shoot from. Pin placements are changed daily according to a zone diagram, and all pins are placed in the same zone every day. The scorecard shows the zoning for each green, and they’ll tell you before you tee off which zones to shoot for. Eagles Landing breaks the day into three parts, with fees sliding to match the time of day. Regular fees (opening until 2 p.m.) are $41 weekdays and $51 weekends. From 2 to 4 p.m., fees are $36 and $46, respectively, and the twilight rate of $26 kicks in at 4 p.m. every day. Carts are required, and all fees include carts. Eagles Landing is a member course of the National Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, a national organization dedicated to preserving wildlife on golf courses. Nonplay areas of the course are maintained as wildlife refuges, and sightings of deer, otters, beavers, several duck species, Canada geese, and even wild turkeys lend a grace note to playing the course. American bald eagles have been seen over the course as well. Eagles Landing has golf package tie-ins with several area lodging facilities; detailed information is available on the Internet. Advance tee times are recommended during the summer to avoid long waits once you arrive. At press time, Eagles Landing was planning to add 18 more holes, making for 36 holes in all. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2009, and the new course should be ready for play in spring of 2010.