The tee shot on the 8th hole at Balsam Mountain Preserve is a blind one (top photo) to a downhill fairway with a creek at its end, just in front of the green.  The approach shot, above, is all hit or miss badly.  All photos by L. Gavrich  (Note:  Click on small photos below for larger versions and captions)

 

Palmer, Fazio mountain golf courses rate the same but play different

    From the tips, the courses at Balsam Mountain Preserve and Bright's Creek are remarkably similar in length and degree of difficulty.  Both play to about 6,900 yards and sport identical course ratings of 72.9.  From the more moderate members tees of around 6,400 yards, the ratings are almost identical as well, 70.1 for Balsam Mountain and 70.5 for Bright's Creek.  The slope ratings from the members' tees almost match up too, 136 and 134 respectively.  The settings, routings and player experiences on the courses, though, are considerably different.
    Tom Fazio might have wound up designing both courses if he had liked the top of the mountain location at Balsam, but sources told me he thought the site would force compromises in the routing.  He suggested an alternative site a few miles away and a couple thousand feet down the mountain, an idea rejected by Balsam's developers, Chaffin & Light.  Palmer Design literally rose to the occasion to carve 18 holes from the mountain.  At Bright's Creek, there was never a doubt it would be Fazio, who had designed the course at developer Barton Tuck's other community, the ultra-private and well-reviewed Forest Creek Club in Pinehurst, NC.
    After playing the Balsam Mountain course, I think I understand something of what Fazio saw in the site.  Although some of the holes on Arnie's routing are as interesting as they are beautiful, overall I found the layout a little too brawny, especially on a day when I was not hitting the ball straight.  There were just too many opportunities for a slightly errant shot to ruin your day.  The course is challenging to be sure, but exhausting as well.
    Things got off on a bad footing for me on the first hole, which required a play down the middle to the left side of the fairway, away from a cliff that ran along the entire right side.  I pushed my tee shot and approach shot and lost a couple of balls, my fault, not Arnie's.  But on the rest of the course, it seemed the King was forced to squeeze a hole in here and there, nowhere more so than the eye-popping 8th, a short par 4.  The tee shot there is entirely blind, up and over a steep hill whose other side is also steeply sloped down toward the creek in front of the green.  A choice of driver for all but the longest hitters is fine off the tee, but when you get to the top of the hill, look back up at the tee, and then straight down to the green, you can't imagine how a good drive could stop short of the creek.  A waste area beyond the green gobbles up overly aggressive approaches, as it did mine.  It is a memorable hole, if not a classic one.
    Balsam Mountain is not a course for any but the straightest hitters.  I carried shots over the middle of hills and failed to find my ball on the other side.  (I lost a dozen balls at Balsam Mountain, my own fault for playing a mountain course without a member.)  Local knowledge is just about everything at Balsam Mountain, in addition to hitting the ball straight, and the hints Balsam's friendly pro shop staff offered me before the round were helpful but not enough to staunch the flow of my Bridgestone 330s into the local forests.
    I found the hardest-hole designations on the scorecard a little odd.  The short par 5 4th hole was one of the easiest I played all day, albeit beautiful, but it is down as the #1 handicap hole.  My notes on the long (447 yard) par 4 16th hole indicate that it "plays tougher than a #10 handicap"; I wrote a side note that the shorter par 4 15th hole "played easier than its #4 handicap."  Although a 450-yard par 4 is longer than my game can accommodate these days, distances at the 3,500 feet high course didn't seem to matter nearly as much as hitting the ball straight.  The longer holes feature elevated tees and downhill plays that soften the lengths you go to reach the greens in regulation.
    Conditions at Balsam Mountain are remarkably good given that the full 18 holes have been opened barely a year.  I didn't have a bad lie all day -- that is, when my tee shots found the short grass -- and greens were smooth and medium fast.  Arnie's layout is also long on postcard-beautiful mountain vistas.  On a clear day, you can see a few dozen miles in all directions, a pleasant and welcome distraction if your game, like mine, goes in one of those directions...namely south.  Tom Maybank, the sales associate at Balsam who kindly showed me around the community, indicated that developers Chaffin & Light do not consider Balsam Mountain strictly a golf community.  Do not take that to mean the course is window-dressing, although any of us would be happy to have some of those views to dress up our windows.  The course is tough and not for the casual golfer.  The better player who sees intimidating carries over ravines and blind shots over hill and dale as one way golf was meant to be played should like it a lot.  I liked the course, but my best shots were through the camera lens.
    The Bright's Creek golf course takes a lower road, literally, by playing in what looks like a valley but is actually more than 1,000 feet in elevation.  The course, which traverses land that was formerly home to a cattle ranch, is unmistakably Fazio, with all the customary touches and holes that flow one after the other as if the designer had an unlimited amount of land at his disposal.  For the eye, the recognizable large Fazio bunkers are there, nestled into the banks on the sides of the fairways and greens and framed by the surrounding mountains that rise 3,000 feet above the course.  The banking around the fairways -- Fazio's signature funneling -- rescue some wayward tee shots from finding trouble outside the boundaries of the fairway, but the fairway bunkers will gobble up slightly stray drives.  Depending on what end of the bunker you find, you face either a tempting play to the green or a disappointing wedge back out to the fairway because of the bunker's lip in front of you.  Fazio's bunkers at Bright's Creek are not there for visual appeal along, that is for sure.
    At Bright's Creek, Fazio does not seem his usual manic self about "burying" cart paths, although the paths do not come near the field of play to help or hurt a wayward shot.  The course is in supreme condition, the turf maybe just a little immature given its four-year vintage but good enough for pro-tournament conditions.  The greens had been aerated the day before we played, and they still putted fairly true and were remarkably speedy.  Preliminary rounds of the Nationwide Tour BMW pro-am are played at Bright's Creek before moving on for the finals at The Thornblade Club, in Greer, SC, less than an hour away.  (I have played the terrific Thornblade, a 20-year old Fazio classic in a neighborhood where pro golfer Jay Haas lives.)  Bright's Creek plays to a robust 7,435 yards for the pros, but the length for them -- and for us mere mortals -- is really in the par 3s, which mostly play beyond 200 yards from the back tees.

    Eventually, according to sales associate Michael Waldrop, who played the course with me, Bright's Creek will feature three golf courses, including one to be sited on an adjacent mountain.  That is a lot of golf holes for just 1,200 homes when the community is fully built, but developer Barton Tuck has experienced great success at his Forest Creek community in Pinehurst, where 36 holes get plenty of play and positive notoriety.  Success breeds confidence.
    In these tumultuous times, the reputation, experience and financial health of a community's developer is more important than ever.  Balsam Mountain Preserve is being developed by Chaffin & Light, a 30-year old organization responsible for the successful Chechessee Creek Club in Okatie, SC, whose well-respected golf course was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.  Chaffin & Light has also developed two communities in Colorado and cut their teeth at Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island in the late 1970s.  Bright's Creek is the brainchild of Barton Tuck who has just the Forest Creek community on his resume.  But Forest Creek and its Fazio courses are a model for high-status private club communities.
    The developers of both these top-drawer communities appear to meet all the standards for high-end properties, and they offer golf memberships half the price of their highest-end competitor in the area, The Cliffs Communities (currently $150,000 but for access to eight courses).  The track records of Chaffin & Light and Barton Tuck are solid, and their latest two communities should enhance their reputations, as long as the net wealth of those in their target markets does not erode any more.  Neither community provides any clear signage near their entrances, and finding Balsam Mountain and Bright's Creek can be a little challenging.  But for those who can afford it, getting there could very well be worth the effort.

    Balsam Mountain Preserve, 81 Preserve Road, Sylva, NC.  Tel:  866.452.3456.  Web:  BalsamMountain.com

     Bright's Creek, 2222 Palmer Road, Mill Spring, NC.  Tel:  866.302.7335.  Web:  BrightsCreek.com
     If you are interested in visiting these communities or in more information, contact me and I will be happy to put you in touch with someone who can help you.  Also, if you would like me to email you a copy of the scorecards from either course, just send me a note using the "Contact Us" button at the top of the page.

 

The approach to #12 at Bright's Creek, a par 4, is vintage Fazio, with bunkers that can give you a lot of lip.

 
The views from Balsam Mountain Preserve are compelling.  From the 8th tee, you can see out to the Arnold Palmer golf course's 14th hole and to the distant mountains. (All photos by L. Gavrich)

 

Positive altitudes:  Balsam Mountain Preserve and Bright's Creek residents breathe a rarified air

    Unsolicited advice to the developers of Balsam Mountain Preserve and Bright's Creek:  Consider a co-op marketing arrangement.  Both your high-end communities play to the same crowd by offering home sites at high elevations, high-class amenities, including lush and scenic golf, and the service to match.  Ignore a few differences, like the designer, elevation and degree of difficulty of your golf courses, and your two communities could pass for siblings.  Those in your target audience who do their research and make plans to visit one of your communities are likely to visit the other, just an hour away.  All you need is to make sure you provide good driving directions.

 

(No) signs of the times
    Balsam Mountain Preserve and Bright's Creek hide their considerable charms behind veils of no-signage, so much so that a gas station owner just a few miles from Bright's Creek had to drag out a map to figure out where the four-year old community was located (it turned out to be only two left turns away).  And I almost sped past the road into Balsam Mountain, whose sign is hard to see from across the road; fortunately, I had memorized the directions on a billboard five miles from the community.  When I asked my two contacts at the gated communities why the lack of signs, both had almost the same response:  "People know how to find us."

    The no-signage issue carries over to the golf courses at both communities; neither has a stone or sign at tee boxes to indicate the number of the hole or a layout (needed especially at Balsam

Mountain).  The courses both feature dramatic mountain views but play at significantly different levels; my pitching wedge traveled about seven yards farther at Balsam Mountain than it did at Bright's Creek (more about the golf courses tomorrow).  Both private golf clubs only permit memberships from among their pools of property owners.  Membership fees are on the high side, $75,000 for Balsam and $55,000 for Bright's Creek, but these are high-class clubs and both fees are of the "deposit" variety; you get them back when you depart.  Club dues at Balsam are currently about $1,000 per year more than at Bright's Creek, but the former provides more in the way of amenities at present than the younger Bright's Creek.  Look for dues to be similar in a few years.  Because of its higher elevations, Balsam Mountain's golf course is closed December to April.  Bright's Creek remains open all year, owing to some thermal idiosyncrasies in the Lake Lure area that keep the thermometer above freezing much of the winter.
    In terms of location, Balsam Mountain gets a slight nod for its proximity to the charming and bustling town of Waynesville, just 15 minutes away.  Both communities are about 30 minutes from Asheville and its decent regional airport.  As Bright's Creek develops, so too will the services in the immediate surrounding area but, for now, it is fair to say those who count on shopping and a choice of restaurants will make the drive to Asheville.

 

Plenty of room
    The two communities are attracting primarily second-home owners but they also appeal to retirees.  The exteriors of the beautiful homes in both communities feature indigenous materials, like wood and stone that integrate comfortably into the mountain terrain.  Although both communities are huge -- Balsam Mountain at 4,400 acres and Bright's Creek 5,000 acres -- the densities are significantly different, at least on paper.  With only 350 homes planned for Balsam Mountain, the density is about one home per 12 acres; but on the severely sloped and heavily wooded property, with homes nestled into the sides of hills, it is difficult to tell where one home site ends and the next begins.  And you see few homes from the golf course.  With almost 3,000 "raw" acres protected by a conservation easement, Chaffin & Light organized the Balsam Mountain Trust, which manages and helps protect the preserve's natural resources.   That will certainly help Balsam Mountain retain its rustic and natural look.
    Bright's Creek, with 1,200 homes planned for its 5,000 acres, runs at a ratio of about 1 to 4, enough breathing room for any but the most reclusive homeowner.  The few homes and staked-out properties I saw from the golf course foreshadow that few of them are likely to encroach on the fairways.  Homes at Bright's Creek will rise to elevations as high as 3,200 feet, about 1,400 feet less than the loftiest homes at Balsam Mountain.  Bright's Creek currently has 31 homes completed and Balsam Mountain 37, with another 16 under construction.    

    Strong hands are guiding the architectural guidelines in both communities; anyone looking to build their dream home in a dramatic contemporary style, for example, should look elsewhere.

Standards of quality are high at Balsam Mountain and Bright's Creek, and not surprisingly, prices begin at significant elevations as well.  Expect to pay $1.2 million and more for a home in Balsam Mountain; Bright's Creek prices begin just short of $1 million, although published lot prices are as low as $200,000 (they start at $375,000 at Balsam).  Count on anywhere between $200 and $300 per square foot for construction.  Homeowner association fees at Balsam Mountain are $2,800 per year, about double what they are currently at Bright's Creek, but the older Balsam has more infrastructure in place.  HOA fees will tend to converge in the coming few years.  

    For the vacation-home owner who will only visit a few weeks per summer and would like to generate some extra income on the off weeks, both communities offer rental programs.  Bright's Creek will rent owners' homes as a courtesy, but only to other members and their guests, and at a 30% management fee for housekeeping and maintenance.  Balsam Mountain Preserve also permits its residents to rent to other residents who might need some extra space for visiting relatives and friends.

 

Membership has its privileges
    For those who do not want to make the leap into full ownership of a million dollar home, Balsam Mountain offers an attractive fractional ownership plan for one bedroom cottages adjacent to the Boarding House, an inn and dining hall for the use of members and guests.  These cottages are available for $260,000 and provide the owner with a guaranteed three weeks stay per season, or a total of 12 weeks per year.  Additional weeks are available if other owners are not using the unit.  The fractional ownership plan is an excellent way to dip your toe into the Balsam Mountain community and decide later if a single-family home is the way to go, or to spend one-quarter of the year in the mountains.    
    Bright's Creek also offers a way for future owners to test the waters.  Adjacent to its pro shop and overlooking the golf course, the Members Lodge provides units for those considering a

purchase of real estate in the community, as well as for visiting members.  I stayed in one of the 12 comfortable guest rooms; it featured a large bedroom and deck overlooking the 18th hole, wireless Internet service and a large television with satellite television (plenty of stations if you can figure out the idiosyncrasies of the two remote controls).   The huge stall shower in the full-featured bathroom included a sitting area and the single best showerhead I've encountered.  The thing was about a foot in diameter and sent a spray of water straight down that was so intense, it cleaned and massaged all in one.  I did worry about the huge amounts of water it was throwing out but was assured later that the flow was not unusually large.  Probably best not to ask too many questions after such an indulging experience.  (Note:  As is my policy, I paid for my lodging and golf).  A new clubhouse and group of 10 condos will join the Members Lodge to form a clubhouse complex perched above the 18th hole.
    The amenities in both communities, those in place and those planned, are pretty much what you would expect from high-quality developments at these price points.   Clubhouses are still on the drawing board, but both will feature dramatic mountain views and warm, rustic materials (lots of logs and beams).  Each community features a substantial equestrian center.  Bright's Creek offers a 14-stall post & beam barn, 20 acres of pasture and 12 miles of groomed riding trails.  The barn at Balsam Mountain also features 14 stalls as well as pastures and riding trails.  The other amenities on both properties include the typical fare of fitness centers, tennis courts, pools and walking trails.  
    For those who prefer to use a golf cart in the community and on the golf course, Bright's Creek charges an annual trail fee of $1,100 (the cart must be of the same style as those rented on the golf course).  Balsam Mountain Preserve offers the same cart ownership program for $900 annually.  Open-air driving is the best way to enjoy the many visual delights of both these communities.
    Coming Tomorrow:  The golf courses at Balsam Mountain Preserve and Bright's Creek (with photos)

One of the first homes at Bright's Creek looks down on the Tom Fazio course.