My first visit in 2008 to Bright's Creek in Mill Spring, NC, was a mixed bag of impressions. It was not easy, even with a GPS car system, to find the road that led into the community. I stopped at a gas station to ask for directions, and the proprietor told me he had never heard of Bright's Creek. It turns out the gas station was a mere three miles from the Bright's Creek front gate. Location, location, location was not working in the young community's favor; a billboard or even a discreet sign would have helped. Marketing was not a strong suit at Bright's Creek in its first few years.
The new owners of Bright's Creek are full-on in their support of both high-level golf and equestrian activities. Photo courtesy of Linda Valerio Stenzel
When I finally did arrive, an enthusiastic sales person greeted me and, after a pleasant drive through the community, he handed me a key for a room at the community's "lodge," one of the most comfortable and spacious rooms I've encountered in over 10 years of golf community visits. The bathroom was huge, the shower area itself was almost obscenely big, and the room looked out on the golf course's impressive practice area. It was tough to drag myself out of those rooms early the next morning for a round on the Tom Fazio layout, but my attitude changed after a hole or two. The impeccably conditioned course, which sits beneath a ring of mountains, has all the hallmarks of a top Fazio track, which is to say the big cloverleaf fairway bunkers, the buried cart paths and an overall delight for the eye. It also provides challenge enough to have played host to Web.com professionals a few years ago.
