sparksjr
Active member
Just minutes from the I-75/I-40 split in west Knoxville lies Willow Creek Golf Club. Willow Creek lies directly across the street from where the Web.com Tour Knoxville News Sentinel Open is played. It sits nestled among some of the more expensive homes in the Knoxville area but it does not play around the homes, in other words none of the homes are in play/danger. You can check out their website here.
The clubhouse is quite large and includes a well stocked proshop, snack bar and locker room.
PracticeArea:
Willow Creek offers a decent sized putting green and an ample driving range. The driving range has plenty of teeing grounds but it it notvery long and the 9th hole runs behind and to the right of it. Longhitters will be driving thru the range into the 9th fairway andcrooked hitters could slice/hook into the ninth fairway as well. Aside from that, they offer a variety of flags to aim at withvarying distances. The putting green might not accommodate alarge gathering/outing/tournament but for your everyday roundit seemed sufficient. Unfortunately all the greenshad been recently aerated and were quite sandy...but rolledsurprisingly well. With that, it was hard to tell if theputting green was consistent with the actual greens or not. Idid not see a chipping green or practice bunker, which is a bummerbut as I have said before also a luxury around here.
Ignoringthe aerated greens:
Grade B
Course Conditions:
Willow Creek has a reputation of being an upscale course and they have a higher than normal fee (discussed later) so one hopes to find lush conditions around the course. The course has very nice fairways and the rough is also in excellent conditions. There are a few spots under repair and that need a little TLC but for the most part you have to miss your intended line by quite a bit to find these areas. The bunkers were raked this morning but were a little hard due to some rain earlier in the week. I am not sure if they had not been raked until today, if they don't drain well, or if they need more sand but the one time I had to hit out of the bunker it was a very tight lie. I would have liked to have seen better bunker conditions. Willow Creek recently switch to Champion Bermuda greens and like alot of other Knoxville courses with Bermuda greens they had a rough winter. Greens were recently aerated and were quite sandy. Honestly though, they rolled pretty fast and fairly smooth considering. They were not ideal by any means but they were mostly playable. Let me tell ya, I can hit a mean drop and stop chip into a sandy green!
Grade B- (with healed greens Grade A)
Layout:
Willow Creek offers 5 tee boxes:
Black 74.7/128 7211 yards
Blue 73.5/124 6856 yards
White 70.7/121 6362 yards
Yellow 68.6/119 5894 yards
Red 72.8/128 5426 yards
We chose to play the white tees as they were most similar to the yardages we normally play. The course layout is fairly straightforward. You know where you need to hit it most of the time but that doesn't make it any easier. The fairways are tight, there is some elevation change and the greens have subtle breaks and undulations in them that always keep you guessing. Aesthetically Willow Creek does not offer that "wow" moment from any tee box IMO. It seems like standard country club golf, which is not a big deal but if you are looking for a picturesque hole or two I don't think you will find it here. There is a good mix of straight holes, left to right, right to left and everything in between. Some tee shots are quite intimidating and some don't make you as nervous. The par 3's were a good mix as well. I had to hit as much as a 6 iron and as little as a 9 iron on the par 3's. I am not a fan of 200+ or 100 yard par 3's and I felt comfortable over each of my par 3 tee shots today and didn't feel like it would be impossible to make par or feel like I got cheated out of acreage or a par 3 was an after thought at 100 yards. Even at the white tees, I never had a chance to go after a par 5 in two. Even with a good drive, I had at least 280 into each par 5 and that is obviously not a distance I have in my bag. I was kind of shocked by this considering we played the white set of tees. That's not to take anything away from the course though.
I am probably spoiled with my normal courses and the resort type courses I get to play often, but only a few holes at Willow Creek really hit me as beautiful or majestic I guess. It had its challenges and required you to think about your shots however.
Grade B- (hard to overcome the lack of a signature hole, etc)
Hole 3 greets you with an intimidating tee shot:
Hole 5 makes you think a little. A creek runs in from of this landing area about 130 from the tee and winds it way back about 230 from the tee. Layup or tee it high and let it fly.
Hole 14 is a tough par 3 protected by the creek in front. It was playing about 175 for us today.
Hole 16 is the number 2 handicap. Left dogleg with water in front of the green. I smashed my drive (for me) over the tree at the dogleg and still had a 5 iron over water into a small green protected by bunkers.
Pace of Play:
We had a foursome today with an 8am tee time. There were a handful of groups in front of us and a packed tee sheet behind us. We got our round in right at 4 hours and that was satisfactory for me. Only off the first tee did we have to wait before our next shot and that was mainly due to it being a par 5 and a log jam waiting for the self proclaimed big hitters in front of us to wait for the green to clear. There was a marshal and he was seen patrolling the course quite often. I suspect groups behind us might have been on a slightly slower pace but at 8am you expect a solid pace of play and Willow Creek did not disappoint.
Grade A
Price:
Rack rate for early morning is $59 at Willow Creek. That is pretty steep for a public course in Knoxville. They did knock $10 off that rate due to the greens which was certainly appreciated but still probably a tad high during aeration. However, bonus points for recognizing course conditions and adjusting appropriately. I would have liked to have been told about the greens when I made the tee time however. Even with perfectly healed greens I would be hard pressed to pay $59 to play Willow Creek. Part of that is me being cheap but part of it is knowing I can get similar conditions for around $45 elsewhere. Price would not make the round regrettable by any means but would be hard pressed for my repeat business.
Grade C
Amenities:
The pro shop seemed well stocked at Willow Creek. There was plenty of drinking water available on the course and we also saw the cart girl a few times throughout our round. When you tee of around 8am or earlier most Saturdays you do not typically see a cart girl and if you do it is typically on hold 16 or later. We first saw her on hole 9, which was nice to see even if nothing was needed. One has to appreciate the fact that you can get a snack or drink from the cart girl before 10am. I did not notice a fancy on site restaurant or over the top locker rooms. Honestly they offered what I would expect at most courses. Nothing amazing but amenities were sufficient IMO.
Grade B
Overall:
Willow Creek offers nicely maintained conditions, a friendly staff and a challenging layout. While there are no signature holes or "wow" moments you do get to enjoy a well maintained course at a good pace. I do not regret for a moment playing at Willow Creek and I believe everyone in our group enjoyed our round. I am not sure the fee is in my budget but if there had been some "wow" moments or breath taking holes I could probably justify the fee. Once the greens heal from the aeration I have no doubt that the conditions overall will be some of the finest around. I certainly will not hold the aerated greens against them as it is a necessary evil.
Grade B (not accounting for aerated greens)
The clubhouse is quite large and includes a well stocked proshop, snack bar and locker room.
PracticeArea:
Willow Creek offers a decent sized putting green and an ample driving range. The driving range has plenty of teeing grounds but it it notvery long and the 9th hole runs behind and to the right of it. Longhitters will be driving thru the range into the 9th fairway andcrooked hitters could slice/hook into the ninth fairway as well. Aside from that, they offer a variety of flags to aim at withvarying distances. The putting green might not accommodate alarge gathering/outing/tournament but for your everyday roundit seemed sufficient. Unfortunately all the greenshad been recently aerated and were quite sandy...but rolledsurprisingly well. With that, it was hard to tell if theputting green was consistent with the actual greens or not. Idid not see a chipping green or practice bunker, which is a bummerbut as I have said before also a luxury around here.
Ignoringthe aerated greens:
Grade B
Course Conditions:
Willow Creek has a reputation of being an upscale course and they have a higher than normal fee (discussed later) so one hopes to find lush conditions around the course. The course has very nice fairways and the rough is also in excellent conditions. There are a few spots under repair and that need a little TLC but for the most part you have to miss your intended line by quite a bit to find these areas. The bunkers were raked this morning but were a little hard due to some rain earlier in the week. I am not sure if they had not been raked until today, if they don't drain well, or if they need more sand but the one time I had to hit out of the bunker it was a very tight lie. I would have liked to have seen better bunker conditions. Willow Creek recently switch to Champion Bermuda greens and like alot of other Knoxville courses with Bermuda greens they had a rough winter. Greens were recently aerated and were quite sandy. Honestly though, they rolled pretty fast and fairly smooth considering. They were not ideal by any means but they were mostly playable. Let me tell ya, I can hit a mean drop and stop chip into a sandy green!
Grade B- (with healed greens Grade A)
Layout:
Willow Creek offers 5 tee boxes:
Black 74.7/128 7211 yards
Blue 73.5/124 6856 yards
White 70.7/121 6362 yards
Yellow 68.6/119 5894 yards
Red 72.8/128 5426 yards
We chose to play the white tees as they were most similar to the yardages we normally play. The course layout is fairly straightforward. You know where you need to hit it most of the time but that doesn't make it any easier. The fairways are tight, there is some elevation change and the greens have subtle breaks and undulations in them that always keep you guessing. Aesthetically Willow Creek does not offer that "wow" moment from any tee box IMO. It seems like standard country club golf, which is not a big deal but if you are looking for a picturesque hole or two I don't think you will find it here. There is a good mix of straight holes, left to right, right to left and everything in between. Some tee shots are quite intimidating and some don't make you as nervous. The par 3's were a good mix as well. I had to hit as much as a 6 iron and as little as a 9 iron on the par 3's. I am not a fan of 200+ or 100 yard par 3's and I felt comfortable over each of my par 3 tee shots today and didn't feel like it would be impossible to make par or feel like I got cheated out of acreage or a par 3 was an after thought at 100 yards. Even at the white tees, I never had a chance to go after a par 5 in two. Even with a good drive, I had at least 280 into each par 5 and that is obviously not a distance I have in my bag. I was kind of shocked by this considering we played the white set of tees. That's not to take anything away from the course though.
I am probably spoiled with my normal courses and the resort type courses I get to play often, but only a few holes at Willow Creek really hit me as beautiful or majestic I guess. It had its challenges and required you to think about your shots however.
Grade B- (hard to overcome the lack of a signature hole, etc)
Hole 3 greets you with an intimidating tee shot:
Hole 5 makes you think a little. A creek runs in from of this landing area about 130 from the tee and winds it way back about 230 from the tee. Layup or tee it high and let it fly.
Hole 14 is a tough par 3 protected by the creek in front. It was playing about 175 for us today.
Hole 16 is the number 2 handicap. Left dogleg with water in front of the green. I smashed my drive (for me) over the tree at the dogleg and still had a 5 iron over water into a small green protected by bunkers.
Pace of Play:
We had a foursome today with an 8am tee time. There were a handful of groups in front of us and a packed tee sheet behind us. We got our round in right at 4 hours and that was satisfactory for me. Only off the first tee did we have to wait before our next shot and that was mainly due to it being a par 5 and a log jam waiting for the self proclaimed big hitters in front of us to wait for the green to clear. There was a marshal and he was seen patrolling the course quite often. I suspect groups behind us might have been on a slightly slower pace but at 8am you expect a solid pace of play and Willow Creek did not disappoint.
Grade A
Price:
Rack rate for early morning is $59 at Willow Creek. That is pretty steep for a public course in Knoxville. They did knock $10 off that rate due to the greens which was certainly appreciated but still probably a tad high during aeration. However, bonus points for recognizing course conditions and adjusting appropriately. I would have liked to have been told about the greens when I made the tee time however. Even with perfectly healed greens I would be hard pressed to pay $59 to play Willow Creek. Part of that is me being cheap but part of it is knowing I can get similar conditions for around $45 elsewhere. Price would not make the round regrettable by any means but would be hard pressed for my repeat business.
Grade C
Amenities:
The pro shop seemed well stocked at Willow Creek. There was plenty of drinking water available on the course and we also saw the cart girl a few times throughout our round. When you tee of around 8am or earlier most Saturdays you do not typically see a cart girl and if you do it is typically on hold 16 or later. We first saw her on hole 9, which was nice to see even if nothing was needed. One has to appreciate the fact that you can get a snack or drink from the cart girl before 10am. I did not notice a fancy on site restaurant or over the top locker rooms. Honestly they offered what I would expect at most courses. Nothing amazing but amenities were sufficient IMO.
Grade B
Overall:
Willow Creek offers nicely maintained conditions, a friendly staff and a challenging layout. While there are no signature holes or "wow" moments you do get to enjoy a well maintained course at a good pace. I do not regret for a moment playing at Willow Creek and I believe everyone in our group enjoyed our round. I am not sure the fee is in my budget but if there had been some "wow" moments or breath taking holes I could probably justify the fee. Once the greens heal from the aeration I have no doubt that the conditions overall will be some of the finest around. I certainly will not hold the aerated greens against them as it is a necessary evil.
Grade B (not accounting for aerated greens)
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