High Hampton Inn’s breathtaking scenery makes it the perfect location for a mountain golf course.  Unbeknownst to most people, the Inn was once home to the country’s only 11-hole golf course.

In 1923, E.L. McKee contracted J. Victor East to build a golf course on the stunning High Hampton estate.  Mr. East was a well-known Australian architect who designed the Biltmore homestead.

A female golfer lines up her putt at High Hampton Inn

Due to the times, East was given a limited budget to create the course.  As his creative ideas took shape and construction began, he realized that he would only be able to design 11 holes.  E.L McKee didn’t mind having the only sand green course in the United States with 11 holes, so he told J. Victor East to stop construction.

Historic photo of guests putting on the High Hampton Inn putting green

High Hampton’s golf course featured only 11 holes until the mid-1950s, when George W. Cobb was brought in to finish the remaining nine holes.  Once he had completed the course, he said it was the most beautiful one he had designed.

The highlight of the course is the par-3, number 8 hole that is located on a peninsula that juts into Hampton Lake.

Today the course features 18 holes and is considered a “players course,” with a little more than 6,000 yards.  It was designed to be enjoyable for golfers to play and features no sand traps, though it does include enough woods and water hazards to make it challenging.

Have you had a chance to play High Hampton’s bent grass greens?