HOME     COMMUNITY     AMENITIES     REAL ESTATE     DIRECTIONS     GOLF&CLUB     Canyon Ridge debuts in Northwest Georgia Scenic gen shines in spectacular setting By Mike Blum, Fore Georgia Magazine - August 2005 When the subject of Georgia golf courses comes up, several areas come quickly to mind. Of course there’s Augusta and the state’s most famous venue, the only one in golf to host a major championship every year. There is the lengthy list of exceptional private clubs in metro Atlanta, almost all of which have been the site of majors, tour events or national amateur championships. Along the Georgia coast is one of the country’s most lauded golf resorts, along with its exceptional sister private course and another private facility just opened. Then there’s the wealth of outstanding layouts in the Lake Oconee area, which features as many national-caliber courses in close proximity as you’ll find anywhere. But Georgia’s array of golfing riches extends beyond the obvious places, as well as the state’s mid-sized cities. A number of outstanding courses have opened in out-ofthe- way locales along the state’s borders in recent years, ranging from the private Currahee Club in the northeast corner of the state, to the Georgia State Park Meadow Links layout along the Alabama border in southwest Georgia, to the semi-private Kinderlou Forest in the football hotbed of Valdosta. The latest addition to Georgia’s slightly remote treasures is Canyon Ridge, which opened for play earlier this Summer in the northwest reaches of the state. The course is a few Tiger Woods drives from Alabama and an easy ride from Chattanooga, with Rome and Dalton the closest Georgia cities. Atlanta is around two hours away, as are Birmingham and Nashville, both of which are interstate all the way, as is Chattanooga, a half-hour or so to the north. Coming from the Atlanta area, the route to Canyon Ridge meanders through scenic northwest Georgia with a welcome respite from the ever-present traffic congestion. Tauqueta Falls, the community Canyon Ridge is located within, is directly along SR 157, with the 14th hole running parallel next to the road, much like the 11th at Crooked Creek in Alpharetta. The course is currently semi-private, with plans to eventually convert to private. The community is being marketed as a second home/weekend getaway, and the quality of the course and its panoramic views will be a strong drawing card. The club is managed by HMS, whose list of Georgia courses includes BridgeMill, Towne Lake Hills, Southbridge in Savannah and the soon-to-reopen West Pines in Douglasville. The community and its amenities are still in the early stages of construction, but the course has grown in nicely and will only get better as it matures. Located within view of Lookout Mountain, Canyon Ridge has the setting and the views of a mountain-style layout, but veteran designer Rick Robbins has eased some of the severity that can occasionally make a round on a mountain course a little too frustrating. Only a handful of holes feature significant elevation changes, with the par-5 sixth about the only hole you may not have kind words for after you play it. The golf experience at Canyon Ridge begins with a spectacular view from the elevated tee at the par-5 first, with an even more eye-popping vista from the green. Most of the elevation changes will be negotiated in carts between holes, as Robbins has kept the playing terrain, especially the landing areas, reasonably level. Although some of the fairways have a modest amount of roll, you will not be subject to slightly off-target shots plunging down steep inclines, with the relatively ample corridors allowing for some leeway off the tee. While Canyon Ridge lacks the severity of a typical mountain layout, it has more than its share of hazards along the way, some a lot harder than what you’re used to encountering. Robbins has allowed the natural elements of the property to come into play, which means lots of rock formations and a number of creeks dotted by rocks that might actually send a mis-hit shot careening off one back into play. A number of holes are lined by native areas with heavy foliage, fescue, rocks and creeks, and the club is still considering how many of them to designate as hazards in order to speed up play and make the course a little less penal. A decent amount of accuracy will take most of the trouble out of play, but a decent amount of inaccuracy will have you digging into the bag for another ball. You can play away from the trouble on some of the holes, but there are enough with danger lurking right and left to keep things interesting. With a fairly healthy amount of trouble within reach, as well as a handful of significant carries from the tee, Robbins has left the greens complexes on the tame side, although a few include sharp dropoffs if you overshoot the putting surface. Bunkering is very modest, with only a few of the gently sloping greens guarded by hazards seriously in play. As you might expect for a course in the mountains, the terrain at Canyon Ridge is on the firm side, allowing tee shots to get more roll than you might be accustomed from the state’s courses that have been saturated by rain. With almost all the approaches to the mostly mid-sized greens open, you can land shots short to get to front pins, which will typically leave you with some sharp-breaking downhillers from above the hole. Canyon Ridge measures 6,906 yards from the back tees and 6,422 from the blues, and plays to a par of 71 with five par 3s. The whites are 6,035 and the reds 5,011, but with several holes including alternate sets of tees, the yardages can vary. With the number of elevated tees, the firmness of the terrain and the elevation, Canyon Ridge will not play its length, with accuracy generally a more necessary asset than power. The course had not been rated as of late July, but will likely sport a fairly healthy slope rating, due to the trouble off the fairways and the rock outcroppings and creeks that will manage to painfully interject themselves into your enjoyable day on the links at some point or two. Courses that require its visitors to travel a significant distance to either play golf or take a look at the home sites are in real need of some attention-getting holes at the start and finish, and Canyon Ridge certainly has that. The par-5 first features a 100-foot drop from tee to fairway, and is actually pretty inviting if you’re ready to go from your first swing and are able to avoid the first of the rocky horrors just off the right edge of the green. The 18th is a par 4 of some length with rocks popping up all over the place and a tree in the left side of the fairway that is best avoided. The hole appears perched on the top of the mountain, with a similar view to the one from the first hole. Look to the left, but don’t hit it in that direction if you want to save your ball from a painful plunge to parts unknown. In between lies an interesting collection of holes, including five holes on the eastern edge of the property that have some definite parkland qualities with wide fairways and minimal elevation changes. Among the best and prettiest holes is the par-4 second, with a pond left of the fairway requiring a wellplaced tee shot, followed by an approach that must carry the first of a number of rocky creeks along the way. Like the first hole, the 17th is a kinder, gentler par 5, with the green visible from the tee, which is surrounded by fescue that makes for an appealing view of a nonthreatening nature. The other two par 5s are considerably meaner, although the sixth is potentially inviting if you hit the ball EXACTLY WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO. The tee shot has to put on the brakes before reaching the end of the fairway, which plummets 120 feet down the rocks to the landing area for the second shot. You can’t see the land below unless you step on the boulders at the end of the fairway, so just pick out a distant stand of trees and let it fly. With trouble right and left and a landing area that’s not especially generous, this is your basic hit and hope hole, but with its downhill nature, longer hitters can get home in two and the rest of us can look forward to a short third if we find the lower landing area. The long, uphill 12th has a ravine through the fairway, a dropoff to rocks and fescue short and left of the green and is just a hard hole. Fortunately, there aren’t many others like it, with a mostly tame group of par 3s devoid of serious length or trouble, and no monster par 4s. Robbins is to be commended for making Canyon Ridge as playable as it is considering the setting, and this is a course well worth the trip to find it and one you will want to return to for both the quality of the layout and the incredible views.