The Elite 18: The Honors Course Recognized As Best Hole No. 8

Receiving accolades is nothing new for The Honors Course. It’s precisely what the club’s visionary and founder - the late Jack Lupton – envisioned when the course opened in 1983.

The Honors is perennially ranked as the top golf course in Tennessee, and is rated as the 31^st best course in the United States according to Golf Digest. The course has been the site of a number of national and regional amateur championships, the next one occurring this August when the U.S. Senior Amateur is staged.

Also on the future calendar is the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur as well as the 2031 U.S. Amateur Championship.

The golf course created by the legendary architect Pete Dye and touched up by Gil Hanse two years ago has some iconic holes in its spectacular routing, one of which is the par 3 eighth hole surrounded by a lake. While one could argue that The Honors Course itself could be deemed The Elite 18, this hole was the reader’s choice to join these other winners:

No. 1: WindStone Golf Club

No. 2: McLemore Highlands Course

No. 3: Bear Trace at Harrison Bay

No. 4: Chattanooga Golf and Country Club

No. 5: The Ooltewah Club

No. 6: Black Creek Club

No. 7: Brainerd Golf Course

It’s time to close out our Elite 18 front nine. Our panel of local professionals and top amateurs came up with 14 different No. 9 holes nominated among the 25 golf courses in consideration. With distances measured from the back tees, the top nominees are:

Battlefield Golf Club, par 4, 418 yards: This imposing dogleg left involves a decision off the tee to avoid the winding stream that crosses the fairway. Clearing the water requires a carry of 265 yards, forcing most golfers to play it safe and layup short. The conservative route on this risk-reward hole will leave a minimum of 165 yards uphill to the elevated green.

Black Creek Club, par 4, 431 yards: With Black Creek coming into play as a diagonal hazard from the right, the wall fronting the green is a remnant from the original road bed of Judge Will Cummings’ farm. Bunkers must be avoided off the tee, followed by a forced-carry over water to land safely on the green. There is a bail out area to the right for those faint of heart in challenging the creek.

Dalton Golf and Country Club, par 3, 174 yards: The picturesque hole over a lake with the clubhouse serving as a backdrop is a memorable way to close the front nine. The width of the green is ample, but picking the proper club is in order as the depth of the landing area is limited. A pair of bunkers will swallow any shots too long, and the water hazard and a large bunker snag those falling short.

The Farm, par 5, 566 yards: The narrow par 5 is a thing of beauty as it ascends uphill toward Mt. Sinai. A series of bunkers flanks the left side of the fairway while a rushing stream runs the length of the hole to the right. Precision is a must here, as the long but narrow green is set at an angle and well-guarded by a handful of bunkers and the creek.

The Honors Course, par 4, 372 yards: This hole is where Tiger Woods carded a triple-bogey in his final round as a collegian on his way to winning the 1996 NCAA individual championship. Teeing from an island perched in the middle of the lake, avoiding the bunker to the left leaves a manageable yardage into a green that requires all carry to clear the water protecting the front and left of the putting surface.

You can make your preference known at the poll below. Voting will remain open until Wednesday at 6 p.m., with the final results revealed on Thursday when we make the turn and introduce the candidates for the Elite 18 Hole No. 10.

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Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com