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By Dave Daubert

Sequoyah National Golf Club, owned by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians and managed by Northbrook, Ill.-based Kemper Sports, has completed a major renovation of the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design masterpiece in the western North Carolina foothills.

The redo included a complete bunker renovation with the extraordinary Capillary concrete bunkers and regrassing of fairways, tees and green surrounds with Zeon Zoysia, a lush luxurious new hybrid grass that holds it greenness late into the fall and begins greening earlier in he spring than most other turfgrasses. It maintained the fabulous bent-grass greens that continue to play smooth and true year-round.

The work was completed by Southeastern Golf under the supervision of the Robert Trent Jones Jr. design team. The move will allow for year-round premium playing conditions on the award-winning layout. The course reopened to rave reviews the first week of October.

“We’ve invested in the future of the golf course with these upgrades and we’re very pleased with the finished product,” said Curtis Wildcat, Sequoyah National Golf Board chairman. “With these improvements, we believe Sequoyah National is now the finest public mountain course in the Southeast.” The course is also one of the many amenities for the guests at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort just four miles away.

I was fortunate to attend the opening in 2009 and the course was one of the finest I had played in all of western North Carolina at the time. It is ranked #39 in Golfweek’s 2020 list of the “Best Casino Courses in the United States.”

Located just 45 minutes from Asheville, the 6,600-yard course is open to the public and plays to a par of 72. Click here for reservations or for more information.

The awesome setting includes stands of mature fir and hardwoods that explode with vibrant fall colors every year. Players enjoy panoramic, jaw-dropping vistas the Great Smoky Mountains on every hole.

When it opened, I remember sitting outside near the driving range, captivated by the pure beauty of the view. It was awesome. More