Diamond Creek ☆ Follow

Diamond Creek is an 18-hole golf course with 7,175 yards and par 70, designed by Tom Fazio and located in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Set into the Blue Ridge Mountains at an elevation of 4,000 feet, the course opened in 2003 and is consistently ranked as one of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses by Golf Digest. Fazio literally moved mountains to create the course, which winds its way across the mountainous landscape. Unusually, there are no tee boxes here at Diamond Creek, simply distance markers, and the par 70 Diamond Creek features bent grass from tee to green, bluegrass rough and blinding white sand in the bunkers.

The uphill par four 9th is considered the signature hole at Diamond Creek and is a three-shotter for most golfers, measuring 515 yards from the back tees. Tom Fazio positioned the par-3 17th green nearly at the base of a sheer granite quarry wall, down which a slender stream of water drops more than 100 feet. The course is firmly in the difficult category, with the gauntlet thrown down from the start with a brutal 500-yard par four from the back championship tees. The challenging layout is delicately integrated into the natural terrain with astonishing, high-elevation views.