Holston Hills Country Club

 

Holston Hills was created in 1925.  In 1927, Donald Ross was hired to design the golf course on 180 acres of land.  With very little exception, the design remains unchanged since Mr. Ross completed Holston over eighty years ago.  In fact, Holston Hills was rated by noted architect Tom Doak, Chairman of the Golf Magazine Top 100 Rating Committee, as one of the Ten Best Preserved Golf Courses in the World - along with The Old Course at St. Andrews, Shinnecock, Prestwick, Oakmont and Pine Valley.

 

Holston Hills has long been recognized as one of the most outstanding golf courses in the South.  This year Holston was selected by Golfweek as the 98th best classic course (pre-1960) in America.

 

Holston Hills has hosted four Southern Amateurs, nine Tennessee State Amateur Championships, two NCAA Championships, countless US Open and US Amateur qualifiers, the PGA Cup Matches, a competition between the top 12 PGA Pros from the United States and their counterparts from Great Britain, the 2004 USGA Women’s Mid-Am, 3 Tennessee PGA Section Championship, and this year hosted the Korn Ferry Tour’s Visit Knoxville Open for the first time.

 

Individually, the twelfth hole has been frequently rated as one of the most difficult holes in the state and Tom Doak, in selecting Mr. Ross’ best 18 holes, cited #2 as the best second hole ever created by Mr. Ross. 

 

For more information and a hole-by-hole description of our classic design, you may visit our website at www.holstonhills.com.

 

 

Donald James Ross

1872 - 1948

 

Donald Ross, the creator of Holston Hills, is generally regarded as the greatest golf course architect of all time.

 

Born and raised in Dornoch, Scotland, Mr. Ross served at the Dornoch Golf Club as greenskeeper, club maker and golf professional.  In 1899, at the age of 27, Mr. Ross left Scotland for the United States and was hired as the golf professional at the Oakley Country Club in Massachusetts.

 

Mr. Ross achieved some success as a golfer, winning the North-South Open at Pinehurst, the Massachusetts State Open and placing well in both the United States Open and the Open Championship of Britain.

 

However, one year after his arrival in the United States, James Tufts of Boston hired Mr. Ross to serve as the golf professional during the winter months in his recently developed resort - Pinehurst, North Carolina.  Mr. Ross immediately redesigned Pinehurst No. 1 and added 9 more holes in 1901 to complete the 18-hole layout. In 1912, Mr. Ross dedicated himself to the art of golf course design and created Donald J. Ross Associates of Little Compton, Rhode Island and Pinehurst, North Carolina.

 

Mr. Ross is currently credited with 412 golf course designs.  Common amongst his designs were greens which were accessible from the front and that sloped downward from back to front, generous fairways, subtle mounding and visible hazards – all features which are characteristic of Holston Hills.  Most of Mr. Ross' designs remain today and the character of his work can be seen at Oakland Hills, Seminole, Pinehurst, Plainfield, Salem, Oak Hill, and also at Holston Hills.

 

Holston Hills annually dedicates the Member-Guest Golf Tournament to the memory of this outstanding contributor to the game of golf.