Close your eyes and picture the most scenic golf course you’ve ever played.

Now picture the most scenic golf course you’ve ever played that is not bordering an ocean or other body of water.

Maybe your mind goes to the deserts of Arizona, the mountains of North Carolina or the Wisconsin Dells. But it’s a tough assignment—outstanding beauty in golf usually comes with the prospect of water.

Arriving this year, we have another prime contender for this “inland beauty” category.

The Keep at McLemore sits on a stunning piece of property in Rising Fawn, Ga., on the eastern side of Lookout Mountain. It’s about a 45-minute drive from Chattanooga, Tenn., and a little more than two hours from both Atlanta and Nashville.

The course’s defining feature is an omnipresent view of a gorgeous green cove that gives the impression of playing golf on the edge of a national park.

I was fortunate enough to play the course last week as part of Camp ECCO, an event that brought golf writers and influencers to McLemore in an effort to preview the course while wearing new ECCO BIOM H5 golf shoes (more to come on the shoes in a separate post).

In this story, I will give a full breakdown of my experience at The Keep. Is it worth making the trip to play? Is it worth the cost?

I will go into all of that and give you my brutally honest opinion on the course itself.

The origins of McLemore

My colleague Phillip Bishop wrote about McLemore two years ago and detailed his experience with the Highlands course. The Highlands, which I played in 2020, is true tree-lined mountain golf with plenty of elevation change. The 18th hole spills out on the edge of a bluff overlooking the valley.

The Highlands was the first renovation of this reimagined property. Formerly Canyon Ridge Resort, Duane Horton and Scenic Land Company purchased the course in 2017 and rebranded it to “McLemore.” Rees Jones was given the reins to reimagine the golf course which hadn’t been in the greatest shape prior to the renovation.

Horton had bigger plans than just a course renovation, however, as McLemore has been blooming into a golf destination. Cloudland, which opened in 2024, is the first hotel built on Lookout Mountain since the Great Depression. It’s quite a stunning facility, with 245 guest rooms, including 19 suites and 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

There are three restaurants, a cafe and a sky bar suspended over the cliff’s edge. I can vouch for the view after sipping on a cocktail from the balcony. The food is sublime and it tastes even better as you are lounging by the pool or just staring out at the gorge.

The Keep, designed by Bill Bergen, is the next chapter of the McLemore story. Having opened for preview play last September, it is scheduled for a grand opening this September.

While the Highlands course, the driving range and six-hole pitch-and-putt layout is right next to Cloudland, golfers playing at The Keep hop on an eight-minute shuttle to get to the other course.

Playing golf above the clouds

Sitting on a bluff overlooking McLemore Cove, The Keep offers that “wow” factor as soon as your shuttle arrives to the shed that is serving as a temporary clubhouse (more permanent facilities are being built).

This is a brawny place. There are virtually no trees in play throughout the entire course—they were cleared out to make the course—although I somehow found a few after a wicked slice on the 16th hole.

You can pretty much see the whole course no matter where you are on property.

Every feature here is big. The course is big, stretching to 7,800 yards if you are foolish to take on that much golf. The cove (which you can see no matter where you are on the course) is big. The fairways, greens and their accompanying slopes are big. There are 70 acres of fairways, more than double the average fairway size for a golf course.

And there is another “big” element here that envelopes you: the wind.

We played on a windy day where 30-mph gusts—at least three clubs’ difference when calculating distance—had us falling over. After hitting my second shot on No. 9, I accidentally dropped my scorecard and watched it quickly vanish over the cliffside some 100 yards from where I stood.

According to those at McLemore, that kind of wind is not much of an outlier.

It’s a little like playing golf in Ireland or Scotland—you just expect it to be windy.

As I said when I started this story, the first thing to note about The Keep is the beauty. Thankfully, we have photos to describe the beauty better than I can do with words.

This could be the most visually appealing inland course in the country.

It’s every bit as intoxicating as looking out at the Pacific Ocean while playing Bandon Dunes. If your goal is to play golf in a beautiful setting, there are no debates to be had here. The land reminds me of New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia.

If you are a hiker, kayaker and golfer (as I am), a destination like McLemore is very appealing for its versatility. There are trails all around Lookout Mountain. Chattanooga’s kayaking is superb. And in terms of other golf in the area, you could do much worse than Sweetens Cove, which is less than an hour from McLemore, or Sewanee, which is another 30 minutes up I-24.

The Keep is also very walkable (as opposed to the Highlands course, which is not). That is a big bonus in my book.

Overall course impressions

I’m going to get into a few holes but let’s start with an overall summary of what I thought of the course.

Please, please, please, (Sabrina Carpenter voice) play the white tees or however far up you can.

If you don’t, The Keep will stand for “keep” your scorecard in your pocket.

It’s 6,654 yards from the blues, a yardage I would only recommend if you are a scratch golfer or better. The whites are 6,022 yards—and that is plenty of golf course when you account for difficulty.

The fairways, which are still growing in, are heavenly zoysia. They are beautiful surfaces to hit off, particularly when it comes to chipping. The greens, which are still very firm, are bentgrass. They are perfectly conditioned but way too fast given some of the slopes out there.

At one point, someone in our group hit a chip past the hole and we watched the wind (and slope) carry it backwards some 30 feet. Some of the holes up against the bluff were borderline unplayable with that amount of wind.

As the course matures, the greens will undoubtedly get softer and slower. These surfaces should be rolling closer to a 9 on the Stimpmeter as opposed to an 11 or 12. I’m also not concerned with the patchiness of the fairways. This place will look spectacular in short order.

These are common issues with new golf courses—it’s just that The Keep’s location on an exposed cliffside exacerbates them.

There are 18 distinct holes on this golf course. My test for this is: Do the holes tend to run together in my memory after playing? Not here—I could easily remember every hole because they all had a unique flavor.

That is very much appreciated. It’s not a bland golf course. Even holes our group didn’t love gave us something to talk about.

Ultimately, that is way better than boring golf.

Some of the holes frustrated me from a design standpoint when you account for the severity of the wind. In particular, some the penalty areas seem excessive. The lack of variation in the par-3s was also a real disappointment in that three of them are similar yardages with similar feels.

Having said that, there are a few standout holes I absolutely loved. The course kept my attention the whole way through.

Holes I enjoyed playing

The par-5 second hole is a cool split-fairway tee shot. You can play the hole “backwards” based on where the hole is located. Going up the left will typically offer a better angle to the green but there is more room off the tee to the right. This is a fabulous hole design for a windy property.

The par-3 eighth is an “infinity green” heading to McLemore Cove. This has an unbelievable view and a fun tee shot. Downwind, you are trying to land your short iron in the front of the green to get it to stop (a chore given the current firmness of the greens).

The par-5 15th is my favorite on the course. It’s a wide-open tee shot but you have to navigate around a huge rock outcropping in the center of the fairway. This feature is so, so awesome. If you carry the rock on your second shot, that leaves a short-iron approach to a well-shaped green.

The best green site on the course is on the par-4 17th. This short hole is a driver-wedge in between all natural rocks. No earth was moved here. The rocks were found this way and at the green fits perfectly in between it all.

And the tee shot on No. 18 has golfers sending their ball way down the hill with perhaps the coolest view on the course.

Holes I didn’t love

The par-4 first hole slaps you in the face with a mammoth forced carry over a canyon. It’s sweet to look at but, I would imagine, not as fun to play over for most recreational golfers. For a resort course where high-handicappers will be playing, I’m not sure a forced carry like this was a good idea—especially on the opening hole.

Both the par-4 fifth and sixth holes are “miss left and you are 100-percent dead” situations. I want to focus on No. 6, a drivable par-4 with a pond left of the green. I’m not sure what is going on here. There is little incentive to go for the green as missing right of the green is a terrible leave unless you hit an incredible shot. You are forced to lay up to a wide-open fairway, leading to a wedge. This a short par-3 in disguise.

Nos. 9 and 10 are played cliffside. Once again, it’s an unreal view. I can’t emphasize that enough. But the wind is whipping hardest in this area and both holes have blind shots, making it uncertain where the cliffside ends. I would think these two fairways and greens would be the most forgiving on the course but that isn’t the case.

The par-4 13th has a green with an angle I don’t understand. I pulled my tee shot way left into the 12th fairway while the rest of my group hit the proper fairway—I was somehow rewarded with the best angle by far while my partners were faced with a much worse angle.

How much does it cost to play The Keep?

There are a few ways to play including becoming a member of the course or being a “Friend of McLemore”—the latter gives you four rounds per year.

But in terms of stay and play packages, you are looking at dynamic pricing. Estimates would be around $375 per round at The Keep although you should contact McLemore for more information if you want to plan a stay.

The Highlands course is a little less expensive at roughly $225 depending on time of year.

Final thoughts

Lookout Mountain is a beautiful place. As soon as I returned home, I was trying to find a way back to stay at Cloudland for a weekend getaway.

The golf is very good and you get to look at McLemore Cove all round. And, hey, that is a serious green check mark in The Keep’s favor.

This is among the most scenic courses I’ve played. I’m struggling to come up with a more stunning inland course.

Coming here on a family vacation would be outstanding. Pairing it with Sweetens Cove and Sewanee would also make for a great golf trip. And there is a ton to do in the area in addition to the good golf.

However, exempting the view, I would say the golf itself is a tier below offerings at Streamsong, Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley or similar places.

It’s a very good golf course but not on that level. Which, to be fair, not many courses are.

Assuming it matures and grows into great shape, I would give The Keep a B+ or A- as an overall grade. I really enjoyed my experience and hope to come back at some point. I’m a fan. You should make the trip but maybe wait until the course is fully ready.

I prefer The Keep over Highlands in a landslide although the two different styles of golf are appreciated.

Would you play The Keep? Let me know below in the comments.

The post MGS Experiences: The Keep At McLemore appeared first on MyGolfSpy.