Marion Lake Club, Nebo, NC

I play this course often (once a week).
The good:
The course is located in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. The fairways are in good shape and wide enough to be very forgiving on bad drives. The greens are A++ but a bit fast, so take your chipping club with you when putting. The staff is great and helpful. Price is fair at around 30 dollars for 18.
The bad:
Greens can be very fast and hard to adjust to. Fairways have some crabgrass here and there. Almost every hole will be located on a hill or turn. There are lots of water hazards to get in the way.
All in all, this is a good course to play. I would not recommend it for begginners.

This course was too much for my ability and stamina. Very few shots that are not off a slope: left, right, up or down. Greens were fast like marble. I started bringing my wedge with my putter. Lots of putts that roll off the green. That said, I had a great time. Richie in the club house was great. I forgot to bring a hat and he found one for me in the lost & found in the cart shack. $15 to walk 18 on a Sunday afternoon. Don't know if that included a senior discount. What a freaking hike! Moderate to good maintenance of fairways. Greens were almost recovered from aeration so the ball didn't role real true. Like it mattered, they were so fast. One-of-a-kind views. Worth the hour, 40 minute drive from Charlotte. Eighteen lessons in humility.

I played this course today...got the Sr discount..and was pleasantly suprised at what a hidden gem this course is. THe bad things first...there are a number of blind shots...you really need to ride or walk up and take a look at the landing areas for your drives..hazards bound. There could be some better signage to let you know where the tee boxes are..and hole 13 and 14 require you to hit over a road and the corner of a house...respectively. Other than that....the course was great. Very good greens....fairways were in very good condition. I thought the front was tighter than the back..but I had no problems hitting the fairways on either 9. THe back nine has views of the lake...and on the 18th tee box...there is a magnificent view of Table Rock and Linville Gorge across Lake James. It was worth playing just for this vista. Beers in the clubhouse were cold and reasonable. I would absolutely come back to this course.

All in all a very nice course. There was a little bit of crabgrass here and there but the greens were in excellent condition as was the overall condition of the course! The snack bar had a good selection of sandwiches and beverages. The staff was friendly and courteous. The back nine was much more scenic although tighter and with smaller greens and a couple of tee boxes were difficult to navigate. The carts and scorecards were awesome. I expected a little more for the greens fees but still not a bad deal by any means.