NASHVILLE, Tenn. - If you like cramming a lot of activity into 48 hours, Nashville is your place.
My weekend there in September - my first-ever visit - had a lot going on, but never felt overstuffed. There was the pre-wedding Friday hangout, the wedding itself on Saturday evening and, of course golf. Oh, and one of the best things I've eaten all 2024.
As someone who likes to squeeze as much as possible out of travel opportunities, I found Nashville ideal for a packed trip that never felt rushed or hectic. And as a wandering golfer, I was glad to begin to scratch the surface of a destination to which I hope to return soon.
Nashville golf: two very different sub-$75 courses
The weekend's golf was a tale of opposites: two courses on the outskirts of Nashville proper, in divergent directions. One of them a flattish, walkable, recently renovated muni; the other a hilly, wild-haired former private club beginning to extricate itself from years of declining performance. I didn't have time to get over to Nashville's three most heralded (and most expensive) public courses - Hermitage's President's Reserve and General's Retreat and the course at Gaylord Opryland Resort - but I enjoyed the two more mid-market courses I played, particularly the contrasting experiences they offered.
On Saturday, I snagged a morning tee time at Old Fort Golf Club in Murfreesboro, an easy 35-minute straight shot down I-24. Originally built in 1985, Old Fort is Murfreesboro's city muni, tucked away beside the 50-acre Old Fort Park, a popular community hub in its own right built on the grounds of the Civil War-era Fortress Rosecrans. Routed generally clockwise with each nine looping back on itself, the course uses near-constant changes of direction to make up for its mild terrain, though a few gentle rises and falls help some of the best holes stand out. Players hit over the Stones River twice on the front nine before playing a back nine bracketed on three sides by the winding, limestone-lined waterway.
Old Fort went offline from April through August of 2024 to undergo a renovation project that has refreshed the course and overall golf facility. Architect Nathan Crace and builders Wadsworth Golf Construction refined Leo Howard and Denis Griffiths' original features by reducing bunkering in several places and letting intricately shaped grass hollows shine in others. The greens were replanted with Prizm zoysia, a hardy grass that is seeing more widespread use on putting surfaces in the "transition zone," a band of territory across the Mid-Atlantic and South where courses have debated between the seasonal pros and cons of Bermuda and bent grass for decades. Old Fort's new greens impressed with their quick speed and, while firm enough, were more receptive than most other putting surfaces tend to be when brand-new.
With the costs of numerous projects in American golf's ongoing "Munaissance" running to eight figures, Old Fort's renovation came in at an impressively lean $1.6 million. Judging by the popularity of the place when I was there, it's clear that it was money well spent. Because the city got significant bang for their buck, golfers will continue to enjoy modest green fees. Nashville is not cheap, so Old Fort's $65 top-end green fees (weekends with cart) are quite a bargain.
Sunday morning's round brought me about 25 minutes north of Nashville to the town of Goodlettsville and Twelve Stones Crossing Golf Club. After Old Fort's flattish, bucolic tract, Twelve Stones' severe elevation changes and routing through a residential development could scarcely have felt more different. The par-4 5th hole has to be seen to be believed, rising nearly 100 feet from tee up to the green over the span of just 350 yards. In turn, the course has several exhilarating downhill tee shots, including on the sub-300-yard par-4 13th and monster par-5 14th, which stretches more than 600 yards from the tips. The quirk of some holes can be intimidating at first, but in many cases, there's more room to play than is apparent.
Twelve Stones' own arc has been choppy. Opened in 1999 and laid out by Bill Bergin, it operated as a private club in its early years before the Recession set it back significantly. It closed entirely for a period in the 2010s before being reopened and, gradually, revived in what is an ongoing effort. Current ownership, which includes a consortium of families who live along the fairways, has invested in several areas of the facility, including turning the cheerful clubhouse restaurant into something that appeals not just to golfers but other locals as well. Course conditioning is scruffy in parts but is coming along. The tee boxes will need to be enlarged to account for increased traffic. Membership has swelled from 95 to more than 300 in the last year and the members I ended up paired with were excited for the future. Count Twelve Stones among courses whose futures are likely to be carried by golf's post-Pandemic popularity surge.
A new golf-friendly hotel in Nashville's party-central downtown district
Having never visited Nashville before, I jumped at the opportunity to stay in the middle of the action at the Tempo By Hilton Nashville Downtown. Opened in February 2024 as part of an emerging Hilton sub-brand that focuses on younger travelers via trendy furnishings - art that paid tribute to the city's country music heritage was everywhere - and upscale wellness-related amenities, the Tempo is a good match for Nashville's celebratory vibe. I would happily stay there again on a future trip.
An outpost of the Australia-based Bluestone Lane coffee shop sits on the hotel's ground floor, as does a Topgolf Swing Suite that is set up for group enjoyment. With two simulators equipped for not just golf but other sports games (hockey sticks and baseball bats sit in cubbies beside golf clubs) and a bar, it's an appealing space for avid and merely golf-curious folks. At $70 per hour for simulator access, it's a well-appointed hangout, especially if split four or more ways. I had fun sampling the tech right before heading to the wedding, hitting various shots on an elaborate driving range and trying a par-3 challenge, but it's clearly best for a group.
The Tempo's best asset is its location, a block off of Broadway, Nashville's main tourist district full of honky-tonks, restaurants and shopping. Nighttime people-watching is fun, especially with party buses tooling up and down the street with bachelorette and wedding parties going strong. It was a little chaotic for my taste, but still fun to take in the scene for a couple of evenings.
More notes on a quick first trip to Nashville
- Nashville is home to hot chicken, and while I enjoyed the couple of tastes I had of the local delicacy (I preferred relative newcomer Hattie B's to legacy outlet Prince's), the best thing I ate all weekend was a cheeseburger from Cledis, a delightfully laid-back beer garden on the southeastern side of town. The Oklahoma onion burger was one of the very best of its kind I've ever had, and the truffle parmesan fries were on point, too. The coolest thing about Cledis, named for proprietor Shane Nasby's grandfather, is the restaurant's "mission to combat hunger and hopelessness" in Nashville. They work closely with People Loving Nashville, a city non-profit, to help improve the prospects of area unhoused people. One initiative is "Mission Mondays," on the last Monday of each month, when Cledis hosts a dinner for People Loving Nashville's community.
- The night before the wedding, dozens of guests gathered at Fat Bottom Brewing Co., a brewery in The Nations neighborhood just west of the city center. Fat Bottom is situated within walking distance of dozens of chic rowhouses that characterize this up-and-coming part of town.
- The wedding itself was held at Hillwood Country Club, one of several notable private clubs around town. Hillwood is finishing up its own renovation project in the form of a full re-grassing and other updates of its 1957 Dick Wilson-designed course, which has been overseen by architect Bruce Hepner in recent years.
- I'd be curious to check out the Gaylord Opryland Resort on a future trip, but staying downtown and playing golf on the outskirts of Nashville felt like a perfect way to get to know the area. Weekend morning traffic both days en route to my tee times was mild.
- An underrated point in Nashville's favor as a potential golf trip destination is its airport's (BNA) status as a Southwest Airlines hub. I loathe their cattle-call approach to boarding planes (I'm glad they're doing away with it soon), but Southwest's policy of allowing two free checked bags is perfect for golfers.
