Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain State Park

Sad to see a course of this pedigree in such a state. Many bare patches and brown spots on greens, fairways are rife with large diseased and bare patches of grass. First time playing the course, it was mostly empty save for a high school team and a couple other groups. The layout is great but it is compromised by the poor state of the course.

For 68 dollars this is a rip off. Staff was friendly and club house is pretty cool. The conditions of the golf course were terrible. Greens were dead everywhere and painfully slow. Tough to distinguish fairways from rough. Should be a crime to do this to a Jack Nicklaus course. Unbelievable they feel okay about charging 68 dollars.

The conditions were absolutely terrible. For a $65 round of golf I would expect conditions to be pretty good. Greens were missing half the grass, fairways missing tons of grass. Bunkers not raked at all and the rocks all over them. Staff seemed apprehensive at best but the starter was good. Was first out so pace was no issue. Picture is actually one of the decent greens. I will never go back. Sad that I had an out of town person pick this course because of Jack.

Cumberland is easily my favorite Bear Trace. It’s February and the greens and fairways were great. It rained hard about three days prior to my playing so they didn’t get to cut the fairways, but still they were nice. Because I live in a county that borders Cumberland county it only costs $40 to ride 18. This is definitely a $60-$70 course. I love this place.

Visited the golf course on 10-24-2022 and was not impressed.
Here are the 3 things this course has issues.

1. Fairways were a mess with the disease from over watering.
2. Greens were ate up with a disease. Black patches all over.
3. Rocks were all over in the sand traps. Not a few, but a lot.

Drove from Nashville to play this course and it wasn’t worth it.
Should be charging 40 instead of 80. Course is in to bad of shower to be charging full price. Didn’t expect a “Bear Trace” course to look like this!

My 3rd course played in a 3 course package. Dorchester and Stonehenge MUCH better.
This course was in decent shape considering all the rain previously, A tight, "back and forth" layout. Some good views. I have played a lot nicer courses for less.
The bad: Pace of play was terrible. We went off at 0900. There was a group of 3, then a single, and then a foursome in front of us. The foursome refused to let the single play through. By hole 10 it was really getting backed up. Someone called ranger/starter, he basically did nothing, said "enjoy the nice day" Took 5 hours and 20 min to play.
Snack Bar: Hotdogs and Brats were cold. Only one person working, so it was slow.
If you take a package to Tennessee Mountain golf, don't pick this course.

Great condition and the staff was wonderful. Got my first ever hole in one on #14

Great day a the course , friendly staff. Great job course Marshall!! Perfect day for golf, course condition was excellent.

Enjoyed this Nicklaus course that is part of tn state parks. One of my favorite courses by Jack. Course has a very unique layout with plenty of elevation changes and signature holes.

Conditions could have been better on fairways and tees, greens were solid.

We chose the Bear Trace based on our past experience playing here. We knew the course was challenging but this trip was an exception. The rough was extremely thick and tall. So bad in fact it slowed our pace of play looking for balls. It was like playing in the US Open. Several of the the greens had fungi growing on them causing several bald spots. It was decided in the future this will not be a stop for our family tournament.

Greens were undulated but had a lot of fungus areas. Fairways in good shape, rough was high.

started at the front desk when they told us to split a small bucket between players. Then the driving range grass was at least 4 inches tall. The place is beautiful but not maintained. It is a true shame! I would never go back.

This is very challenging course and as a first timer there, I did not know the best spots to play for or the distances. Course is beautiful, winds through hilly forest terrain, and the greens are very fast, but true. Staff was very nice. When my "A" game returns and I have a gps rangefinder, I will give it another shot.

Very disappointed in course conditions. Many dead/bare spots throughout course. A few greens with several bare spots as well. Putting over dirt. Certainly not worth the cost. I have played other Bear Trace Tn trail courses that are immensely better managed and in better condition. Some of the non Bear Trace Tn Golf Trail courses are in much better condition. Expected much more. Will not return to Cumberland Mountain. With the exception of morning cart guy/starter, staff is not very congenial or friendly and seem bothered that you are there to play. This is very different than other Tn Golf Trail courses which have very friendly staff. In addition area of golf shop where you check in is very messy and unkept and gives an appearance of a lack of or very bad management of this facility. This carries over to the lack of proper maintenance of the course.

The course is beautiful and the greens were in good shape, however there are some maintenance issues that need attention. The grass around the aprons on most greens was dead or thin. Weeds have crept into theses areas. Many fairways were thin and some had bare spots. Traps needed raked and trimming around the lips. I would still recommend the course but the prices are high considering the current conditions. Friendly staff!

As someone who is a member at a private club with a Nicklaus signature course, my expectations for this course were probably way too high from a conditioning standpoint. The fairways at Bear Trace Cumberland Mountain were in average shape, but unfortunately they have lost a good number of the greens on the course, some of which were virtually unplayable. Nicklaus courses of this vintage are expensive to maintain and without proper funding there's simply no way a state run daily fee course can expect to keep their course in top notch condition without raising the green fees. The design of the course is challenging and the rolling terrain of the site probably makes growing turf difficult even with an adequate budget. However, I simply can't recommend this course to my fellow golfers when there are other options in the area that are far superior and priced similarly. The pro shop staff was incredibly nice and helpful, but they can't make grass grow, which is sort of essential to the whole process of making a golf course enjoyable. Hopefully, they will get the course back in shape, but I think this course is a prime example of a state park being in way over their head from maintenance standpoint.