Wade Hampton is a Fazio masterpiece—immaculate, dramatic, and demanding in equal measure. Revered for its blend of walkability and visual punch, it’s a regionally elite experience and a pilgrimage for serious players seeking mountain golf at its finest.
After the round, sit on the clubhouse porch with a drink and look back into the valley — Tom Fazio has said visiting top-100 golfers have told him it’s as good a place to sit after golf as anywhere in the world.
Wade Hampton is a benchmark for mountain golf—a Tom Fazio original that respects the natural valley, embracing elevation changes without ever letting them overpower the game. Fazio’s routing makes the most of long valley views, varied shot shapes, and strategic nuance. Recent renovations freshened playing surfaces, bunkers, and green surrounds, ensuring firm, championship-level conditions in one of the region’s purest mountain settings. The course is celebrated for its balance: beautiful yet unforced, strategic yet playable, and always in pristine shape.
Tom Fazio’s masterwork in the mountains—a career-defining exercise in restraint and beauty.
A dramatic, lengthy par 5 that traverses rolling terrain, rewarding shots that blend discipline with distance. Positioning off the tee sets up a demanding second, with undulating ground and strategic bunkers framing every layup and approach.
Favor the safe side from the tee to avoid trouble, then decide: go for it in two or lay up short for the best angle into a tiered green perched among the hills.
Cross bunkers and shifting lies make aggressive plays doubly penal, especially if you stray off the prime landing areas.
Superb—fast bentgrass greens, lush fairways, pristine bunker shaping
Relaxed but steady; enjoy the views and take time on each shot
Private, low-key, and quietly elite with warm hospitality
Proper golf attire expected—collared shirts, no denim
Prepare for undulating terrain, especially if walking—the elevation is beautiful but can sneak up on you physically.
Factor in mountain altitude for every shot; balls fly farther and winds shift quickly.
Greens are slick and subtly contoured—solid chipping and putting mean everything.
Course opens, immediately named Golf Digest’s Best New Private Course
Debuts in Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest, never falls below Top 40
Achieves highest national ranking: #15 in U.S. (Golf Digest)
Hosts the U.S. Senior Amateur, first USGA championship at Wade Hampton
Clubhouse and amenity renovations completed (non-course areas)
Some of Wade Hampton’s streams were carefully piped underground during construction—a stealthy engineering feat. It helped preserve walkability and classic mountain scenery while keeping the routing playable for golfers of all ages.
The club made an instant splash as Golf Digest’s Best New Private Course in 1987 and has remained a mainstay at the top of North Carolina’s—and America’s—rankings. Its reputation grew quickly, drawing serious golfers long before most had heard of Cashiers.
In 2013, Wade Hampton hosted its first USGA national event, the U.S. Senior Amateur. The championship brought the best senior amateurs in the country to witness the course’s demanding blend of beauty and challenge.
The 2018 renovation, led by Fazio Design, didn’t reinvent the course—it revitalized it. New bentgrass greens, reimagined bunkers, and freshened tees kept Wade Hampton’s reputation for perfection alive into the modern era.
Once ranked as high as #15 in America by Golf Digest
Named for Wade Hampton III, a 19th-century governor and senator
Some mountain streams run hidden beneath the fairways, piped underground to preserve routing
The course sits 3,500 feet above sea level, shaping ball flight and weather
Wade Hampton debuted as Golf Digest’s Best New Private Course in its first year
Elite Fazio peer with equal mountain majesty—an area must for private club access
Historic, scenic mountain layout—stay-and-play with lodge and famed hospitality
Highland’s answer to modern mountain golf, strong views and amenities
Arnold Palmer public track—mountain panorama, open to all
Cashiers village—minutes to Wade Hampton, Mountaintop, and High Hampton; Highlands is ideal for dining/lodging variety
Courses with the most similar DNA profile — matched by deviation shape across all eight playing characteristics.
Why it matches: What links these two? Puts the same premium on presentation — a familiar feeling, expressed in TPC Deere Run's own setting.
Why it matches: Aurora International Golf Club is a natural next stop after Wade Hampton Golf Club: it shares a memorable sense of place.
Why it matches: Old Kinderhook Resort Golf Club & Spa is a natural next stop after Wade Hampton Golf Club: it offers similarly polished playing surfaces.
Community Sentiment
See something inaccurate in this listing?