"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

May 24, 2005

Tauqueta Falls, that long-awaited, seemingly star-crossed golf course on top of Lookout Mountain in Rising Fawn, Ga. is open at last. Just don’t call it Tauqueta Falls.

In construction since 1995 yet caught in limbo under various ownerships that ran short of funding, Canyon Ridge, the golf course formerly known as Tauqueta Falls, is destined to become a classic. Long-suffering members can finally see the course on June 3, and later in the month, it will be open for public play.

Scenic #1 green at Canyon Ridge

Thanks to the diligence of North Carolina real estate developer Randy Baker, a great golf course and a cozy second-home/retirement community have been rescued despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Somehow, Baker found a way to overcome them all. He eagerly awaits the reaction to all his efforts.

 “It’s been like being pregnant for five years,” Baker said. “You begin thinking, ‘What’s the baby going to look like? Will everybody think she’s cute?’ ”

Baker already knew what Canyon Ridge looks like, or would look like once he finished the project. He was lured in by the course’s mountain views from the minute he laid eyes on it. More involved than most developers, Baker takes a regular turn on a fairway mower, using the time to evaluate what he’s got and ponder the possibilities.

What Baker didn’t know before Monday is what outsiders would think of the golf course. He got his answer when a small group of Chattanooga-area media was allowed to play the course. The response was overwhelming. Baker’s got a jewel on his hands.

I’m a huge fan of mountain golf, which predisposed me toward Canyon Ridge. But that bias aside, I can report that the golf course is unique and one of the fairest mountain golf courses you’ll play. It’s not hard to see why Baker, and designer Rick Robbins, latched onto the project and wouldn’t let go. Robbins has been attached to Tauqueta Falls/Canyon Ridge for 10 years.

“You see sites like this pretty infrequently,” said Robbins, who has designed or co-designed more than 150 golf courses in a 33-year career. “To have a piece of property like this is one reason I’ve stayed through so many years and different ownership. You want it to get done. I wasn’t going to let it go until it was finished.”

Know that Robbins isn’t hurting for business, or suffering from a lack of respect. His work receives high marks. Among his courses of recent vintage, Horseshoe Bay Golf Club in Wisconsin was voted that state’s second-best course, just behind The Straits Course at Whistling Straits, site of the 2004 PGA Championship.

Having built courses around the world, Robbins knows a good piece of property when he sees one. And the 420 acres upon which the Canyon Ridge course and housing development sit are special.

“I’ve built mountain courses in this country and around the world in places like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand,” Robbins said. “And this place is unique, different than all of them. This sounds like an oxymoron, but I call this property flat mountain golf. You’ve got elevation, but you play to relatively flat areas. You don’t have the kind of side-hill, uphill, downhill golf that everybody hates.”

Through 18 holes, I can’t recall having a severe hilly lie. Just as important, the greens are extremely fair. They have contour, but not the kind of elephant-burial-mound, circus undulations some designers believe is a true test of golf.

I would be hard-pressed to single out a favorite hole on the course, so plentiful are the choices. All 18 are memorable in some way. The funs starts right from the beginning, at the par-4 No. 1 hole. Players hit from an elevated tee and can watch their opening shots sail away, seemingly forever. My drive took more than 10 seconds to hit the fairway. The view behind the first green is incredible; on a clear day, says Canyon Ridge public relations director Dave Droschak, you can see the Great Smoky Mountains.

One tip: Don’t over-club at No. 1. If you miss the green long, you’ll never see your ball again.

I also loved No. 18, which features mountain views down the entire left side of the fairway. In between, there are challenging holes aplenty, including a couple of lengthy par threes (No. 7 and 11, both measuring more than 200 yards) and the 567-yard par-5 No. 12 hole, which is fraught with peril from tee to green.

Robbins took full advantage of what nature provided him.

“There were just so many places where we found larger boulder after large boulder where we didn’t expect,” Robbins said. “And there were fantastic little streams and waterfalls. Beautiful things just kept popping up time after time. Take No. 7 for example. It went from a heavily forested, scrub-type of area to an unbelievable looking golf hole when we cleared out the undergrowth and exposed rock after rock after rock.”

Visually intimidating at times, Canyon Ridge is nevertheless playable for golfers of most skill levels, though anyone with a handicap of higher than 10 doesn’t need to deal with the back tees.

“My father, who’s 70, came to play the course, and he really enjoyed it,” Baker said. “He said it played a lot easier than it looked.”

Canyon Ridge will be open to public play in late June and remain so the rest of the year. In 2006, the course will become semi-private, with a goal of eventually becoming private. Do yourself a favor and make the trek to play this course. You might end up buying a lot.

Canyon Ridge can be reached from I-24. From 24, take I-59 South toward Birmingham. From 59, take Exit 11 (Highway 136). Go East on Highway 16 approximately a quarter mile to a dead end. Go right (still on 136) one block to the next light. Go left at the light and follow 136 up Lookout Mountain.

Once on top of the mountain, continue going east on 136 to the second flashing light (approximately five miles) to Highway 157. Go right for approximately three miles. Canyon Ridge is on the left. Call 888-883-9800 for details about the course and homesite information.

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