Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain

The Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain is Jack Nicklaus's 1998 state-park signature course in Crossville, Tennessee, one of five Nicklaus-designed Bear Trace courses commissioned by the state to anchor a public-access Tennessee golf trail. Nicklaus routed 6,900 yards through Cumberland Plateau terrain, using existing elevation changes, flowing brooks, and clustered mature pines to do the strategic defending rather than manufactured hazards. The signature 7th is a 393-yard par-4 with layered flagstone along the front of the green, the kind of photogenic hole that ends up on Tennessee tourism ads. Several par-5s use the plateau's natural downhill runs for reachable-in-two opportunities, while the par-3s sit on steep green complexes that reject indecisive approaches. Bear Trace Cumberland Mountain was named one of the Top Ten Courses You Can Play in North America by Golf Magazine in 1999, and Golf Digest placed it in the Top Ten Courses in Tennessee in 2001. Golfweek ranked it the #1 Public Course in Tennessee for both 2012 and 2013. At state-park pricing for a Nicklaus signature course, it's the must-play round on the Tennessee Bear Trace.