Black Mountain Golf Club

Black Mountain Golf Club sits 17 miles east of Asheville in Black Mountain, North Carolina, a public mountain course with a Donald Ross pedigree on the front nine (1929) and a later back nine added in 1962. The Ross nine is the reason to come: narrow fairways, greens placed adjacent to tees for walking efficiency, and the sloping-green architecture that defines his catalog. Local golfers regard the Ross nine as some of the best public-access Ross golf in western North Carolina. The course's headline feature is the 17th, a 747-yard par-6 that was once recognized as the longest hole in the world. It's become the course's signature talking point and an inevitable group photo stop. Total yardage is a modest 6,215 from the back tees (par 71), so the 17th stands out even more against the compact routing. Water and elevation come into play on the Ross front nine; the 1962 back nine integrates the same terrain with more modern hole-design sensibilities. Black Mountain is one of the most accessible Donald Ross public courses in the Southeast, a small-town muni that preserves meaningful Ross DNA. For an Asheville mountain golf itinerary, pair it with Omni Grove Park Inn (Ross redesigned 1926) for a two-course Ross weekend.