Fazio Golf Course at Barnsley Resort

Play through the boulders of the North Georgia foothills!

Yardage book and signature golf balls aid play

The Jim Fazio golf course at Barsnsley Resort was designed in 1999 encompassing a generous 378-acres, making a motorized cart a necessity for any round of golf. The course is 7200-yards at its maximum length, which is deceptive since it blends in well with the natural landscape.  On the back nine holes, the cart path undulates as it crosses hardwood bottoms in between the ridgelines that define the Barnsley Resort property. At these highest elevations, hiking paths and horse trails intersect, revealing other ways that guests at Barnsley Resort can get outdoors and look back down the hill towards the resort campus.

Downhill shot to a Par 3 - and I made a par!

The fourth hole looks like a canyon to the Lowcountry observer, and demands the ability to execute sidehill and uphill shots in order to reach the green. There is no dishonor in hooking or pushing a shot from one of these treacherous lies, especially if you are visiting from an area with zero elevation changes. Golfing basics like choking down on your club and swinging down on the ball to make good contact will be called upon for any shots that don’t go straight down the middle. The same undulations and dramatic drop-offs that make for tough golf shots are also what makes some of these golf holes exquisite.

            

The Jim Fazio course is nestled in nature.

The Fazio course is open to the public, and it also sells memberships to locals, and sees a fair amount of traffic coming in from Atlanta which is just one hour South of Adairsville. The Bermuda grass on the greens putts true, but it’s the speed of the greens that make them tough, with the 18th green playing the hardest since it has three different levels. Approach shots to any green must factor in elevation changes, with uphill shots demanding a higher club than normal, and downhill shots requiring less club. Factor in the wind and you’ve got the making for some fun swings throughout your round, the kind that make playing golf with your buddies a hoot.

To read the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries about the PGA Championship click on 2017 Quail Hollow - 2012 Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

To view past blog entries from Barnsley Resort click on Elegant Ruins - Dining and Amenities - Sporting Clays - Horseback Trail Rides - East Coast Drive Camp - Spring Bank Pheasant Hunt - Spring Bank Quail Hunt - Spring Bank Turkey Hunt 

To view past blog entries about golf in Augusta, Georgia click on Forest Hills - Augusta National