Cherokee Country Club

Cherokee Country Club sits in the hills of West Knoxville, where Donald Ross designed the original eighteen holes in 1910. The course occupies rolling terrain characteristic of the Tennessee Valley, with elevation changes that Ross used to create natural strategic interest. The layout reflects Ross's principles from that era: greens with subtle interior contours and false fronts, fairways that reward positioning over distance, and an emphasis on approach play. The property's mature hardwoods and native vegetation frame holes that move across ridges and through valleys. Ross's routing takes advantage of the site's topography, with several holes playing uphill to elevated greens and others descending into lower ground. The greens themselves show the designer's trademark shaping—crowned surfaces that repel poorly struck approaches and reward players who understand how to use the contours. Par threes vary in length and demand different clubs depending on conditions, while the par fours require thoughtful tee shots to set up favorable angles into the greens. The club has maintained an active membership since its founding and has hosted regional amateur competitions over the decades. Cherokee represents an example of Ross's work in the Southeast during his prolific early period, when he was establishing the design vocabulary that would influence American golf architecture throughout the twentieth century. The course remains a private club serving the Knoxville golf community.