The golf course at Black Mountain dates to 1929, when the initial front nine—the portion attributable to Donald Ross—was laid out and opened for play. The club’s own course page identifies the layout as “established in 1929, with a Donald Ross front nine.”
Municipal adoption and expansion plans. A local history published by the town’s community paper recounts that on December 4, 1933 the Black Mountain Town Board adopted a broader “recreation plan” to acquire land for a lake, clubhouse, and golf course, appropriating funds to develop a nine-hole course. This account helps explain later municipal investment in grounds and amenities and indicates that town involvement formalized after golf was already present on the site.
Back nine addition and the par-6. Ground broke for a second nine in 1962, and the additional nine opened on May 15, 1964. The contemporary Black Mountain News announced: “Black Mountain’s new 9-hole addition to golf course to open Friday, May 15…,” and credited “Engineering and Layout by Joe Holmes and Ross Taylor,” the club’s long-time professional. The same notice introduced a new No. 17 at 745 yards as a par 6, promoted as the “World’s Longest Hole.”
Dedication and subsequent identity. Local retrospectives add that Rev. Billy Graham participated in the 1962 groundbreaking and dedicated the new nine at its 1964 opening, and they note that the par-6 remained touted as the world’s longest until the early 1990s. These community sources frame the 1960s expansion as a civic project and explain how the par-6 became the course’s signature.
Ross’s further involvement. No record has surfaced of Ross returning to Black Mountain after the front nine was built, and neither the club nor statewide tourism materials list a Ross-dated second phase. The state’s “North Carolina Donald Ross Golf Experience” explicitly cites Black Mountain (front nine), reinforcing that Ross’s verified authorship is confined to the original nine.
Unique design characteristics (Ross nine)
Routing that reads the valley floor. A modern, hole-by-hole narrative of the Ross front nine describes how the first two holes run in opposite directions along a broad natural cleft so that “each fairway cambers hard from right to left.” From there, the routing crosses a small road to play across and around a low-lying stream for the next cluster of holes before looping back, a pattern that uses existing cross-slopes and a modest watercourse rather than constructed hazards. This on-the-ground routing evidence supports the inference that Ross organized the nine to alternate stances, stabilities, and run-out on consecutive holes without needing length.
Specific hole expressions. On No. 1 and No. 2, the right-to-left camber places immediate stress on stance and ball position; the first green is fronted at its right by a small bunker that becomes more relevant from lies above the player’s feet, while the second repeats the cross-slope ask from the opposite direction. The same narrative records that the front-nine yardage totals 2,941 yards from the back tees, with No. 5 a stout par-4 (listed at 424/390 yards from back/white tees) and No. 7 a sub-300-yard par-4 where angle from the tee governs whether a short approach can hold the surface. These details, observed on the ground, are consistent with a Ross nine that derives variety more from lie and angle than from raw yardage.
Scale and walkability. The club emphasizes the course’s traditional layout with tee boxes positioned close to greens, a trait especially evident on the Ross nine’s compact loop that threads through the town fabric. In practice this means short transitions and a steady cadence of approach-and-recover decisions rather than forced carries, which is how the Ross half continues to play today.
What to look for today. The best-preserved reads of Ross’s intent are found at Nos. 1–2, where the alternating fairway cambers and a low-profile green presentation reveal the routing’s relationship to the site’s natural trough; at No. 4, where an approach from the safe right side must carry an imposing front bunker to find the target; and at No. 7, where yardage invites aggression but the safer miss leaves a more awkward pitch. Each example can still be seen in present play and aligns with the hole-by-hole documentation cited above.
(Note: the par-6 17th sits on the 1964 back nine by Holmes and Taylor and is not Ross work, though it shapes the course’s overall identity.)
Historical significance
Place in Ross’s North Carolina portfolio. Black Mountain’s front nine belongs to Ross’s vigorous 1920s work in western North Carolina and is one of several publicly accessible Ross experiences in the state specifically promoted for travelers (the state’s official guide lists “Black Mountain Golf Course (front nine holes)” among its Ross offerings). In that context, Black Mountain represents a small-town, affordable municipal expression of Ross’s work, contrasted with his resort and private commissions nearby.
Civic project and popular renown. The 1964 expansion—engineered and laid out by Joe Holmes and Ross Taylor, and ceremonially linked to Rev. Billy Graham—gave Black Mountain unusual popular visibility for a town course. The “World’s Longest Hole” claim for No. 17 circulated widely from the mid-1960s and remains part of the club’s brand today (most current outlets list it at 747 yards). This notoriety is directly traceable to the 1964 back-nine project and sits alongside the earlier Ross nine as a two-era municipal narrative.
Tournament footprint. There is no evidence of major national championships at Black Mountain; its competitive role has been regional and civic. The course’s significance, therefore, is historical and architectural: a surviving Ross front nine embedded within a community course that later added a distinctive (if non-Ross) feature that drove statewide and national attention.
Current condition / integrity
Extent of Ross fabric. Approximately half of today’s 18—the front nine—is attributable to Ross. The available public record does not document a comprehensive, historically focused restoration of the Ross side; rather, the most consequential change to the property was the addition of the Holmes/Taylor back nine in 1964. The Ross nine’s routing and several hole-specific features (alternating cambers at 1–2, the No. 4 approach over a fronting bunker, the No. 7 short par-4 dynamics) remain legible on the ground.
Course set-up and yardage. Black Mountain today is generally listed at 6,215 yards, par 71, with bentgrass greens and a typical rating/slope in the ~69.5/129 range from the back tees. These figures appear consistently across the state’s official tourism listing and regional guides.
Present operations / temporary conditions. The club’s course page currently notes that only the back nine is open “following Hurricane Helene,” a reminder that municipal courses can face operational interruptions that temporarily affect access to historic holes; such notices do not imply permanent architectural change.
Impact of the 1964 work on Ross features. The back-nine addition did not alter the Ross routing but framed a course of two authors: Ross’s compact, walkable outward half and the later inward half whose centerpiece is the par-6. The 1964 newspaper attribution (“Engineering and Layout by Joe Holmes and Ross Taylor”) is the clearest documentary statement of that phase’s authorship and distinguishes it from Ross’s original work.
Sources & Notes
Black Mountain Golf Course — “The Course” page. Confirms establishment in 1929, front nine by Donald Ross, and present identity; notes current operations update (“only the back 9 open … following Hurricane Helene”).
North Carolina tourism (VisitNC), “Black Mountain Golf Course.” Provides 6,215 yards, par 71, and bentgrass greens; corroborates ratings/slope.
Statewide Ross guide (VisitNC), “The North Carolina Donald Ross Golf Experience.” Lists Black Mountain Golf Course (front nine holes) among Ross experiences, clarifying scope of Ross authorship here.
Black Mountain News (May 14, 1964). Contemporary notice of the back-nine opening on May 15, 1964; credits “Engineering and Layout by Joe Holmes and Ross Taylor”; promotes No. 17 as 745-yard, par 6 “World’s Longest Hole.”
The Valley Echo (Aug. 8, 2024 & June 23, 2025). Local historical pieces: recount 1933 board action to fund a nine-hole course; include photographs of the 1962 groundbreaking with Billy Graham present; note the 1964 dedication and describe the par-6’s long-hole status into the 1990s.
Lying Four (Will Bardwell), “Black Mountain,” June 28, 2024. First-hand hole descriptions of the Ross front nine: opposite-direction Nos. 1–2 with right-to-left cambers, the sequence around a stream mid-nine, yardage for the front nine (2,941 yards), and notes on Nos. 4, 5, 7. Useful for identifying present-day expressions of Ross’s routing on specific holes.
Black Mountain GC homepage & regional listings. Multiple independent course profiles (ExploreAsheville, Visit Black Mountain, GolfPass) corroborate front-nine authorship by Ross and the 747-yard figure now used for No. 17. (Used here for cross-checking current public claims.)
Disputed / uncertain points
Opening chronology (1929 vs. 1933). The club identifies 1929 as the establishment of the course with a Ross front nine; a local archival piece points to 1933 municipal appropriation for developing a nine-hole course. A reasonable synthesis is that golf was in play by 1929 and the town formalized and expanded the recreational complex beginning in 1933.