By Bob Gillespie
If you’re looking for a golf trip that features tricked-out hotel rooms, chain restaurants, high-end amenities and golf courses that are water-and-sand-laden same-ol’-same-ol’s – well, Rumbling Bald on Lake Lure in rustic and scenic Lake Lure, N.C., is probably not for you.
If, on the other hand, you want to get away from all the usual “golf resort” claptrap and enjoy lush mountain scenery, as well as hiking, fishing, swimming and more, plus 36 holes of refurbished Blue Ridge Mountains golf, then Rumbling Bald is likely that distant voice you hear calling your name.
Which is not to suggest the quality of golf is something less than other western North Carolina venues, or anywhere in the Tarheel State. Consider: the property’s Apple Valley and Bald Mountain courses, plus the surrounding accommodations and other fun stuff, were recognized in 2022 as the No. 4 North Carolina golf resort by the N.C. Golf Panel, a group of 175 veterans of great courses. Only Ocean Isle’s Ocean Ridge Plantation and two fabled Pinehurst-area locations – Pine Needles and Pinehurst Resort – are rated ahead of Lake Lure’s destination.
But also be prepared for a somewhat different approach for your family outing or guys’ golf getaway. Rumbling Bald, while upgrading both courses starting in 2020, has purposely moved away from the “resort” label (and all that implies) to embrace a “golf community” and/or “golf retreat” identity.
After all, it’s hard to imagine the reaction of guests at more typical golf properties being greeted upon arrival with a flyer such as the one distributed to Rumbling Bald visitors during a recent outing.
“Warning!!! Do Not Place Garbage in Outside Garbage Bins!!!” the sheet read. This alert was given in order to avoid unfortunate confrontations between visitors and “an unusually high occurrence of bear activity in this area,” the instructions explained.
Not the Golden Bear, aka Jack Nicklaus, mind you, but the real thing.
Jeff Geisler, Rumbling Bald’s general manager since 2017, chuckled at that notion. Wildlife notwithstanding, he and his team prefer robustly rural to the typical “resort” image, he said.
“When you say ‘resort,’ most people think elaborate, sophisticated spots like the Caribbean or Las Vegas,” he said. Geisler’s place is, as he once put it during an interview, “in the boonies.
“Our mission is subterfuge: we want to get you outside, not just the golf but the lake, hiking, fishing,” he said. “We think if we do that, you’ll fall in love with the place.”
The town of Lake Lure – best known as the location for the movie “Dirty Dancing” – is its own attraction, with 27 miles of shoreline and a wealth of activities like swimming, boating, kayaking and more, not to mention amazing views of Old Bald Mountain all around.
With rental homes and “fairway villas” – 150 spaces in all – there’s a quaint charm that emphasizes the escapism suggested in Rumbling Bald’s slogan, “Close to home, far from it all” – fitting, since Lake Lure is an hour from the booming tourist haven of Asheville, and two hours from Charlotte.
“We’re a wonderful community, a great place just to hang out – and maybe have a second home,” Geisler said. “Yes, we’ll always be a golf community; that’s the default strategy. We’ve got two different kinds of golf courses, and we still welcome those (golf-focused groups).
“But if we do a good job, people will want to stay here. Not just for the golf, the pools; we’ve rededicated ourselves to those who want to get outside in nature.”
This being an article aimed at golfers, though, it’s time to focus on Rumbling Bald’s courses. Indeed, those were the primary focus of a five-year, $8.5 million renovation, meant to update and upgrade courses that, since their openings in 1968 (Bald Mountain) and 1986 (Apple Valley), had lost some of what had made them special.
Apple Valley got the biggest facelift, with new, heat-resistant Champions Bermuda greens replacing its old bent-grass surfaces. The course was closed from April to August 2020 – coincidentally, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic – in order to be ready for its annual fall golf-group spike.
“We needed to do something; 2018 was a rough year for us, a lot of rain, and we almost lost the greens (at Apple Valley),” Geisler said. When the course reopened, “folks who’d been coming here a long time saw great improvements, and newcomers saw a beautiful result. The timing was good for us.”
Apple Valley also profited by judicious tree trimming, though that was mainly the priority for Bald Mountain, a more confined layout than Apple Valley’s spacious layout. Bald Mountain, which stayed open during Apple Valley’s shutdown, got its own improvements and reopened in April 2021.
So, what can first-time visitors expect? Start with the Dan Maples-designed Apple Valley, about 6,700 yards from its back tees and, at first glance, the more user-friendly with its wider expanses and mostly level or downhill contours. That, though, can be deceptive, Geisler said.
“One of the beauties of the course is that you can hit it wild off the tee, but with its green complexes, you’ve got to hit into the right spots (on the greens),” he said. “It sort of reminds me of Augusta (National) in that it’s open from the tee, but if you put it in the wrong spot on the green, then you’re in for a long day. From the back tees, it’s a real test.”
Bald Mountain, designed by George Cobb protégé W.B. Lewis and shorter at about 6,300 yards, is a more traditional North Carolina mountains course, with more up-and-down terrain features and short distances from greens to tees, making it very walk-able. Bald Mountain retained its bent-grass greens, which Geisler said can make some pin placements more difficult than others.
Rumbling Bald’s golf operations manager Adam Bowles said Bald Mountain pre-restoration had become “a bit claustrophobic.” Now, he said, the venerable course looks much as it did four decades earlier, and visitors are saying “wow, I can see the golf course for what it is; there’s a great course in front of me,” Bowles said in a recent article.
“(Bald Mountain) appeals to all levels (of player),” Geisler said. “Even from the back tees, if you can hit it 250 or so off the tee, you won’t be in trouble. But if you take it all the way back, it can be challenging.” The extensive trimming not only opened up fairway avenues on both courses, but “that brought some better air circulation and needed sunlight to parts of the courses,” he said.
Fall is still three-plus months away, but Rumbling Bald is currently making its fall 2022 golf packages available to book this summer. Starting at $347 per golfer for two nights and two rounds of golf on Apple Valley and Bald Mountain, fall package rates are offered from Sept. 18 through Oct. 31. Three-night, three-round and four-night, four-round options are also available for $477 and $608 per golfer, respectively.
Lodging options include the Apple Valley Studios (across from Apple Valley) and two- and four-bedroom Fairway Villas situated along Bald Mountain just steps from the first tee. Luxury vacation homes are also available for extended stays and golf rounds can be added a la carte. Rumbling Bald’s Weekday Special Golf Packages are a great value for those with flexible schedules and are offered Sunday through Wednesday starting at $320 per player for two nights and two rounds and range up to $554 per player for four nights and four rounds.
For those seeking a getaway that appeals to both players and non-playing family members, Rumbling Bald at Lake Lure is at once a familiar mountain retreat and a new-and-improved golfing experience. Throw in beautiful vistas and crisp mountain air, and there’s something there for everyone.
Just be sure to watch out for those bears.
Bob Gillespie is a freelance writer and former senior sports writer for The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C.
