GOLF LIVING

Best Golf Course Communities

Middle Tennessee's golf scene runs from century-old clubhouses in Belle Meade to a Discovery Land Company development where you can't buy a home without a membership. Some of these communities are built entirely around the course, homes with fairway views, golf carts as a second car. Others are historic clubs where the golf is serious but the neighborhood around it developed on its own terms. This guide breaks down the real golf course communities across Middle Tennessee, what the course is, who designed it, what else you get with the membership, so you can find the one that actually matches how you want to play.

Brentwood

Brentwood is where "golf community" and "gated luxury" overlap the most in Middle Tennessee. Central location, strong schools, and three genuinely different private clubs depending on what you're after.

  • Governors Club — Widely considered the premier private golf community in Middle Tennessee. Built around an award-winning Arnold Palmer Signature course, with custom estate homes ranging from around $800K to $7 million. The course is open only to members and residents, so tee times are never a fight.
  • Nashville Golf & Athletic Club — A Bob Cupp design built for people who take their golf seriously. The amenity list is shorter than some of its neighbors, but the course itself is the draw, consistently mentioned as one of the more challenging tests in the area.
  • Brentwood Country Club — A classic, more understated private club with a top-rated 18-hole course, a junior Olympic pool with full cabana service, and one of the stronger social clubhouses in the Nashville area. Family-friendly in a way some of the newer luxury developments aren't.

College Grove

College Grove is the newest chapter in Middle Tennessee golf, two communities, both gated, both built from scratch around a specific vision. It's rural, quiet, and about 30–40 minutes from downtown Nashville.

  • The Grove — A Greg Norman-designed course anchoring a family-friendly luxury community that also includes equestrian facilities, a spa and wellness center, a sports complex, and a kids' club. Built for families who want resort living, not just golf.
  • Troubadour Golf & Field Club — Developed by Discovery Land Company, the same group behind the Yellowstone Club in Montana. The 18-hole course is a Tom Fazio design, and the community leans hard into a music-and-land identity: an outdoor amphitheater, a stocked fishing pond, and dining sourced from the community's own organic farm. Membership is required to purchase a home here, and it shows, median home price sits around $5.85 million, with homes ranging from roughly 2,500 to over 10,000 square feet across 375 planned homesites on 908 acres.

Franklin

Franklin has the deepest bench of golf options in Middle Tennessee, from a nationally-recognized tournament venue to a 27-hole club that's hosted the same families for decades.

  • Vanderbilt Legends Club — Two full 18-hole championship courses, North (Bob Cupp) and South (Tom Kite), across 300 acres. This is a tournament venue with real history: US Senior Open qualifying, the SGA Southern Amateur, and the annual Mason Rudolph Championship. The largest practice facility in the area and PGA-certified instruction come with membership.
  • Westhaven Golf Club — An Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest-designed 18-hole course built alongside, but structurally separate from, the Westhaven residential community, no homes line the course itself, which keeps the golf experience free of visual distraction. A golf performance center and full clubhouse round it out.
  • Temple Hills Country Club — The area's only 27-hole club, split into three distinct 9-hole courses (Dogwood, Quail Run, Deer Crest) designed by Leon Howard, so you can combine them into three different 18-hole rounds. Beyond golf, membership includes tennis, pickleball, a pool, and a genuinely social, family-feeling clubhouse, priced more accessibly than Franklin's newer luxury developments, with homes generally in the $590K–$2.6M range.

Hendersonville & Gallatin

This is Middle Tennessee's lake-and-golf corridor, Old Hickory Lake on one side, a golf course on the other, often at the same address.

  • Bluegrass Yacht & Country Club — A private club built around a championship 18-hole course, a full marina, tennis, and swimming, all directly on Old Hickory Lake. One of the only communities on this list where you can dock a boat and play a round in the same afternoon.
  • Fairvue Plantation — A guard-gated golf and lake community with its own 18-hole championship course and marina, luxurious homes, and direct Old Hickory Lake access. One of the most prestigious addresses in the entire Middle Tennessee lake corridor.
  • Foxland Harbor — A lakeside golf community with its own championship course and clubhouse. Foxland Southern Grill, on site, serves contemporary Southern food with water views, a nice touch after a round.

Nashville & Belle Meade

This is the old-money side of Middle Tennessee golf, clubs with decades, sometimes a century, of history behind them.

  • Belle Meade Country Club — Founded in 1901 and marking its 125th anniversary in 2026, this is the most historic private club in Nashville. An 18-hole, par-72 course, alongside swimming, tennis, and a dining experience built on tradition rather than trend.
  • Richland Country Club — A Jack Nicklaus Signature 18-hole, par-72 course on 170 acres, with indoor and outdoor tennis, a pool, and a fitness center. Notably family-friendly for a club at this level, with children's events and on-site daycare.
  • Hillwood Country Club — Recently hosted the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, which tells you what caliber of course this is. West Nashville's understated answer to Belle Meade, highly selective membership, extensive amenities, and a reputation built on relationships more than visibility.

YOUR NEXT MOVE

Not Sure Which Club Fits Your Game?

Fourteen clubs, and no two memberships work quite the same way, some require you to buy inside the community, some don't; some are built for serious golfers, others for families who golf twice a summer. I can walk you through what membership actually costs, what's realistic for your budget, and which of these communities is worth pursuing first.

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