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Balsam Mountain Preserve is an 18-hole golf course in Sylva, North Carolina.

Designed by Arnold Palmer. It plays 6,858 yards from the Black tees, rated 73.5/149 (checked 2026-08-14).

Create a free account to save Balsam Mountain Preserve to My Game, where every course you save is measured against the rest of its state on the figures it publishes.
18
holes
70
par
6,858
yards (tips)
149
slope (black)
The shape of the round · Black teespublished figures only
HOLE ORDER — BLACK TEES447422196494348458226433442176344495243551370477396214142433455464738494103114125133145154164174183PAROUT 3,466 YDSIN 3,266 YDSFIRST NINESECOND NINE
The published card in playing order, 18 holes with the two nines split — hole number under each bar, its par below that.

The course

designer
Arnold Palmer reported
address
Stillhouse Gap Road, Sylva, NC, 28799
phone
828-631-1042
elevation
3,261 ft derived
opened
2007
on site
driving range · restaurant · lessons

35.38300, -83.12113 — open on OpenStreetMap →

The course, from above

This map shows all 18 holes. 9 mapped features sit close to more than one hole and are drawn with the nearer one.

246 traced features across 8 layers for Balsam Mountain Preserve, drawn over NAIP 2022 aerial imagery.

Use arrow keys to pan, plus and minus to zoom. Tab reaches the map controls.

246 traced features across 8 layers for Balsam Mountain Preserve, drawn over NAIP 2022 aerial imagery. The map itself needs JavaScript; the geometry is a plain GeoJSON file either way.

18
Holes
34
Fairways
60
Bunkers
2
Water
18
Greens
84
Tee pads
6,732yds
Black tees
551yds
Longest hole
176yds
Shortest hole

Imported from OpenStreetMap, edges unchecked · USDA NAIP 2022-10-06

Tees & ratings

Ratingsopen datachecked 2026-08-14

All 6 tee sets par, yardage, course rating, slope — the full table

Sorted by Yards, descending. 6 rows.

BlackM706858contested673273.514934663266
BlueM706359contested623270.214432203012
PalmerM706050contested595768.914030692888
WhiteM705783contested570468.113229772727
WhiteF705783contested570473.114829772727
RedF704923contested457166.812423482223

Every figure as published except Card yards (derived), which is summed from the card below and shown only where a published figure is contested; a blank cell elsewhere is one nobody publishes. Front 9 and Back 9 are summed from the per-hole yardages on the scorecard.

The Black, Blue, Palmer, White and Red tees publish a yardage total the scorecard below does not add up to. Both figures are published and nothing we hold settles which one a round plays to, so the Yards column keeps the published figure, marked contested, and each tee's own yardage row from the card below is summed beside it, marked derived.

Scorecard — every published tee

Scorecardopen datachecked 2026-08-14

Hole 123456789101112131415161718 Total
Par 443544344345354443 70
Black 447422196494348458226433442176344495243551370477396214 6,858
Blue 404396176463325430203417406166310449206525345447370194 6,359
Palmer 380332176444325430178417387166310428184525345397370163 6,050
White 380332155444298404178399387149276428184495319397316163 5,783
Red 326284117310270356110277298119179352151461246307281127 4,923
Handicap 791715531311116188412142610

Plan it in the Studio

Plan Balsam Mountain Preserve hole by hole, for your game.

Ask in plain words. The Studio draws each hole on the aerial photo, picks a club for each shot from your carries and the way you miss, and shows where a miss costs you strokes. Where a green was surveyed, it reads the slope too.

  • The approach, planned A Studio approach map on the aerial photo: a lob wedge aimed at the island green, its spread drawn as a dashed ring over the water, and the side it most often misses. Example from another course: hole 15, Resort tee, Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale
  • The green, from LiDAR A Studio green view on the aerial photo: arrows for the slope a LiDAR survey measured, the area a cup could be cut, and the safer side to miss. Example from another course: hole 15, Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale
  • Every shot, tee to green A Studio plan on the aerial photo of a desert par 4: the driver off the tee and a 7-iron into the green between the bunkers, each shot with its landing spread drawn as a dashed ring. Example from another course: hole 2, Resort tee, Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale

Plan this course in the Studio

Pictures: Studio output for a sample golfer, drawn 2026-10-15. The Studio needs a free account. AI can make mistakes.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

Book a tee time

Rates change by day and by season, so we send you to Balsam Mountain Preserve's own booking page rather than quoting a figure that was true the week we captured it.

Check tee times and rates

Also bookable nearby: Maggie Valley Resort Country Club (10 mi) · Sequoyah National Golf Club (13 mi) · Smoky Mountain Country Club (14 mi)

Measured against comparable courses

How hard and how long this course plays against comparable courses — never how good it is.

FigureThis courseIn North CarolinaNationwideAmong its peers
Longest6,858 yds173rd of 541=2,973rd of 12,025=2,955th of 9,017 18-hole regulation courses
Toughest testslope 149=1st of 356=88th of 8,710=87th of 7,089 18-hole regulation courses
Hardest from the tipsrating 73.5=114th of 333=1,989th of 7,615=1,973rd of 7,034 18-hole regulation courses
Widest tee spread1,935 yds between tees193rd of 528=2,641st of 11,523=2,595th of 8,962 18-hole regulation courses
Oldestopened 2007=377th of 395=8,984th of 9,368=6,704th of 7,001 18-hole regulation courses
Highest above sea level3,261 ft derived 26th of 554801st of 12,437571st of 9,106 18-hole regulation courses

A published figure is compared only against the courses that publish it too, which is why the totals differ from row to row — a state's length field is the courses with a scorecard, not the courses in the state. Height above sea level is the exception: we derive it from a coordinate, so its field is very nearly every course we render. Ties share an ordinal and are marked =. How this is computed →

What's on this page

In progress4 of 6 built

4 of 6 parts of this course page are built, and we're filling in the rest.

  • Scorecard, built.Par and yardage for every hole, from 6 sets of tees.
  • Course rating and slope, built.Rated from 6 sets of tees.
  • Course map, built.All 18 greens drawn, with the fairways, bunkers and water, over aerial imagery.
  • Per-hole distances, built.Every hole is traced, so carries and distances to the front, middle and back of each green are measured along the line you actually play.
  • Green contours, not built yet.We haven't built the green contours for this course yet.
  • Course details, partly built.5 of 7 background details — we don't hold whether it is public or private and the grass on the greens.

The site is in beta and the database is still being built, so expect gaps. Know something we don't? Help us fill it in — a link to where it's published is worth more than anything else you could send.

Sources

Gathered from the course's own site and public records — every figure on this page is traceable to who published it and when. Spot an error or a gap? Tell us.

Location and identity seeded from OpenStreetMap — © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Last checked 2026-08-14. Where each figure came from is stated beside it, above.

Compare this course →

Or go straight to a comparison: vs Laurel Ridge Country Club · vs Waynesville Inn Golf Club · vs Maggie Valley Resort Country Club

Nearby courses

Laurel Ridge Country Club

9.3 mi · Waynesville · private · 18 holes

Waynesville Inn Golf Club

9.4 mi · Waynesville · 18 holes

Maggie Valley Resort Country Club

10 mi · Maggie Valley · resort · 18 holes

Lake Junaluska Golf Course

12 mi · Waynesville · 18 holes

Sequoyah National Golf Club

13 mi · Whittier · resort · 18 holes

Smoky Mountain Country Club

14 mi · Whittier · semi-private · 18 holes

Trillium Links and Lake Club

17 mi · 18 holes

Golf Pro Shop at Trillium

17 mi · 18 holes

Straight-line distance from this course's coordinates, within 60 miles — not driving distance, and it crosses state lines where the nearest courses are over one.

Know something about this course? 7 fields we don't hold — or tell us something here is wrong