There is a certain feeling golfers get and I know each of you has experienced it.
You finish playing a course for the first time and immediately have this sinking feeling of regret because you are highly unlikely to ever return. Maybe it’s a one-off buddies trip. Maybe you’ve been invited to a private club. Maybe it’s a region of the world you rarely visit.
Whatever the case, you are mourning what will never be again.
There was only one chance to go for the green in two on that par-5 and you would have played the sixth hole differently had you known what was on the other side of that blind tee shot.
How do you know you’ve played a great golf course? When you hole out on the 18th green, you are itching to loop back around to the first tee—not simply because you are a golf-obsessed weirdo, but because you just want another shot at it.
In my golf life, only a few courses have given me that bittersweet feeling like the concert has ended and the roadies are packing up the instruments that were played expertly just hours ago.
But of all the courses, none of them has stung quite like the Bounty Club.
As long as I got my club and ball
It was Justin Timberlake who famously sang “as long as I got my suit and tie, I’ma leave it all on the floor tonight.”
J.T. may have felt impenetrable in more formal attire, but I was equally as unstoppable in my golf gear as I pulled up the bumpy gravel driveway to his exclusive, invite-only course a mere 12 minutes north of downtown Nashville.
I was fortunate enough to be invited as part of the PAYNTR media event introducing the new Chef RX shoe (you can read more on that from shoe connoisseur Connor Lindeman). There were about 20 or so golf influencers and media who were given the opportunity to play the course which formally opened a few months ago.
I was invited with the understanding that I wasn’t there to write a puff piece—plenty of others would be there to do so. If I disliked the course, I would write about that (and I have written about several courses I’ve played that haven’t lived up to expectations). Also, if you want professional photos, those are readily available on the course’s Instagram page and other sources. I write blog-style course entries using my own photos.
At the end of the day, I am deeply grateful I had the opportunity to play it for the first and likely only time.
Occupying 464 acres of rolling Tennessee farmland, Bounty Club feels like it could be anywhere in the rural depths of my home state. The first new golf course built in the official Nashville metropolitan area in more than 25 years, the only real indication of your proximity to downtown is a distant view of the skyline and Kid Rock’s house, a pseudo replica of the White House that sits on a hill well above the course (the mammoth American flag at his residence was at half-mast, presumably for the late Tennessee legend Dolly Parton).
Bounty Club was developed by 8AM Golf in partnership with Timberlake, the Memphis-born entertainer who has become increasingly involved in the golf industry. Timberlake joined 8AM Golf as a partner in 2020 and also has ties to Sweetens Cove, the inventive nine-hole course near Chattanooga that has become an enduring symbol of modern golf, both in architectural ingenuity and the inclusive atmosphere.
The celebrity’s connection to Bounty Club goes beyond attaching a famous name to the project. Timberlake helped shape the club’s larger vision of pairing a world-class golf course with a relaxed, entertaining atmosphere where members genuinely want to spend time after their rounds. That membership is not going to be handed over on a silver platter; there will be very limited spots available and you won’t have the option to buy your way onto the grounds.
The 18-hole layout was designed by King-Collins, the architecture firm responsible for Sweetens and Landmand, the Nebraska course that has grabbed headlines the past few years. Bounty Club’s routing stretches across a dramatic property filled with rolling meadows, creeks, ravines and natural elevation changes. Rob Collins notes that the first few holes were routed in 15 minutes because the land was so obviously meant to be a golf course and many of the holes presented themselves immediately. It was simply meant to be.
Several blind shots. Substantial downhill/uphill shots. Canted fairways. Dramatic bunkering. It’s all on the menu at Bounty.
Matching the philosophy of the club, the goal was to be architecturally serious without feeling stuffy. The design is bold and menacing (more on that in a moment) but oddly approachable at the same time.
Access will obviously be difficult (OK, impossible) for most golfers but the intrigue is undeniable. With an ambitious course, a highly desirable location and Timberlake helping guide the experience, Bounty Club has immediately become Tennessee’s most talked-about golf property.
After playing it, I completely understand the considerable hype.
Bring your hard hat
Finding the gravel driveway was a bit of an adventure. It took winding through some country back roads but the mesmerizing elements of Bounty Club immediately became clear.
Your first vantage point of the course comes when you drive by the par-3 16th that could be called the course’s signature piece given the incredible bunkering that sprawls short of the green. It’s exuding Pasatiempo artistry with the ruggedness of a place like Tot Hill Farm.
After a short drive, you arrive at the clubhouse sitting atop the property. It reminded me of Streamsong’s main clubhouse in terms of architecture. We’re talking modern, ultra-minimalist, a lot of 90-degree angles and plenty of glass providing views of the course sitting below you.
One of my favorite features, which immediately becomes evident, is how the first tee sits a few steps away from the pro shop. You can practically hit your drive while sipping on an old-fashioned in the clubhouse bar (the ice in that cocktail is branded with the club’s logo, which yet again hits on the simplicity the whole operation aims to achieve). There is a lawn roof on top of the clubhouse and I’m told golfers have hit their opening tee shots off it.
B.Draddy and Holderness & Bourne fill the pro shop where a pretty penny can be spent in a heartbeat. The driving range features an old-school wagon that holds bags of balls, each separated into whatever brand or model of ball you want to hit (sick!). The divot repair tool available to golfers is among the cleanest offerings I’ve ever seen. (Is it possible to be sexually attracted to a divot repair tool? Asking for a friend.)
Let’s get into the course. It’s so, so, so hard. And somehow it’s also so, so, so fun.
If you’re not interested in the hole-by-hole nitty gritty, I’ll summarize my experience in a few lines and you can skip ahead to the conclusion.
The front nine is freaking brutal. Now, obviously the green complexes are brand spanking new. Everything is firm, and that will change over time as the surfaces mature. Regardless, the greens are so dramatic that this place will have you playing ping-pong back and forth if you aren’t extremely careful. You need the hands of a surgeon on anything inside of 100 yards.
And just getting to within 100 yards is no gimme. One of the more unique aspects of the course is the rough, which is intentionally kept a wild, often with little-to-no transitionary cut from the fairway. And not far from that thick cabbage is the tall fescue, where you will find nothing but ticks and disappointment.
The fairways are fairly forgiving—and a strong player will have little struggle getting into the right positions to attack the hole—but it’s a course of negative compounding interest. Make one mistake and you are invariably led into more.
The back nine offers a reprieve relative to the front nine with several short holes and some birdie opportunities but the course never loses its identity as an untamed beast.
You might be asking where the fun comes in here? Ah, yes, the fun.
Bounty Club is as if Sweetens and Tobacco Road, the North Carolina Mike Strantz masterpiece, had a baby.
Almost every shot you face is wildly stimulating. There is a lot of strategy involved. You can’t take a sledgehammer to this place; it’s more like a trying to massage crochet threads through complicated maneuvers.
This isn’t target golf. In fact, you are regularly aiming 20-30 yards away from your target in order to have your shot finish where you want it to. In that way, there are links-like elements present all over the place.
To me, that is so rewarding. Using slopes in an imaginative way is awesome. It’s honesty the top thing I look for in a course.
There are so few shots that are straightforward or mindless. Everything requires your whole attention and there are several options available to you on most shots which is greatly appreciated.
Now let’s get into the hole-by-hole description.
No. 1 (Par 5)
A true stunner of an opener. You hit your tee shot down a huge slope and are faced with a blind second where you have to negotiate a large bunker about 60 yards short of the green. If you can carry it, everything funnels down to the green.
No. 2 (Par 4)
A comfort station with all sorts of goodies sits right behind the tee at Nos. 2 and 11 (we needed it given the ungodly heat). The narrow tee shot requires a fairway wood or long iron. Then you have a wedge approach to an insane green complex that has a creek meandering behind. I had a 110-yard shot and my caddie told me to hit it 90 yards. I still ended up on the back part of the green and managed to two-putt for one of my few pars of the day.
No. 3 (Par 4)
I really want to play this hole again. This is a short par-4 (about 266 yards to the front edge from the “Back” tees we played) and I would have changed my strategy if I knew about this absolutely diabolical green complex that was bordering on unplayable. The fairway is bisected by a creek at about 200 yards. You have to negotiate it by hitting an iron off the tee or blowing something over it. There is room up the right and you should just blast driver up there and get as close as you can. I ended up making a triple because I fooled around with the creek and putted back and forth across the green. It’s a classic hole where you could make a simple birdie or get caught in jail.
No. 4 (Par 3)
Only about a 150-yard shot but the green is treacherous. I had a five-foot par putt that turned into a 20-foot bogey putt.
No. 5 (Par 4)
A dramatic blind tee shot leading to a similarly intense approach shot to a green split with a truly terrifying slope in the middle. The hole was on the right and one of my playing partners had a 15-foot birdie putt that became a 60-foot par putt. You just can’t get on the wrong side of slopes at this place.
No. 6 (Par 3)
This is honestly among the hardest par-3s I’ve ever played. You have to land the ball short left and have it run up because anything long and/or right is a death sentence. There is a huge swale in the green that will spit balls 20 yards off the green to the right.
No. 7 (Par 4)
Maybe my favorite hole. A really cool tee shot begs for a fade that leads you to an approach shot some 50 feet above the massive green complex. This green had less going on than others but the fun of this hole is based on gauging the approach.
No. 8 (Par 5)
Let me start by saying nobody in our group made a par. I made a bogey and had honors on the next hole. The tee shot is innocent enough but you are faced with a very awkward second shot that has to negotiate a huge swath of fescue and a ribbon of fairway. The real trouble is the green, however. Anything long and right leads down to a creek. Connor is still down there trying to chip up the steep slope and onto the green. Another playing partner was about 60 yards short of the green in two and made a triple.
No. 9 (Par 4)
This might actually be the hardest hole on the course although I have a tough time deciding. The tee shot is fairly innocuous but the green is tiny and fronted by a creek. There is a universe in which you make a stress-free par but you can also add up extra shots in a heartbeat.
No. 10 (Par 3)
The back nine gets noticeably easier, starting with the par-3 10th that has a gargantuan green split in two by a mini ski slope. This is one where you can hit your tee shot close—or you can be on the wrong side of the slope and will be fighting for your life again. I love this hole and wish I could go back to hit a better 8-iron.
No. 11 (Par 5)
This is among the only holes on the course that I really didn’t like. I’m not a fan of par-5s where driver is taken out of your hands. The fairway has a creek that cuts in at a yardage where most players will need to take fairway wood and it’s a three-shot hole when you do that. The lay-up isn’t super interesting but the third shot features a green that is miniscule and demanding.
No. 12 (Par 4)
It’s a tough tee shot but anything in the fairway will give you a short wedge to a relatively welcoming green that is tilted from back to front. All four of us made par on this one.
No. 13 (Par 3)
Along with No. 11, this is my only qualm about the course. No. 13 is a short par-3 to a huge, largely flat green. None of us hit a good tee shot and all of us made par. It just doesn’t seem to fit the vibe of the course.
No. 14 (Par 4)
The beginning of the back nine is a little sleepy but the music picks back up for the final five holes. No. 14 has an immensely cool tee shot bending from left to right. There are several bunkers to avoid (I did not avoid them), leading to an uphill approach shot.
No. 15 (Par 4)
I can’t stop thinking about this hole. The tee shot is fairly wide open with tons of bail-out room down the right, although anything left is dead. The real fun is in the approach shot. The green is crazy wide with the right part being the high side and the left being the low side. You simply can’t be on the wrong side of this slope. The hole was up on the high side for us and we had a hell of a time trying to get there.
No. 16 (Par 3)
The aforementioned 16th hole is a shorty but you have to be precise (I made par, no big deal). It reminds me a lot of the sixth hole at Tobacco Road with the narrow green guarded short and long by bunkers. It’s a majestic sight.
No. 17 (Par 4)
This is a brilliant hole. You can choose your own adventure: lay up with an iron or take a rip at the green with a fairway wood/driver. Left is the end of the world but right is very playable and the fairway slopes down to the left. The green is long and the hole location can change strategy dramatically. It’s just an incredibly handsome hole from the tee.
No. 18 (Par 5)
The tee shot is blind and undefined to the point where you would be totally guessing without the help of a caddie. It leads you to a dramatic uphill second shot that is a lot trickier than it appears because you are hitting off a downslope to an elevated green that is well protected by slopes and bunkers. Adirondack chairs sit just above the putting surface near the clubhouse as fellow golfers can watch other rounds finish.
Final verdict
I understand some people will read this and think, “Who cares? Why is he writing about a course 99.9 percent of golfers will never be able to play?”
For me, it’s the morbid curiosity factor. When you see a super-exclusive club, you always wonder what it’s like to be on the grounds.
It’s exclusive but does it match the hype? There are plenty of exclusive courses that underwhelm. But when you hear phrases like “best/hardest course in Tennessee” and “top 100 course in the United States,” it makes you want to discover the validity to those statements.
Ultimately, I think telling the story of a place like Bounty Club is just as important as our best municipal golf course list or the many course reviews I’ve done for celebrated public venues. It’s part of the fabric of what makes golf awesome.
My final tally is that the course immediately jumps up into my top 15—bordering on the top 10—that I’ve ever played in the U.S. It’s that good.
That is a heady statement and I don’t make it lightly. King-Collins has delivered another Sweetens-like layout but, let’s be honest, Bounty Club is on a more dynamic piece of land than Sweetens. The two serve remarkably different purposes within the King-Collins repertoire but a blind taste test of each course without any preconceived notion of accessibility or popularity would lead the vast majority of golfers to say Bounty Club is superior.
If I were to nitpick, a few of the green complexes are overly punishing—an issue that will likely be softened with turf maturity—and the stretch of Nos. 11-13 are dull in comparison to what encompasses them.
And, while this is not a critique of the facility itself, I speak for the people of Nashville when I say that it’s frustrating great golf exists all around us … and hardly any of it is public. The best public golf is elsewhere in Tennessee.
I’m not sure what architecture nerds would say about this place but my judgement is confined to my own experience.
And, as I led this piece off by saying, the best golf courses are fun, stimulating and begging for another try.
I won’t get my second try at Bounty Club but the first was life-affirming and more than enough.
Final Grade: 94/100.
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