A spectacular new golf course has blossomed in the Great Smoky Mountains of Jackson County.

Sequoyah National Golf Club recently opened just south of Cherokee. It is a high-end, public course created by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians to complement the tribe’s nearby casino, hotel and entertainment complex.

Designed by Robert Trent Jones II, one of the country’s preeminent golf architects, the par-72 layout offers great mountain vistas and a nice variety of holes.

And despite its mountainous location edge of the Great Smokies National Park, the course does not force the golfer to play up and down like a roller coaster. Fourteen of the holes are level or downhill, with most of the climbing taking place between holes.

Troon Golf, a leader in golf course management, has been retained to manage all aspects of the golfing experience at Sequoyah National.

“Robert Trent Jones II did a fantastic job with the layout,” says director of golf Ryan Ott. “The topography that we have here is second to none.”

Sequoyah National’s elevations range from 2,000 to 2,300 feet above sea level, and the layout will be open 12 months a year, weather permitting. The course features excellent greens comprised of T1 bent grass, while fairways and tees are low-mow bluegrass.

In his design, Jones provides a number of tee shots in which the fairways appear to be considerably smaller than they actually are. The keys to getting around the layout are avoiding the copious amount of bunkers, and playing conservatively on several holes that become tighter as you approach the green.

“The golf course will give you everything you want,” Ott explains. “You better make birdie on the par-5s, because the par-3s are long and they’re tough. If you can get around the par-3s in even par, you will have a phenomenal round.”

The challenging nature of the par-3s becomes evident at the second hole. It requires a shot of about 180 yards over a ravine to a green fronted by two walls of rock extricated on site. “It’s definitely a hole people are going to remember,” Ott says.

Another memorable feature is the size of the par-5 greens. Four of the par-5s are reachable in two shots, but Jones protected against a slew of eagles and easy birdies by making the greens small.

Sequoyah National flows nicely throughout the property. There are holes up in the mountains interspersed with holes on extremely flat terrain. The routing, which does not come back to the clubhouse after nine, crosses itself once and builds to a dramatic finish.

From the back of the 18th tee, golfers have a panoramic view of the Great Smokies, highlighted in the middle by Clingman’s Dome, the highest peak in the national park and the third highest east of the Mississippi.

From the front of the 18th tee, golfers have another dramatic view – a downhill par-4 that doglegs slightly left over a gaping bunker shaped like a bear claw.