What do you get when a serene landscape, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the genius of Tom Fazio—recognized by Golf Digest as the ‘Best Modern Day Golf Course Architect’—come together? You get the perfect place to call home, right here in one of Western North Carolina’s best golf course communities.
At Bright’s Creek, our challenging, yet player-friendly course has captured the hearts of golfers near and far. Listen to the calming creek with every swing. Take in the views of the surrounding ridgeline. Enjoy the attentive service and welcoming smiles that greet you on each visit. Our Tom Fazio course, a destination that the renowned architect himself has called a favorite, features 19 holes artfully carved into our community’s picturesque landscape.
This month, we sat down with the Bright’s Creek team to learn more about what it takes to keep the iconic Mill Spring, NC, golf course up to par, every day and every season—plus we discovered some recent exciting upgrades to the community’s program. Paul Beam, Course Maintenance Manager, shared how he and his dedicated team carefully shape and tend the Bright’s Creek course each day, ensuring it plays beautifully and looks its best for members and guests.
Plus, we got to hear from Bill Bower, Bright’s Creek General Manager, about how the crown jewel of the creek, our sprawling golf course, is constantly improving in an effort to bring members the best golf experience possible. Next time you take a swing, you might just see the greens from a whole new perspective.
Paul, what’s your favorite part of the Bright’s Creek golf course to take care of—and why?
The greens are my biggest passion because they’re truly the heart of any course. My team and I dedicate the most time to them to ensure they thrive so the course looks beautiful and stays playable.
What’s one thing that most golfers don’t realize about golf course maintenance?
There’s an incredible amount of chemistry that goes into course work. In fact, most people don’t realize that our course has three varieties of grass, each with very different needs including soil requirements, unique microclimates, different dew points—you have to understand how everything interacts and how the weather impacts each species of grass.
We’ve got Zoysia grass in shaded areas, Creeping Bentgrass, a cool-season turf for the greens, and Bermuda grass on the fairways. The team has to be well-versed in every aspect of the science behind the maintenance.
What seasonal factors shape the way you approach caring for the course?
Bright’s Creek is in an interesting transition zone of turf grass, meaning we have both warm and cool season grasses that all require different care and chemistry. The course needs year-round prep and attention to ensure it thrives. It’s all about daily dedication and equipping the team with the knowledge to be successful.
Spring is solely focused on getting ready for the beginning of the busy season. We focus a lot of time early in the season on aeration, a detailed process of creating small holes in the turf to improve air and water movement, loosen soil, and promote healthy grass growth.
The warmer summer season is all about maintaining—greens don’t like the heat, so we have to be incredibly attentive. Then during the fall and winter seasons, we need to manage wetter grounds and stay on top of drainage enhancements in several areas to keep the course healthy and playable.
Can you share any recent innovations or upcoming enhancements to improve course conditions?
Beyond our standard aeration process, we’ve implemented deep-tine aeration, which involves going down a depth of about 10 inches to promote root growth. It offers the grass a better chance of surviving summer
We’ve also done lots of tree maintenance work around the course to bring in more sunlight and increase airflow.
Can you share a memorable maintenance challenge and how you overcame it?
When Hurricane Helene hit, we thought that we wouldn’t be able to play for at least 6 months. We suffered some damage to our pumphouse and our dedicated team had to manually water the entire course for months on end. But, our owners and leadership team are so dedicated to the success of our community and invested a lot into bringing the course back up to our gold standard. Because of that, and the efforts of our exceptional staff, we were able to deliver 9 playable holes just 7 weeks after the devastation. That was quite the feat and we’re really proud of how we came together for our members.
3 Bright’s Creek Golf Course Fun Facts
- A full irrigation cycle takes 10 hours to water the entire course.
- There are 3 varieties of grass on the course: bentgrass, bermuda, and zoysia.
- Due to being in a transition zone, we can grow both cool and warm-season grasses.
The Business Behind the Scenes with Bill Bower
Beyond detailed daily maintenance and hands-on care that goes into the course, there’s also an incredible amount of attention focused on making member experience the best it can be behind the scenes. Bill Bower, General Manager of Bright’s Creek, gave us a glimpse into the future of the golf program and shared some exciting recent updates as well.
Bill, what improvements or innovations have you recently introduced to the club?
The golf course has been a concerted effort, both financially and from a staffing perspective, to offer our members and guests the best product and experience possible. There’s beauty in giving attention to small details and delivering ongoing ways to improve the day-to-day experience for everyone here at Bright’s Creek.
On that note, how do you communicate with members and gather their feedback?
We’re all about personal engagement. It’s not just about time in the office; it’s really about getting out there and talking to members and hearing what their interests are. We’re always listening to our community and looking for more engagement moments that add value to everyday life.
My philosophy is that at Bright’s Creek, we’re in the entertainment industry, not necessarily hospitality. We’re here to give people what they want, from new amenities and club programming to other exciting experiences, and upgrades both large and small. It’s more than just taking a simple survey. It’s about understanding needs and having genuine conversations every day.
Tell us about the brand new golf carts.
As part of our continued commitment to excellence, we’ve introduced top-of-the-line luxury golf carts designed to perform well in our unique mountain environment. These electric carts are truly the gold standard of the industry, and they feature upgrades like GPS screens, distance to the hole, and can even help you keep score. They’re just another upgrade consistent with clubs at the top of the market, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring our members the elevated experience they deserve.
A few months ago, we highlighted some of the club member’s favorite course holes. What are your favorite aspects of this club and the course?
Well, it’s great for so many reasons. Each hole really stands alone and offers something special. On other courses, you might find a lot of repetition, but at Bright’s Creek, each hole is its own theater because of our unique mountain setting. There’s such variety, and while it’s a challenging course, it’s still very playable. Because of the way Tom Fazio designed the layout, the course sits so naturally within the environment. It doesn’t feel created, it feels harmonious.
Overall, it’s just such a beautiful atmosphere.
Beyond that, I think that members and prospects are always struck by how nice and genuine our staff here is. It’s a welcoming place and a really exciting time to be here and to be part of our growth. We have a very bright near future ahead!
Ready to play a round right in your very own backyard and experience a community unlike any other? Contact our real estate team directly at (828) 600-5132 to book your Discovery Tour today.