Old Union

Union County sits in the far northeastern corner of Georgia, where the Blue Ridge Mountains push the landscape into something that feels more Appalachian than Southern. Blairsville is a small mountain town — elevation around 1,900 feet — where the terrain rolls hard, the seasons are distinct, and the views stretch across ridgelines that stay blue-hazed well into autumn. Golf up here plays differently than it does in the Atlanta suburbs: the air is thinner and cooler, the ground holds moisture longer, and the mountain topography tends to produce layouts where uphill and downhill lies are facts of life rather than occasional surprises.

Old Union takes its name from Union County itself, which was carved from Cherokee land in the 1830s. An 18-hole, par-72 layout in this setting almost certainly works with the natural contours of the mountain terrain rather than against them — flat lies are earned, not expected.

For golfers making the drive up from Atlanta or over from Asheville, this corner of Georgia offers a genuine change of pace: mountain golf with full-length ambitions, surrounded by one of the quietest, most scenic pockets of the Southeast.