For Willy’s Whackers use only

Hermitage
course guide

Course notes, Blue-tee yardages, hole strategy, green maps, and video for President’s Reserve and General’s Retreat.

Blue tees Old Hickory, Tennessee

2001 / 1986President / General opened
6,443 / 6,465President / General · Blue
72 + 72Par
River + wetlandsPrimary defense
40+ sheepScottish Blackface flock

Course information

Two courses at Hermitage

President’s Reserve is the longer-feeling championship layout through the wetlands. General’s Retreat is the older, tighter course with more severe green contours.

Denis Griffiths · 2001

President’s Reserve

The bigger, quieter, more isolated championship walk through 300 acres of Cumberland River wetlands. Broad targets disguise demanding angles, long par 3s, and expensive misses.

6,443Blue tees
70.8 / 128USGA rating
14 / 18Maps show water
  • Zoysia fairways produce superb lies—and punish a fat strike.
  • Bentgrass greens: generally subtler than General’s, but quick when dry.
  • Three-shot par 5s at 2 and 14; match-changing risk at 17 and 18.
  • Signature sequence: uphill marsh carry at 11, elevated par 3 at 15, diagonal water carry at 18.
Open President’s yardbook

Gary Roger Baird · 1986

General’s Retreat

The older, more compact, traditional parkland course—and the former LPGA host. It gives you more room from the tee, then takes it back with water, awkward shapes, and fiercely contoured greens.

6,465Blue tees
71.1 / 128Published rating
15 / 18Maps show water
  • Bermuda fairways; Bermuda putting surfaces are reported by independent reviewers.
  • Greens are more undulating than President’s and routinely called the course’s main defense.
  • Holes 3 and 13 play toward opposite ends of a distinctive shared double green.
  • Signature tests: water-flanked par 3 at 5, three-shot 11, and risk-reward finishing par 4.
Open General’s yardbook

Agronomy & water

What the ball
actually meets.

The course does not publish a daily Stimpmeter reading or a complete current turf sheet. The guide separates hard facts from player-reported and inferred planning ranges.

Surface file

Useful facts, with uncertainty shown rather than hidden.

President fairwaysZoysiaMultiple sources
President greensBentgrassMultiple sources
General fairwaysBermudaPlayer reported
General greensBermuda; confirm with pro shop for seasonal treatmentReviewer reported
Rough / nativesWarm-season rough, woodland edges and natural wetland cover; exact cultivars not publishedNot specified

Visible water by official hole map

Blue means a river, tributary, pond or lake appears in the official illustration—not that every blue area requires a forced carry.

President’s Reserve · 14 of 18
General’s Retreat · 15 of 18
Gray = no visible blue waterBlue = water shown

The anti-disaster card

Eight mistakes
locals keep seeing.

Compiled from the club’s own course-management advice, repeat-player reviews, tournament reports, and the hole maps.

Playing a tee behind the plan

This guide is built for Blue: 6,443 yards at President’s and 6,465 at General’s. Do not drift back a marker and accidentally add 300–700 yards to the intended game.

Driver by default

Short par 4s at President 6 and 17 and General 12 and 18 reward position. A hybrid to the widest neck often creates the same birdie chance.

Finishing above the hole

The recurring player advice is blunt: stay below the cup. This matters everywhere and matters most on General’s larger slopes.

Chasing water-side flags

Center-green is a good shot when the pin leans toward the Cumberland, a pond, or a steep runoff. Dry pars compound.

Turning every par 5 into a two-shotter

President 2 and 14 are proper three-shot holes; 18 only becomes reachable when the drive safely wins the angle. General 11 asks for patience.

Short-siding long par 3s

President’s quartet is long and protected. General 5 is even less forgiving. Use the full green and accept a long first putt.

Trusting the picture, not the number

President 13’s “greenside” bunker is roughly 70 yards short. Laser the flag and front edge; deceptive depth is part of the defense.

Underestimating General’s

The scorecard is shorter, but its odd green shapes, shelves and back-to-front pitches turn casual approaches into three-putts and awkward recoveries.

Your setup

Blue tees.
Commit to the plan.

The atlas is pinned to Blue. The selector remains as a quick reality check: if weather, carry, or long-iron comfort says otherwise, moving forward is always smarter than forcing the card.

Quick-fit selector

Move both sliders for a conservative tee recommendation.

Start here Blue / Blue A balanced test with mid-irons still in play.
CourseTeeYardsMen CR / SlopeWomen CR / Slope
President’sBlack7,15773.9 / 138—
Gold6,79272.3 / 134—
Blue6,44370.8 / 128—
White6,05668.8 / 12474.7 / 126
Green5,66967.0 / 11872.3 / 123
Orange5,13865.0 / 10669.3 / 117
General’sGold6,77372.3 / 131—
Blue6,46571.1 / 128—
White5,95468.4 / 12174.4 / 125
Green5,63867.0 / 11772.5 / 124
Orange5,43766.1 / 11571.4 / 121
Novice3,315Not ratedNot rated

President’s ratings: current USGA Course Rating Database. General’s ratings: published course-directory scorecard; some legacy sources list the Gold slope as 129 rather than 131.

Blue tees · 6,443 yards · 70.8 / 128

President’s Reserve

Select a hole for its Blue-tee yardage, course map, green map, hazards, and playing notes.

Blue tees

President’s Reserve

Hole 1 of 18

Blue tees · 6,465 yards · 71.1 / 128

General’s Retreat

Select a hole for its Blue-tee yardage, course map, green map, hazards, and playing notes.

Blue tees

General’s Retreat

Hole 1 of 18

The tournament file

Twelve LPGA years.
A useful scoring record.

General’s Retreat hosted the Sara Lee Classic from 1988 through 1999. The winning pattern shows that the shorter course can yield birdies—but its greens and water still produce volatility and playoffs.

Sara Lee Classic · General’s Retreat

54-hole winning totals · 1988–1999

YearChampionScoreMargin / note
1988Patti Rizzo207 (−9)Won a four-player playoff on the 5th extra hole
1989Kathy Postlewait203 (−13)Won by one
1990Ayako Okamoto210 (−6)Won by one over five runners-up
1991Nancy Lopez206 (−10)Won by two
1992Maggie Will207 (−9)Won a three-player playoff
1993Meg Mallon205 (−11)Won on the 3rd playoff hole
1994Laura Davies203 (−13)Won by one over defending champion Mallon
1995Michelle McGann202 (−14)First LPGA Tour victory
1996Meg Mallon210 (−6)Won by two
1997Terry-Jo Myers207 (−9)Won on the 5th playoff hole
1998Barb Mucha205 (−11)Won a four-player playoff
1999Meg Mallon199 (−17)Third event title; won by one

2026 APT · General’s

Matt Mitchell70 (−2)

The only under-par round in Division 1. Four front-nine birdies; five-shot win.

2025 Golfweek Amateur · President’s

Kevin Ingram74 · 4 birdies

A contemporary benchmark from the Champ flight.

2024 Music City Classic · General’s

Hoi Ki Lau214 (−2)

Keiser won the 12-team event at 875 (+11) on a 5,944-yard setup.

1999 course-era mark

Meg Mallon199 (−17)

The lowest winning total during Hermitage’s 12-year LPGA run.

Course video

Video

Player and course footage for sightlines, elevation, water, and green approaches.

Thumbnail for a nine-hole Hermitage golf vlog▶

President’s · field footage

9-hole vlog in Music City

Useful for sightlines, landing-area scale and real-course elevation that the illustrated maps flatten.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Thumbnail for General's Retreat back nine course view▶

General’s · back nine

Back-nine course view

Shows the compact routing, recurring ponds and the approach angles that make the homeward nine feel tighter than its yardage.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Thumbnail for President's Reserve hole 18 video▶

President’s · hole 18

The diagonal-carry finish

The angle is the story: taking on more left-side water shortens the par 5 and makes both eagle and double more likely.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Thumbnail for nine holes at President's Reserve▶

President’s · player view

Nine holes at President’s

A second player-eye view for checking fairway widths, real carries and the visual intimidation around the greens.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Thumbnail for a first round at General's Retreat▶

General’s · first look

First round at General’s

Helpful first-timer perspective: modest tee-shot intimidation gives way to awkward recoveries and demanding green work.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Thumbnail for the official Hermitage Golf Course film The Long Game▶

Official film · history

Hermitage: The Long Game

The club’s 40-year story and family legacy. Context rather than a yardage book, but valuable for understanding the operation.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Cross-video read: President’s looks more spacious than it plays because trouble sits at decision points, not everywhere. General’s looks ordinary from distant overhead views; player footage makes its water transitions, shared corridors and green-side severity much clearer.

Research ledger

Sources, conflicts
& confidence.

Links below are the evidence trail. Facts with meaningful conflicts—especially General’s turf and legacy slope ratings—are labeled in the guide.

Verified

Official club pages/maps, current USGA ratings, or multiple agreeing sources.

Reported

Repeat-player, directory or event report where the club publishes no current technical sheet.

Editorial

Strategy or preferred-miss guidance derived from map geometry and published architecture analysis.

Known conflicts: older scorecard directories disagree on some General’s intermediate yardages and show Gold slope as 129–131. The official hole-map numbers total 6,773 / 6,465 / 5,954 / 5,437 and are used in the atlas. No current official Stimpmeter value was found.