Balsam Preserve course named among NC’s best by Business NC
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
WILLETS–The Arnold Palmer-designed golf course at Balsam Mountain Preserve, a gated residential community east of Sylva, has been singled out as one of North Carolina’s best by Business North Carolina magazine and an organization called the North Carolina Golf Panel.
In its April issue the magazine recognized the Preserve’s course as the best new course in the state, the eighth best overall in the mountain region and the 24th-best overall in the state. The course is private.
Balsam Mountain Preserve is widely recognized for its relative environmental philosophies. Approximately two-thirds of its 4,400 acres have been placed in permanent conservation easements, never to be developed, and to be overseen by a not-for-profit trust. On the other hand, the Preserve was widely criticized when a retention pond on the golf course collapsed during construction, releasing tons of silt into Scotts Creek and some of its tributaries. The development paid a $150,000 fine to Jackson County.
