This pretty little place surrounded by mountain laurel and rhododendron takes its slightly strange name from a rock formation in the surrounding hills. It’s a combination of private club for the summer people who own homes in the lovely community, and resort, with comfortable accommodation in the Lodge and a restaurant in the clubhouse that’s considered one of the best places to eat in the entire western part of North Carolina. The clubby feel of the place is part of its cachet, and the wonderful little golf course is exceptionally well maintained. It’s also a pleasant stroll through the surrounding terrain, with narrow tree-lined fairways, babbling brooks to avoid, wonderful bunkering and very fast greens. The front nine is the narrowest of the two, climbing up the hillsides, and doglegging through the trees. The back nine begins in the wide open valley floor, but quickly ascends into a wooded section. The par-three 15th is a lovely hole: just 110 yards long, but straight downhill to a green fronted by a brook and surrounded by bunkers. The elevated tee offers wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and, they say, the Hound Ears themselves! Coming home, the brook crosses the fairways of the last three, and frames the final shot into the 18th green.