I'm taking I-75 down to I-40 and heading into western North Carolina, to Black Mountain, NC, specifically. Any tips on good courses on that route south of Lexington, KY, and on into Tennessee and North Carolina?

I've played the course near Knoxville where hole 1 plays over the pond. The rest of that route, south of Lexington, is the undiscovered country for me.

Leaving Friday after work. Looks like I should have time for one or two rounds on Saturday somewhere.

Ashe County is a bit North of your plan but very nice course.

http://www.pdga.com/course_directory/course/ashe-county-park-dgc

Ashe County looks amazing from the pdga.com photos. I'm going to map it and see how it would work.

I played Ashe County with a couple of locals from Boone, Shoeless Nate and Roll Your Own Jon. I played longs until I caught up with them on hole 3 or 4 and then we played a mix depending on what tee they thought was a better hole.

Ashe County was like the best of the Worlds courses: Lots of elevation, plenty of holes where you could throw and plenty of technical shots in the woods. The elevation was aerobic. A really good mix, I think I took three lefty drives and thought about two others. The up and down was extreme. Fat guys like me should get a note from your doctor!

As far as I could tell, the course is not convenient to any highway. This is as for out of the way as any out of the way gem I've played.

Good, glad you enjoyed it