The Legacy Golf Course in Springfield, TN, just north of town, is another municipal golf course that provides a pretty strong round of golf by municipal standards. The Legacy was designed by Raymond Floyd, who designed a few golf courses after his career, but not a lot. Floyd designed a pretty good golf course in my opinion, where the bones of the golf course are actually quite nice.
This course was reviewed as part of a broader Journal entry exploring public golf courses in the Nashville, TN area.
There’s a few holes that need significant renovation in my opinion, and if I were handed the keys to the castle, the par-5 seventh and par-4 eleventh would be at the top of my list to redesign. But, the Legacy has some strong holes too, an interesting routing, is set in a nice neighborhood in Springfield.
What Works: Unlike most municipal courses of its ilk, the Legacy is not cramped. Springfield provides a large canvas for the Legacy and the holes are largely set in their own independent corridors, which is nice. There may be only a handful of holes where you could see another group playing, but the holes aren’t far enough apart that walking would be difficult. Rather than the down and back or maze-like municipal routings, the Legacy is routed more like a nature walk, but for the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. The Legacy presents a variety of yardages and hazards as well; a well rounded test of golf. The Legacy is a bit easier than the average golf course, only stretching to 6,800 yards. While not a championship test by any means, the Legacy does have some tricky short and mid length par-4s.
An overhead view of the sixteenth hole at The Legacy
Best Hole: The Legacy’s best hole may the shorter par-4 sixteenth that plays under some powerlines. While not quite reachable, the hole requires some placement off the tee to allow for a wedge on approach between some pinching trees on either side to a slightly elevated green. There are plenty of ways to play this hole, and I love options, with tee-ball accuracy being the real test to the hole. Leave yourself a clean approach shot with no tree trouble, and the green should be easy to locate.
An overhead view of the eleventh hole at The Legacy
Interesting Hole: The most interesting hole has to be the difficult par-4 twelfth hole, that has a very blind tee shot on top of and then over a ridge. As you can see, if you hit it far enough, the landing area really gets pinched by the hazard on the right, and you cannot see the ball land here at all. Also of note, the back tee is probably sitting on about an 8-degree side slope, which makes the second hardest tee shot on the course all that much more difficult. Mission #1 is finding your drive here, as you can’t see it land, and have to be very concerned with runout. Anything less than driver to find the wider landing area will leave a long, downhill approach to the most guarded green at The Legacy.
Limitations: While the Legacy has a decent variety of holes, it does not have any holes that are “long.” The longest par-4 is just 436 yards from the tips, no par-3 stretches longer than 189, and all four par-5s are very reachable for long hitters. Course conditions are generally acceptable or good, but like most municipal courses, this can occasionally be an area of concern. The practice area is among the worst practice areas I’ve seen, but credit the Legacy for at least having a driving range, whereas so many municipal courses do not. The Legacy is very comparable to Old Fort in its general “municipal vibe,” but perhaps feels a bit less municipal than Old Fort, despite Old Fort being a better golf course.
Final Thoughts: The Legacy is a perfectly fine golf course with a rough practice area. The Legacy is an okay value for the area, has some interesting design and a fun routing, but leaves a little bit to be desired. This is probably the course that has the most upside in the Nashville area, and if there was more money in the area, I could see The Legacy being a private course; with the right redesigns, restorations, drainage improvements, and property acquisitions, it would be a pretty strong private option as well. However, for now, it is city-owned, and thereby, city-cared-for.
