From the time it opened in 1987, Wade Hampton Golf Club received accolades from top golf publications. Golf Digest magazine named Wade Hampton its Best New Private Course for 1987, while Golfweek magazine has recognized the Tom Fazio design as one of the Best Residential Golf Courses in the country. The course is currently listed among the top 100 courses in the U.S. by several publications, including Golf Digest.

The course resides in the Cashiers Valley, which was first settled in the 1820s. But it was Wade Hampton III, a confederate soldier known as “The Giant in Gray,” who brought the region to prominence and for whom the club is named. Hampton first moved to this region of North Carolina after purchasing property from one of the earliest settlers in 1855. Hampton used the Valley as his summer home for many years, including the time he served as Governor of South Carolina, U.S. Senator and U.S. Railroad Commissioner. Hampton and his family used to harvest ice from the lakes and where the current 18th green sits today there was once an ice house.