Best new course.

• Position: SPECIAL SECTION - Brief article

It was a recipe for success: beautiful piece of land in the mountains of western North Carolina, topped by a golf course that some say is among the best Arnold Palmer has ever designed. Put it all together and you have Balsam Mountain Preserve, the state's best new course, according to the North Carolina Golf Panel.

The private club sits more than 3,000 feet above sea level just outside Sylva amid the dense forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Balsam Mountain Preserve received an average score of 87.9 from panelists. Finishing second was The Hasentree Club, a Tom Fazio design in Wake Forest, with an average score of 82.8. Third was Innsbrook Golf & Boat Club, a Palmer design near Merry Hill, followed by Lake Toxaway Country Club, a Kris Spence redesign next to the Greystone Inn.

Those were the courses that officially opened and were visited by panelists during 2008. On a 1-to-10 scale, they assessed routing, flow, design, strategy, fairness, memorability, condition, variety, aesthetics and the experience of the round. "I felt overall that this year's candidates were the best...