UA Fort Smith Athletics

Hardscrabble Country Club is the home course of the UAFS men’s and women’s golf teams.

The golf course was constructed in 1927 and designed by Perry Maxwell, who is the designer of many other famous golf courses like Prairie Dunes, Southern Hills and Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, to name a few. It was built on very rocky terrain on the site of a fruit farm, which was known as a “hardscrabble” way to make a living. The club’s name is derived from that.

The course was completely renovated in 1998 by Jay and Carter Morrish. At par of 70, the golf course plays much longer than the 6,783 yards from the championship tees. There are 10 par 4s, and seven of them are more than 430 yards in length. There are several holes where water, large trees and fairway and greenside bunkers come into play.

Golf Digest ranked Hardscrabble as the seventh best course in the state in 2007. Hardscrabble has hosted several prestigious national amateur events, such as the USGA Senior Women’s Championship, two Trans-Mississippi Men’s Championships, the Trans-Miss Women’s Championship, the Women’s Southern Championship, the Western Women’s Championship, the Western Junior Girls’ Championship and several men’s and women’s State Golf Association stroke and match play championships.

For many years, the club hosted the Hardscrabble Invitational, which was one of the country’s most prestigious amateur golf championships. Hardscrabble also was the home of the Fort Smith Classic, a Nationwide PGA Tour event.