Stats for the State of Certified Signature Sanctuaries: 1

Rarity Pointe Golf & Country Club
Rarity Pointe Golf & Country Club is a 130-acre Bob Cupp-designed golf course in the Glendale area of Tennessee, between Lenoir City and Maryville.  Characterized by a system of parallel ridges and valleys, the property is just south of the confluence of the Tennessee and Little Tennessee Rivers, on the east side of Tellico Reservoir at Jackson Bend.  The Tellico Reservoir, with a surface area of 16,500 acres and 310 miles of shoreline, is the main body of water around the project.  The golf course has approximately 180-feet of elevation change and a layout determined by the natural features.  In addition to the Tellico Reservoir, four lakes were created on the golf course with the largest being approximately four acres. The staff at Rarity worked with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on a special easement to take the golf course across TVA land because riparian areas of Lake Tellico abut the golf course at the 17^th and 18^th holes.  At completion of the project, approximately 15-acres,  of the 130-acres on the golf course has been naturalized with custom native grass blends designed by Pennington Seed. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which  manages the state’s reservoir and controls about 293,000 shoreline acres along the 652 mile Tennessee River system, marked land solely for recreation and natural resources conservation but in 2003 agreed to a land swap with Rarity Communities Inc.  Under the land agreement, TVA deeded 116 acres of land in exchange for 256 acres up river. On July 1, 2007, Rarity Pointe Golf & Country Club became the first Certified Signature Sanctuary in the state of Tennessee.  To learn more about Rarity Pointe, visit their website at www.raritypointe.com