Look at the ball or look at the view? This question often runs through the minds of residents at Cummings Cove at Black Creek Club. Set amidst the glorious Appellation Mountains, the scenic backdrop at Cummings Cove offers breath-taking views from a beautiful and challenging championship golf course. In addition to its natural beauty, the community hosts a fitness center, tennis courts and swimming pool, an array of amenities and a relaxed lifestyle infused with Southern hospitality. Cummings Cove at Black Creek Club is more than just a great place to play golf; the surrounding community has a wide variety of activities to offer players and non-players alike. It is your one-stop destination for exceptional golf and outdoor living!
Dr. Brad Sundstrom and his wife Angie moved into their home in the exclusive community four years ago. They carefully selected a house resting on the fairway of Hole #9. It has a perfect view of the green, which is designed as a long par four. The Hole is considered to be one of the more difficult holes on the course. “I am an avid player,” Brad says, admitting his passion for golf. “We wanted a house that was on the course -- that was crucial to me.”
Surrounded by Raccoon Mountain and Elder Mountain, with Etna Mountain peeking up in the distance, Black Creek is a par-72 golf course in Lookout Valley that continually ranks in the top 50 best residential golf courses in the United States by reputable golf publications.
Brad joined The Black Creek Club in 2002. He calls it the perfect golf community. The course features contemporary revisions of vintage golf hole designs. Multiple tee placements, deep bunkers, and blind shots combine to create a challenge for every level of player, including great finishing holes on the front and back nine. "We enjoy Black Creek because it features so many golf amenities," Brad says, “including an impressive practice facility with a putting green, a chipping green with sand and grass bunkers, and a driving range offering strategically placed target greens to expand your game. “ He added, “I love to practice at the driving range,” admitting that hitting golf balls is therapeutic for him.
The new parents share their 5,300-square-foot home with daughters Alden, 3, and Skylar, 9 months, as well as their 11-year-old beagle named Lexi. With an open floor plan boasting five bedrooms and four and a half baths, the house provides ample space for entertaining and for the girls to play.
The couple embraces their traditional-style home and its pristine surroundings. “In the mornings, there are clouds that hang halfway up the mountains -- it’s just beautiful,” Brad notes of the view. “I can look around 180 degrees and all I see are the rolling mountains.”
Brad calls Black Creek an outdoorsy community. “The landscape is so beautiful. It blends relaxation with an active lifestyle. You’re going to see people outside all of the time because of the golf course.” He added that the neighborhood is not only golfer-friendly, but it is also family-friendly. It is home to families ranging from retirees to first-time parents with newborns. “You really get to know your neighbors here,” Brad says. “It’s hard to point at a house that I don’t know who lives there."
The houses in Black Creek are not cookie-cutter; they each have their own unique flavor. Many are traditional but all boast character reminiscent of homes from past generations. The Sundstrom’s three-story brick home dons an elegant, spacious parlor-style living room with an entrance accented by bold columns. A combination of 25-foot ceilings and wide floor-to-ceiling windows makes the entrance grand and welcomes the golf course indoors. Details such as wide crown molding, honey-colored wood floors, and a marble gas log fireplace, make the living area warm and inviting.
Designed to maximize the golf course view, the home offers elegance along with functionality. The dining room in the entrance is open to the living room and radiates charm with its elegant crown molding, detailed chair rail, tray ceilings, wood floors, and wood shutters. Sage green walls brighten both spaces and inspire comfort.
Angie enjoys feeding the girls their breakfast or lunch in the eat-in kitchen which features state-of-the-art appliances and a tiled work island. Walls bearing a chestnut brown with white trim provide a traditional flavor. Children’s songs often seep from the built-in wall speakers.
The keeping room adjacent to the kitchen marks the idyllic spot for Angie or Brad to unwind with a good book or read the newspaper; it is also a good spot for the girls to watch their favorite cartoons or play with toys.
From all angles of the house, a view of the golf course seems inevitable. A set of French doors in the couple’s master bedroom allows easy access to the back deck overlooking the greens. Outdoor living spaces also maximize the golf course view.
“The house features three separate outdoor living spaces,” Angie notes. One porch has everyday furniture with a glider sofa and chair along with an outdoor fire pit for cooler days; another porch features a wrought iron table and chairs perfect for breakfast during the warmer months. The third outdoor space includes two lounge chairs to soak up the sun on the upper deck. The upper deck has the best view for watching the golfers spot their missing balls in the tall grass outside the fenced back yard.
A large basement serves as Brad‘s “cave,” says Angie, noting that the 55-inch TV and built-in home theatre, along with a fully stocked wet bar, pool table and foosball table, make it the perfect spot for entertaining friends and family.
The girls mark their spot on the top floor where their bedrooms and playroom feature ballerina pink and chocolate brown hues as well as whimsical décor. Although the girls are too young now to fully appreciate the golf course, Alden sometimes accompanies her dad on the course, where she enjoys placing the ball on the tee, he says.
Brad, a native of Gainesville, Georgia, practices general dentistry in Chattanooga and also runs a dental clinic for disadvantaged youths. Angie, a native of North Augusta, South Carolina, enjoys being a stay-at-home mom who once worked in finance. “I made the decision to stay home and be a full-time mommy when Alden was nine months,” she recalls. The couple plans to make Chattanooga their home for many years to come as they are happy with their neighborhood where a stranger is just a friend you have not met yet.
The clubhouse hosts regular events for the holidays and golf tournaments where the close-knit community can gather to enjoy camaraderie with their friends and fellow neighbors. “We are fortunate to have a lot of people in the same age demographic,” Brad says of neighbors ranging from 25 to 45.
The Nationwide Tournament is a very busy time at Black Creek. Brad and Angie host a professional golfer and their family, or even their caddie, during the eventful week. The neighborhood is so inviting that the couple often sets a cooler of drinks in the back yard for everyone to enjoy and gives neighbors access to the bathroom even if they are not home. Around here there is a “friend ask, friend help” mentality, Brad says.
The community has a trust and bond among its residents that is very special. A refreshing Southern hospitality brings gentleman and women together around common interests; family, friendships, golf and the great outdoors. Luxury combined with community has made Cummings Cove at Black Creek a one-of-a-kind place to live for the Sundstrom family. Angie and Brad could not be happier with their home or their community as the place to raise their daughters.