Dancing Rabbit Golf Club - The Azaleas

Review & Rating of Dancing Rabbits' Azaleas Golf Course 

Dancing Rabbit Golf Club is home to two outstanding award-winning courses designed by Tom Fazio PGA great Jerry Pate.  The courses are carved out of 700 acres of rolling hills and valleys with towering pines, oak forests, and over two miles of spring fed meandering creeks. Both courses have their own unique personality and characteristics and both are works of art featuring Bent grass greens and Bermuda fairways on The Azaleas golf course and Champion Bermuda grass greens & Zoysia fairways on The Oaks course.

The Dancing Rabbit Golf Club courses are built upon the assembly ground and ancestral lands of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and Dancing Rabbit Golf Club is a celebration of their rich culture.  The Azaleas plays through a flood plain while The Oaks was built on rock outcroppings that the native Indians adored.  Both courses take you through an enchanting forest filled with peaks and valleys which radiate elegance and style – it's peaceful, serene, and majestic.  The cart path ride is worth the price of admission. 

Dancing Rabbit was named for its location along the banks of the Big and Little Dancing Rabbit Creeks and in the Choctaw language it was called "the creek where the rabbits dance." 

Both courses are spectacular with near perfect conditions, fun and demanding holes no two of which are the same, and challenging green complexes.  It's not surprising that both courses have won a number of awards and accolades some of which include:

• 2018 “Best Golf Course” – Voted by Readers of Southern Gaming Magazine
• Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses You Can Play”- #33
• “Top Rated Golf Course in the South” by TeeOff.com
• “Best Golf Course to Play in Mississippi” by CultureTrip.com
• Golf Digest’s “Top 100 Public Golf Courses in America” – #99
• “Best Course in State” – Voted by Readers of Mississippi Magazine
• “Top 100 Best Resort Courses” – Golfweek Magazine
• “Top Casino Course in America” – Golfweek, Golf Digest, and Southern Gaming.

Here is a link to Texas Outside's review and rating of The Oaks Course at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club.

Here are just a few of the reasons why I love The Azaleas:

• its very scenic with a variety of towering trees, sweeping fairways, meandering creeks, red pine needles under the trees, white sand bunkers, lots of flora, and rolling hills
• every hole is different from the previous hole and each one is unique
• the course is challenging but fair and it will throw a lot at you – elevation changes, raised greens, sloping and contoured fairways with a couple like a roller coaster, dog legs, risk-reward shots,  strategically placed bunkers, tight fairways, some tough approach shots,  forced carries over valleys, streams, and natural areas
• the putting surfaces are superb
• it's quiet and serene (no homes, no traffic noise) and majestic
• the facilities are excellent – the clubhouse resembles an impressive southern mansion
• there are several different stay and play options

It just doesn't get much better than playing The Azaleas!  It will throw a lot at you but it's fair and there are 5 tee boxes with yardages ranging from 5097 to 7076.  Pick the right one, don't try to be macho, and you'll have a really enjoyable round.

The greens at The Azaleas are Tif Eagle and they were in perfect condition – soft and held the ball well and they were smooth and rolled true at about an 8 or 9.  They were a little slow and not quite as soft as they will become because they were only two years old  when we played.

The fairways and all of the grounds at The Azaleas were immaculately manicured and the Tifway II Bermuda fairways were in fantastic condition – I felt guilty taking a divot.  The Azaleas fairways range from wide and let it rip to tight and twisting with lots of elevation changes, slope, and contour.  Miss the fairway and you're in a dense thick, but playable rough.  Miss the rough and you're lost in the forest.

The bunkers were also in excellent condition.  They range from small to some monsters.  Faces are steep and you won't roll out.  The sand is soft and fluffy and a joy to hit out of.

Dancing Rabbit Golf Club has some great stay and play options with a variety of lodging options.  The clubhouse has eight beautifully appointed king suites with a whirlpool, veranda, common area, and personal executive cart for resort transportation  Stay & Play packages are also available through the Golden Moon Hotel & Casino, Silver Star Hotel and Casino (both a quarter mile from the pro shop) and the Dancing Rabbit Inn adjacent to the pro shop parking lot.

Bottom line – Dancing Rabbit Club Club coupled with Pearl River Resort is perfect for a golf outing -two superb courses, two casinos, a waterpark, good stay and play lodging, and some excellent dining options. Check out our article on Pearl River Resort Stay & Play.

Unfortunately, when we played Dancing Rabbit Golf Club it was drizzling and overcast and as such the pictures don't do the course the justice they deserve.

Read more about the fantastic courses and stay and play options we enjoyed on our Mississippi Golf Vacation.