Golf in North Carolina

gin nclf Great Courses From Mountains to Coast And everything in between

18 The Dream

Discover the top golf holes in the state

North Carolina is blessed with an abundance of exceptional golf courses.

There are courses featuring aweinspiring holes with precipitous elevation changes and panoramic vistas in the state’s mountains. The coast offers courses with photogenic and challenging holes that wind through maritime forests and across saltwater lagoons.

In between, in North Carolina’s Piedmont region, are courses boasting classic golf holes that have tested the world’s best golfers in major championships. Take a look at this sampling of exceptional golf courses from all across the state of North Carolina.

North Carolina has more than

85 550 North Carolina is

home to more than

golf courses ranked

golf courses

by Golf Digest as four star or higher

Watch a video Check out a few of the most famous and challenging golf holes in North Carolina, selected from courses all over the state.

mountains

High Hampton Inn & Country Club The town of Cashiers in the Blue Ridge Mountains is home to the High Hampton Inn & Country Club. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Cool summer evenings have made High Hampton a preferred escape for more than 80 years.

The golf course offers a George Cobb layout that is short but challenging. Its par-3, 137-yard No. 8 island hole was ranked by a national golf publi­cation as One of America’s Great Golf Holes.

Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa The Grove Park Inn’s golf course in Asheville opened in 1899 and was redesigned in 1924 by legendary golf architect Donald Ross. The 6,720-yard, par-70 layout emphasizes accuracy over power and is regularly ranked among the best in the nation. Many of the game’s greats, including Jack Nicklaus, have played this course.

Tour the course

piedmont Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club Peggy Kirk Bell, a charter member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, owns Pine Needles in Southern Pines. It features another Donald Ross design that has hosted a trio of U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championships in the past dozen years. Golf learning programs (known as Golfaris) are a staple at Pine Needles.

Watch a video of a Golfari

Pinehurst Resort Pinehurst is the granddaddy of the state’s golf resorts. Donald Ross built the course, and his famed Pinehurst No. 2 layout has since hosted multiple U.S. Open Championships and other world-class golf events. Pinehurst now features eight top courses and is consistently ranked among the top courses in the United States.

8 Number of golf courses at Pinehurst

(more than any other resort in America)

coast Brunswick Islands Golf The Brunswick Islands area features more than 30 courses from which to choose. Ocean Ridge Plantation in Sunset Beach has four of the best. Its big, cat-themed courses – Lion’s Paw, Leopard’s Chase, Tiger’s Eye and Panther’s Run – challenge both beginning and accom­plished golfers.

Watch a golfing video from the Brunswick Islands

Nags Head Golf Links This 18-hole, Scottish-style championship course was designed

by Bob Moore. Bentgrass greens and Bermuda fairways complement the landscape and remain in good playing condition year-round. Coastal winds and rugged shoreline combine to create a different golfing experience each and every day.

30

There are more than

30 golf courses in Brunswick County