Best golf courses in North Carolina for 2024-25

As portion of GOLF’s rigorous ratings process for our recently released Top 100 Courses successful the U.S. and Top 100 Courses You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus expert panelists identified the champion play courses successful each state.

You tin cheque retired the links beneath to browse each of our people rankings, aliases scroll down to spot the champion courses successful North Carolina. And if you’re looking to create your ain travel successful the future, you’d beryllium wise to fto GOLF’s new Course Finder instrumentality assistance you. Here, you tin toggle each of our lists — Top 100 public, champion munis, champion short courses, champion par-3s and much — or select by value to create the cleanable itinerary for your adjacent trip.

GOLF’s different people rankings: Top 100 Courses successful the World | Top 100 Courses successful the U.S. | Top 100 Courses You Can Play | Top 100 Value Courses successful the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 Best Short Courses successful the World

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The champion play courses successful North Carolina (2024/2025)

SYMBOL GUIDE
# = Top 100 Course successful the U.S.
Y = Top 100 You Can Play successful the U.S.
V = Top 100 Value Course successful the U.S.
P = Public/Resort

Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not person capable votes.

1. Pinehurst No. 2 (Pinehurst) [#, Y, P]

Donald Ross’ cook d’oeuvre rolls spaciously done gangly longleaf pines successful the Carolina Sandhills pinch holes culminating pinch legendary inverted-saucer greens. For the 2014 U.S. Open, a Coore-Crenshaw restoration brought backmost the tawny-edged fairways and autochthonal areas past seen successful the 1940s. Even pinch nary rough, the runner-up could muster only 1 nether par complete 4 rounds. After the Women’s U.S. Open was played the pursuing week, a powerful connection had been broadcast astir the world from the location of American play astir the virtues of width, short writer and awesome greens. This is 1 of a fistful of courses that presents edifice guests pinch a nosy trial connected which they won’t suffer a azygous ball, and a week later tin beryllium fresh to big a U.S. Open. That’s the elasticity of short writer — and Ross’ creation genius. The world will get different look astatine No. 2 successful June 2024 erstwhile the people stages its 4th U.S. Open.

2. Old Town Club (Winston Salem) [#]

With sweeping, cross-course vistas punctuated by tawny autochthonal grasses and an exemplary routing that twists astir miles of creek beds, side-slopes and creator bunkering, Old Town’s restoration portrays the enduring tone of classical play architecture. Perry Maxwell built this inspired North Carolina layout connected a erstwhile R.J. Reynolds equine farm. The mode by which Maxwell draped the fairways crossed the rolling scenery resulted successful fewer level lies. No wonderment erstwhile Demon Deacon Lanny Wadkins called it the champion people for training superior young players. Wake Forest’s play teams believe astatine Old Town, which gives them a immense home-field advantage arsenic fewer collegiate golfers are accustomed to putting connected undulating Maxwell greens aliases consistently hitting attack shots from uneven stances. The club’s longtime greenish chair analyzes each infinitesimal item of the creation during his yearly walks astir the spot pinch erstwhile Wake grad, Bill Coore. A 2023 bunker restoration task and the conversion of the greens from bent to Bermuda has the people climbing moreover higher.

A gorgeous look astatine Wade Hampton. Patrick Koenig

3. Wade Hampton (Cashiers) [#]

Tom Fazio has a well-established knack for building waterfalls. But astatine this exclusive redoubt, threaded done the folds of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he didn’t person to. Take the par-3 3rd hole, which plays done a valley, up a gentle rise, to a ample greenish backed by a steep stone look wherever a earthy cascade spills down it. It’s a mounting worthy of a nationalist park, and 1 of countless photo-ready moments connected a people that unspools gracefully astatine humble elevation, ornamented by creeks and ponds. Fazio did not forgo earth-moving altogether. But the beauty of his activity present is the deference he showed to the grandeur of the land.

4. Pinehurst No. 10 (Pinehurst) [#, Y, P]

Give a talented designer a sandy, rolling portion of onshore and spot fewer restrictions connected him aliases her, and it’s astonishing what tin beryllium produced. Donald Ross did truthful pinch a flourish astatine this resort, and this time, it was Tom Doak’s move — and he was bonused pinch not having to make an allowance for wherever homes mightiness spell aliases having the nines return. The consequence is simply a meandering circuit that enjoys its ain pacing. The first 8 holes characteristic 3 par-4s — the drivable 4th, the burly dogleg-right 6th and the intermediate magnitude 8th that plays into aged mining spoils — that item the property’s diversity. Meanwhile, the tally from the bruising uphill 468-yard 9th to the 264-yard 14th is 1 of Doak’s sternest stretches. Natural wetlands characteristic astatine 2 of the last 4 holes. This assortment of obstacles yet make No. 10 an contiguous stalwart among the resort’s offerings. 

5. Pinehurst No. 4 (Pinehurst) [Y,P]

6. Tobacco Road (Sanford) [Y, P]

7. Mid Pines (Southern Pines) [Y, P]

8. Southern Pines GC (Southern Pines) [Y, P]

9. Pine Needles (Southern Pines) [Y, P]

10. Quail Hollow (Charlotte)

11. Roaring Gap (Roaring Gap)

12. Dormie Club (West End)

13. Tot Hill Farm (Asheboro) [Y, P]

A vulnerable transportation astatine Tot Hill Farm. Courtesy of Tot Hill Farm

14. Charlotte CC (Charlotte)

15. Diamond Creek (Banner Elk)

16. Woodlake – Maples (Vass)

17. Grandfather (Linville)

18. Eagle Point (Wilmington)

19. CC of NC – Dogwood (Pinehurst)

20. Biltmore Forest (Asheville)

21. Linville (Linville)

22. Carolina GC (Charlotte)

23. Forest Creek – North (Pinehurst)

24. Pinehurst No. 8 (Pinehurst) [Y]

25. Sedgefield CC (Greensboro)

How we rank our courses

For our recently released Top 100 U.S. and Top 100 You Can Play lists — a process that helped america create 50 best-in-state rankings — each panelist was provided a ballot that consisted of 609 courses. Beside the database of courses were 11 “buckets,” aliases groupings. If our panelists considered a people to beryllium among the apical 3 successful the U.S., they ticked that first column. If they believed the people to beryllium among Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, followed by 11-25, 26-50, and truthful connected retired to 250+ and moreover a file for “remove.” Panelists were besides free to constitute successful courses that they felt should person been included connected the ballot.

Points were assigned to each bucket; to get astatine an mean people for each course, we disagreement its aggregate people by the number of votes. From those constituent tallies, the courses are past classed accordingly. It is an intentionally elemental and straightforward process. Why? Because it historically has produced results that are wide lauded. Like the crippled itself, there’s nary request to unnecessarily complicate things aliases effort to hole thing that already useful truthful well.

The cardinal to the process is the acquisition and expertise of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and each the worldwide play meccas, each of our 127 handpicked panelists has a keen oculus for architecture, some regionally and globally. Many of our panelists person played much than 1,000 courses successful 20-plus countries, immoderate complete 2,000. Their handicaps scope from +5 to 15.

Because the quality of people standing is truthful intensely subjective, nary 1 sentiment carries the day. The only way, then, to build meaningful statement is to incorporated this diverseness of panelists and experiences into 1 ranking.

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