Best golf courses in North Carolina.

Pinehurst, NC

The most famous course in America

Aberdeen, NC

Tom Doak's newest Sandhills masterpiece

Sanford, NC

Tobacco Road Golf Club in Sanford, North Carolina, opened in 1998 and is the best-known work of Mike Strantz, who designed only a handful of courses before his death in 2005. The site was an abandoned sand quarry, and Strantz used the spoil piles and pits rather than flattening them. The course is deliberately theatrical. Several tee shots play through narrow gaps between towering sand walls with no view of the landing area, and fairways that look impossibly tight from the tee open up dramatically once golfers walk over the crest. Greens are large, wildly contoured and often set at angles that reward one specific approach line. Strantz routed the holes by hand-drawing them on site, and no two look alike. It is a daily-fee course, walkable, and it plays under 6,600 yards from the back tees, which has almost nothing to do with how hard it is. The Pack House serves as Tobacco Road's clubhouse snack counter, while the clubhouse bar, open fireplace, stone porches and rocking chairs overlooking the 18th green create the post-round setting. It feels more like a rustic gathering place than a polished resort restaurant, which suits the course.

Southern Pines, NC

Pine Needles in Southern Pines, North Carolina, is a classic Donald Ross design that dates to the 1920s and has become one of the most important courses in women's golf. The course has hosted four U.S. Women's Opens, most recently in 2022, along with the 2019 U.S. Senior Women's Open. It's a public course with a traditional Sandhills setting of rolling terrain, pine trees and sandy soil. Kyle Franz completed a significant restoration in 2017, bringing back many of the characteristics of Ross's original design while updating the bunkers, greens and surrounding areas. The course is known for its excellent green complexes, strategic bunkering and the way it uses the natural movement of the property. Pine Needles also has a unique place in golf history thanks to Peggy Kirk Bell, who owned the resort for decades and became one of the most influential figures in women's golf. She helped make Pine Needles a major destination for women's golf instruction and was the first woman inducted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame.

Pinehurst, NC

A modern Hanse masterpiece at Pinehurst

Southern Pines, NC

Mid Pines in Southern Pines, North Carolina, opened in 1921 as a Donald Ross design and sits across the road from Pine Needles under the same ownership. The routing has never been altered, so the course still plays the way Ross laid it out. Kyle Franz completed a restoration in 2013, removing decades of tree growth and irrigated rough, widening the sandy edges and recovering the original green shapes. The result is firm, fast turf, waste-sand bunkering with native wire grass, and approach shots that can be run into the greens. It plays as a par 72 at a modest yardage, is comfortably walkable, and is open to public and resort play through the Pine Needles and Mid Pines operation.

Southern Pines, NC

Donald Ross classic in the Sandhills: one of the region's oldest courses

Asheboro, NC

Tot Hill Farm Golf Club sits in the Uwharrie hills outside Asheboro, North Carolina. Mike Strantz designed it and the course opened in 2000, playing to a par 72 of about 6,614 yards. Strantz routed the holes around exposed granite outcrops, a creek and steep drops through the property rather than moving the ground to suit convention. Fairways bend around rock, several greens sit in natural bowls, and blind and semi-blind shots are part of the design. It is one of the boldest layouts of his short career and divides opinion accordingly. Tot Hill Farm is open to public play.

Jefferson, NC

Jefferson Landing golf course sits along the New River in Jefferson, North Carolina, part of the gated Jefferson Landing community in the state's High Country. Designed by Larry Nelson and opened in 1991, the par-72 layout plays 7,008 yards from the back tees with a course rating of 73.4 and slope of 137. The course was renovated in 2019 with updated tee and practice areas, additional bunkering, and Scottish-style revetted sod-wall bunkers. Set along gently rolling terrain, it offers views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The club welcomes members, guests and outing groups.

Pinehurst, NC

The Cradle at Pinehurst is a nine-hole short course designed by Gil Hanse and opened in 2017. The compact routing rolls across sandy ground, wiregrass and pines near the main clubhouse, with varied par threes that reward imagination rather than length. Music, quick rounds and the option to loop it again make the atmosphere deliberately social, but the contours and recoveries still feel tied to Pinehurst's broader golf character. Cradle Crossing is the open-air bar overlooking The Cradle, with seating and fire pits above the third green and fourth tee. The nearby Pinecone bar cart and its Transfusions add to a short-course scene built around music, sunsets and another loop.

Pinehurst, NC

Pinehurst Resort No. 8, also known as the Centennial Course, is an 18-hole, par-72 resort course in Pinehurst, North Carolina, designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1996 to mark Pinehurst's 100th anniversary. The course plays to 7,099 yards, is designated an Audubon Signature Sanctuary, and routes through rolling pine forest and wetlands with a Cape-style par-4 14th hole. A 2022 renovation reworked bunkers, greens and irrigation while leaving Fazio's original architecture unchanged; the course has ranked among GOLF Magazine's Top 100 Courses You Can Play.

Last verified 2026-09-17

Pinehurst, NC

Pinehurst No. 1 is where golf at Pinehurst began. The course opened in 1898, originally designed and built by Dr. Leroy Culver, and was later enhanced by John Dunn Tucker and by Donald Ross after Ross arrived in the Sandhills. It predates No. 2 and gave the young resort its first real golf identity. At 6,089 yards and par 70, No. 1 is the most approachable of the resort's full-length courses. The fairways are wide, the routing walks gently over the sandy ground, and the green complexes carry Ross's influence without the severity found next door. More than a century of resort golf has passed over this ground, and the course still serves its original purpose: a welcoming first taste of Pinehurst for the thousands of golfers who arrive each year.

Chapel Hill, NC

UNC Finley Golf Course is owned and operated by the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and serves as home to the Tar Heels' men's and women's golf teams. The course was originally built in 1949 to a design by George Cobb, with Tom Fazio remodeling it in 1999 and Davis Love III completing a further renovation in 2023 that changed the layout to a par-70 routing. The course is open to the public through patron play programs as well as university use, with a pro shop, practice facilities, and instruction available. It has hosted NCAA and USGA regional events and the annual Ruth's Chris Tarheel Invitational.

Raleigh, NC

Lonnie Poole Golf Course is an 18-hole public course on NC State University's Centennial Campus in Raleigh, designed by Arnold Palmer's design firm with Erik Larsen and Brandon Johnson and opened in 2009. The par-72 layout stretches to 7,358 yards from the back tees, with a course rating of 74.7 and a slope of 142. It is the home course for NC State's men's and women's golf teams and is open to public play. The layout moves through rolling, wooded Piedmont terrain with views toward downtown Raleigh from several holes.

Asheville, NC

The Omni Grove Park Inn course sits on the eastern slope of Sunset Mountain within the historic Grove Park Inn estate in Asheville. Donald Ross renovated the layout in the 1920s and gave it the routing still in play today through the Blue Ridge foothills. The par-70 course threads tree-lined, hilly corridors with significant elevation change and long views back toward the Arts and Crafts hotel. At roughly 6,100 yards it is short by modern standards, but uneven lies and steeply elevated approaches make length beside the point. It is the mountain counterpoint to Ross's flatter Sandhills work.

Whittier, NC

Sequoyah National Golf Club is a public course near Whittier, North Carolina, owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and set on steep, dramatic terrain in the Great Smoky Mountains about 45 minutes from Asheville. The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones II with Notah Begay III and opened in 2009. The routing climbs and descends sharply across the mountainside, producing significant elevation change hole to hole and panoramic views of the surrounding national park land. Bentgrass greens and zoysia fairways were installed, with a later renovation converting bunkers to a capillary-concrete system and adding zoysia to the fairways for consistent year-round conditioning. Sequoyah National operates as a public course with a practice facility including a driving range and chipping area, and it is close to Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort. Annual memberships are also offered alongside daily tee times.

Conover, NC

Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover is a 36-hole facility with two courses. The Robert Trent Jones II Jones Course opened in 2003, plays to a par of 72 and 7,169 yards from its longest tees, and is private, with a course rating of 75.2 and a slope of 146. The Tom Jackson Course opened in 1969, is semi-private, and plays to a par of 71 and 6,427 yards. Both courses cross Lyle Creek and move across the rolling Catawba Valley foothills. The property also includes a spa and an equestrian center.

Nags Head, NC

Nags Head Golf Links is a golf course on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, sited along the Roanoke Sound in the town of Nags Head. Designed by Chapel Hill-based architect Bob Moore, it opened in the late 1980s and was built in the Scottish links tradition, using rolling dunes and native sea grasses to separate tees and greens rather than trees. Coastal winds are a defining factor, with its length playing longer than the scorecard suggests. Several holes run along the sound, offering water views, while the course's dune-buffered layout has shifted somewhat over the decades as the sandy terrain naturally eroded and moved. Nags Head Golf Links operates as a public facility popular with Outer Banks visitors and residents, and is grouped with other regional courses such as its sister property, The Currituck Club, under the same operating company.

Corolla, NC

The Currituck Club is a golf course in Corolla, North Carolina, on the northern Outer Banks near the Currituck Sound. Designed by Rees Jones, the course opened in 1996 as part of a real-estate community and was built across sand dunes, wetlands, maritime forest, and sound-side shoreline. Jones used the coastal terrain to create a layout that mixes seaside views, including holes along the Currituck Sound, with strategic demands for accomplished players while still offering forward tees for resort-style visitors. The course carries Audubon International certification as a cooperative sanctuary and has drawn wildlife including deer, osprey, and geese. The Currituck Club operates as a semi-private facility, serving homeowners in the surrounding community as well as the public through daily green fees, with a clubhouse and bent-grass greens maintained year-round.

Pinehurst, NC

Pinehurst No. 7 is an 18-hole, par-72 course at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Rees Jones designed the course, which opened in 1986 and was renovated in 2002. The layout plays 7,216 yards from the back tees and is routed over wetland terrain about a mile from the resort's main clubhouse. It has roughly 75 bunkers and 25 acres of wetlands in play, and 13 of the 18 greens sit on elevated sites. No. 7 has its own range, putting green and short-game area. Play is open to resort guests and outside visitors through Pinehurst Resort tee times.

Denver, NC

Verdict Ridge Golf & Country Club is a semi-private 18-hole course in Denver, North Carolina, north of Charlotte near Lake Norman. Designed by Ed Schweitzer, it opened in 1998 and plays to a par of 72 and 6,992 yards from the back tees, with a rating of 73.5 and slope of 142. The layout has elevation changes, forced carries and water across rolling Piedmont terrain. The club offers seven sets of tees, a driving range and practice greens for members and daily-fee guests.

Browns Summit, NC

The Champions Course at Bryan Park Golf & Conference Center in Browns Summit, north of Greensboro, is an 18-hole, par-72 course designed by Rees Jones that opened in 1990. From the back tees it plays 7,255 yards with a course rating of 75.8 and a slope of 142, and shorter tees bring it down to about 5,252 yards. Seven holes border Lake Townsend, and the layout includes 97 sand bunkers along with grass bunkers, hollows and forced carries over water. The course is open to public play as part of Bryan Park's 36-hole complex.

Pinehurst, NC

Pinehurst No. 6 is an 18-hole, par-72 resort course at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, designed by George and Tom Fazio and opened in 1979. Tom Fazio renovated the course in 2005, adding bunkers and native wiregrass. It measures 7,053 yards from the back tees, with a course rating of 74.7 and a slope of 139. The layout is more open and links-influenced than Pinehurst's tree-lined courses, set on rolling terrain with views across the property. It was the first Pinehurst course not designed by Donald Ross.

Durham, NC

Duke University Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina, was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened to the public in 1957, following plans first discussed in the 1930s. His son, Rees Jones, renovated the tees and greens in 1993 and 1994. The par-72 course plays 7,146 yards from the championship tees, with a 74.8 rating and 142 slope, set on rolling terrain with meandering streams and mature hardwoods and pines. It remains open to the public seven days a week, with closures for scheduled maintenance.