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Description

This older public course is about 30 miles (45 minutes) from uptown Charlotte. The front 9 was the creation of Scottish-born Donald Ross and opened to the public in 1936. The back 9, designed by Tom Jackson, was completed in 1982. All 18 greens were redone in 2007-2008 and are now all Champion Bermuda.

Notes

The course now has its own official website with online tee times available. Memberships available for less than $100 per month. Covers green fees. $10 annual handicap fee. Rack rates are no longer a bargain but the twilight rates are excellent.

B-Man's Take

This course is very reasonably priced and easily walkable. The layout features a good mix of easy and tough holes. Just outside of downtown Monroe, you'll find a laid back atmosphere and rounds played at a good pace, though the locals traffic keeps it pretty busy. The staff keeps it in pretty good shape year round. I especially love the par 5's. They're all usually reachable in 2 from the white tees and give up many birdies. The par 3's on the other hand can be quite a challenge. Hole #2 has a severely sloped green, #9 is a good 3-iron, #11 goes over a pond and #16 can play longer than #9 since it's uphill. I find the back 9 easier than the front. You should be able to score well if you can adjust to the greens. They are usually fast and have always been tricky for me to read. One word of caution that if you are not local or a frequent visitor to the club, you may not get a very welcome feeling. This course definitely caters to regulars.

Most Recent Reviews

• 6/11/24 - Review by RT

  "Great course"

  Great experience in first trip to Monroe CC. It's a haul from Charlotte but worth the effort to play an enjoyable and well-maintained course. Front side is quintessential Ross - compact tract, small punch-up greens, hidden bunkers, very playable when you're in position. Back side feels roomier, with a lot of tree-lined fairways. Conditions were top-notch. Played ball down all day with premium lies. Greens were spotless and rolled consistently. Breaks are subtle. Bunkers have quality sand and are well maintained. Course is very walkable. Clubhouse staff friendly and helpful.

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• 5/29/24 - Review by Pudge

  "Great course"

  The Tale of Two Nines Monroe Country Club sits just southeast of downtown Monroe in a well-hidden, tree-lined setting where the original Donald Ross nine-hole design is laid out near the clubhouse and the Tom Jackson back nine is a short cart ride under Pageland HWY and across Richardson Creek. Driving up to the clubhouse, you will see the pro shop and snack bar to the left next to a small practice green. I made a tee time online for $50 and was paired with a father and son from the area. The pro shop staff was nice, even outgoing to give a bunch of info including the course guide and apologized for the range not being open. They did point out a short game area that I could use for full swings with short wedges. It was basic, with three targets and enough to get the swing moving the right way. After that I checked in with the starter, who was a great help in finding the short game area and giving me some info on the course. While on the practice green, I struck up a conversation with a regular who was also an Air Force vet like me. Monroe CC is another example of a public course with the basic facilities but put their money where it matters, in the course. The course, at first glance, is simple and peaceful. The first hole is an uphill blind tee shot, where the starter will help out by positioning themselves at the top of the hill and let you know when it’s clear to hit. Over the hill, the course opens up and you can see much of the front nine. The bite comes when you walk onto the greens. Donald Ross does not disappoint with greens that hide their breaks and look much larger from the fairway. These are definitely small greens, so have your chipping game with you. The tale of two nines comes in when you play the back nine. Definitely a different design with more doglegs and a couple holes with water. While the design was different, it was complementing to the front nine. Enjoy the round coming in especially on 18, a long par 5 with elevation changes and some required shot making. Conditions…the fairways are very good and the greens did not have a spot on them, obviously from excellent maintenance and golfers who fix their ball marks. Now you will see some different grass encroaching on some of the greens (but no effect on the true roll) and bare areas around the course mostly around the cart paths and some rough. The bunkers were tough with high lips and firm sand, but they were well maintained. The end all be all is the layout, fairway & green conditions, and the test of Donald Ross greens all in a wooded setting, made Monroe CC a pleasant surprise. PS – I’ve read previous reviews of Monroe from this site and others where the club was not so welcoming. I believe there has been a change in the customer service and the focus of the management. Most notably after my round since I live about 15-20 minutes away and was happy with the course, I asked about membership that is on the city website and in the course guide. Well the memberships were cancelled 2 months ago and Monroe CC is a straight daily fee with only a senior’s discount (60 and above). With that I believe there will be better conditions with the increase in revenue and less volume. I wonder what the previous members are doing since the membership cost was in the low $100’s per month and now if you play 3 times a week at $50/round, it’s $150+ a week.

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• 4/13/24 - Review by Kimchi Golfs

  "Worth playing"

  Straight forward course and not terribly difficult - other than the greens, which offer a good challenge. The course is mostly in good condition, even with the recent rain. Can’t say I’ll be making the 45 minute drive to play here regularly, but it’s worth making it out here once or twice a season.

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• 8/6/23 - Review by Mike

  "Great course"

  For $55 on a weekend (Sunday no less) it's a great course. There were some areas that were a little bear on the but mostly not in the fairways. Fairways were firm and in good shape. As hot and relatively dry it has been, the fairways are in as good of shape as I would expect, which I'd say was pretty good. The greens were super fast and rolled true. Missed putts that were even a touch too fast were punished, but no pock marks to bump the ball around. Impressive to say the least. I started to get in sync with putting later in the round compared to my last round. The folks there were friendly, so I guess they've improved their customer service. I felt pretty welcome and the starter and ranger were decent folks that got me paired up efficiently and earlier than my booked time. A note about the range. You'll find it quite a cart drive, but it takes roughly 5 minutes (probably less) from the clubhouse. It's to the right after the cart return heading toward Tee #10. You then bear to the left right before the 10th tee onto a gravel path. You can see it on the satellite, but you'll be driving through spider webs. hehehe The range appears to be little used, so that's a plus. :D

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• 3/30/23 - Review by skwahder

  "Worth playing"

  It was cart path only. Kind of surprising, but there were several areas that still had standing water. The greens were smooth with a few spots of grass growing in them. The traps are need of some upgrade. They were very hard and appear to not have been raked in awhile. This used to be the premier course in Union County. It’s slowly declining. Still a good course at this time.

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Updates From the Forum

• 06/12/25 - B-Man posted "Summer Aerification Schedule"

  Here is the list I have of aerification schedules for local courses. Please reply to add any updates I missed. June 1st Week: Stonebridge Fort Mill Sifford June 2nd Week: The 500 Club Red Bridge Warrior June 3rd Week: Mooresville Eagle Chase River Bend Monroe CC
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• 06/01/23 - B-Man posted "Aeration and Renovation Updates"

  A few Aeration dates to keep in mind: Stonebridge: 5/30-5/31 Monroe CC: 6/6-6/7 Renovation updates: River Oaks is closing in the next 2 weeks until Labor Day for renovation of 2 holes (#1 and #8) as well as the switchover from Bentgrass to Mach 1 Bermuda greens. The Revival at the Crescent is closing July 5th for a similar conversion to Mach 1 Bermuda on the greens. They also are targeting a Labor Day re-opening.
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• 08/03/15 - jscum13 posted "Lost PW"

  long shot here but worth a shot with the amount of local traffic bman's site gets...I left a PW - or so I think - on the 18th green of Monroe Country Club on Saturday 08.01.15. It's a taylormade rocket bladez PW custom projectx shaft 5.5 flighted gwith a red and black golf pride grip. Since the finders of the club didn't turn it in, if anyone sees this club online somewhere please contact me. It's a costly replacement so I'm just hoping for a prayer here. Thanks
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• 12/01/10 - DrSchteeve posted "Robert Trent Jones"

  Played Monroe Country Club last Sunday (conditions were perfect, BTW). Front 9 (used to be back) is classic RTJ design - small, lumpy, humpbacked greens well guarded by bunkers on usually quite short holes. What a blast to (try to) play - so much more interesting that the Tom Jackson back 9, and I generally like TJ designs (Eagle Chase, Olde Sycamore, Cheraw State Park). I'm going to be trying to find more RTJ courses to play - locally I know one of the Mooresville Muni 9's is RTJ, Charlotte Country Club (ultra private), otherwise not sure where there are some.
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• 06/14/09 - J.D. replied to "Monroe Country Club"

  Based on some of the recommendations on this site, I tried Monroe earlier today. This course has oodles of unrealized potential. 6725 from the tips is deceptive, because it plays a lot longer with all the uphill approach shots. Layout was very interesting -- the Ross front 9 is typical Ross with very tough challenges around the greens; the Jackson back 9 is even more interesting and challenging. Tee boxes and fairways were in good shape. Rough was THICK and difficult. Bunkers were in great shape.
  
  Two gripes: 1) No driving range. (It HAS a driving range, but it's so far away from the clubhouse that they discourage you from using it.) 2) The front 9 greens are really bumpy.
  
  I've read here that they recently re-did what is now the back 9. If they do the same to the front, this course can be a really great diamond in the rough.
  
  My suggestion: they should pour more money into the course and raise the rates a little, so this course can reach it's real potential.
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