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Description

Located in Mint Hill off Hwy 218, this semi-private club is a Tom Jackson design and offers a very challenging layout with strategically placed bunkers and several ponds. In the summer of 2025, the course converted its Crenshaw Bentgrass greens to Bermuda.

Notes

Course offers membership deals and is a great place for a golf outing.

B-Man's Take

This used to be one of my favorite courses in the area and I have played it a ton over the years. In summer 2025, the club completed a renovation that included conversion from Bentgrass to Mach 1 Bermuda grass greens – a much needed improvement! The rack rates are some of the highest in Charlotte, but the 2025 renovations now make the course worthe the price. It has some of the nicest white sand bunkers around town. This course will also test your range, as you'll likely need every club in the bag. There are many holes where you'll want to use something other than driver off the tee. My favorite holes: the two par 5's that bookend the round -- the 517yd birdie-able first hole and the likewise birdie-able 528yd finishing hole. Hell-holes: too many to list, but look out for the two-tiered green on the par 3 fourth and the trouble-laden par 4 10th hole.

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Most Recent Reviews

• 10/20/26 - Review by B-Man

  "Great course"

  Olde Sycamore is now one of the more dependable public courses for conditions and rates. It is a fun layout where you don't need driver off the tee very often and I've played it for over 2 decades. So it feels like an old friend when I get back here to play. The greens had their last top dressing of sand for the season before we played, but that did not slow them down. They were running at least 10 on the stimp. I think the light sand actually kept a few of our balls from rolling off the green. I was happy with the speed. Still lots of hard bounces on the greens. They are still only about a year old. You need to keep that in mind when playing your approaches and chip shots. There are a few areas marked as Ground Under Repair around the cart paths (Hole No. 3 in particular) and some brush being cleared on a few holes. These mostly don't affect play and should be in better shape by next season. The staff is great and the $56 rate for a weekday afternoon was reasonable. I will be back again soon.

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• 7/27/26 - Review by aimtobreak80

  "Worth playing"

  The last time I played this course was in March 2016, and a lot has changed in that time, some with the course and a lot with me and my skills. The primary course change was the inclusion of a Silver set of tees that should be (but isn't) advertised on the course’s website, as well as updated on this website. The scorecard specifics: 2575 yards (Front) and 2513 yards (Back) = 5088 total; 65.9/116 Rating/Slope. It seemed to play well as a “Senior Tee”. Playing conditions for a 9 AM tee time were moderately good: Recent rainstorms meant “cart path only”, and there was standing water in one, or two bunkers. As further testament to the impact of the storms, the driving range was closed. The fairways and greens were in good condition in spite of the storms. There was a heavy dew on the grass such that ground balls spewed up sizeable rooster tails, and as the sun rose, that dew contributed to almost oppressive humidity. Thank goodness, I was only playing nine holes while filling out a foursome. My only criticism of the course is the lack of GPS in the carts and/or printed yardage diagrams (I’ll admit, I did NOT check whether a yardage book is available). On-course signage is behind the times also, because the Silver tees aren’t included on the posts. I was surprised by how much I remembered about individual holes, and was able to make necessary adjustments in spite of the lack of information and age-associated loss of distance such that I scored about as well as I had 10 years before. Overall, I would continue to recommend Olde Sycamore to any local golfer.

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• 4/29/26 - Review by Twitch

  "Worth playing"

  This course is quickly becoming one of my South Charlotte favorites. Course conditions are better each time I play. Greens are in great shape. There are a few tee boxes which are still somewhat bare but most are in good/great shape. Staff here is always friendly. Love the variety of holes. Everything plays fair. Lots of good things happening here.

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• 4/18/26 - Review by csandku

  "Worth playing"

  This was my first visit to Olde Sycamore since the Summer 2025 greens renovation. I've played this course 5-10 times previously. This spring was the best shape I've seen the course in the past few years. The greens were smooth and consistent. The bunkers were soft and in good condition. A few of the tee boxes, specifically those where most people are not hitting driver off the tee (#2, 4, etc.) were worn, but most of the par 3 tee boxes were in good shape. I play most of my golf on Friday and Saturday evenings. I was able to walk on as a single and play a fairly quick round for $60 - in the Charlotte area, it's tough to beat that.

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• 11/25/25 - Review by B-Man

  "Great course"

  After checking out the renovations at Highland Creek, I had to do the same at Olde Sycamore Golf Plantation. This is another course that I played frequently in my early days of public golf around Charlotte, going back 25 years. I came to love the layout and would continue to come back several times a year. OS was one of the last holdouts with Bentgrass greens and the summer of 2024 was one of its worst for course conditions. So, I was extremely excited to hear of the plans for renovation this year. They just reopened with new Bermuda greens two months ago. My first impression: they are excellent! Especially considering how young they are, the new greens were quick and rolled true. Of course, you’ll want to aim for the front of the greens, as they will be difficult to hold until they grow in for a season. There are several other related changes that the greens renovation brought with it. Namely, trees cleared around several greens to provide more direct sunlight for the Bermuda grass. This was most evident around nos. 13 and 18. This really opens up the area around the green for misses that stay in play. The layout is still very unique, with about half of the par 4’s and 5’s featuring a dogleg that can take driver out of your hands — which can be good news or bad news depending on your game. The course is well-bunkered, so have your sand game polished and ready. The course features a giant double green for holes no. 6 and no. 8. The front 9 closes with a long, tough par 4 and the back 9 closes with a reachable par 5. Lots of variety and tons of scoring opportunities if you can hit your targets on the dogleg holes and get close to the par 5’s in two shots. I am ecstatic to see the renovations here that will guarantee good playing conditions on the putting surfaces year-round. Can’t wait to get back in the Spring and see this course really shine again.

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Updates From the Forum

• 03/23/22 - B-Man replied to "Aerification Dates - 2022"

  Olde Sycamore: 3/14-3/15 and 8/15-8/16
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• 07/04/11 - roy replied to "Olde Sycamore"

  I had the honor of playing with THE B Man today at Olde Sycamore. Overall the course was in good shape, fairways rolling and the greens were true throughout the round.
  View this thread

• 03/04/11 - Wade replied to "Olde Sycamore"

  I played Olde Sycamore last year and will play that again. I might drive over to Pinehurst and play a few rounds there. Any reccomendations? I am looking at Hyland Hills, Tallamore, Southern Pines. I am trying to stay within a budget of $50 per course.
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• 02/12/11 - DrSchteeve posted "Range Balls"

  So here was my experience at Olde Sycamore yesterday.
  
  Heading out to the range, about to use the token I bought for a bucket, I noticed there were quite a few balls on the range already. I pocketed the token, headed to the range, and began hitting balls. Called to pick up my partner who had just checked in, I got in my cart, having left several clubs leaning against the club rack in front of the balls I was hitting. When I returned, a course employee was on the range, buckets in hand, picking up all the balls on the range. He asked me if I “paid for those balls” to which I answered, “they were here when I came out”, at which he picks up the balls and puts them in a bucket and walks off.
  
  I have played golf for over 20 years, on every ! course from exclusive club to downtrodden muni, and I have never seen this, and never had this type of confrontational event on a range. Usually, course employees are giving out free buckets if they happen to cross a golfer while they have some balls in hand. I have played at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, and when asked what to do with the bag of balls not used (because there were plenty of balls on the range to hit), have been told “Take them, they’re yours”.
  
  I understand that there is an alternative view - that I was "stealing" balls by hitting balls that I hadn't paid for (even though somebody did). I just haven't seen this in over 20 years of playing golf. Not likely I'll be going back to Olde Sycamore anytime soon.
  
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• 08/28/10 - DrSchteeve posted "Greens update 08/28/2010"

  Personally checked or played (except where noted):
  
  Verdict Ridge: punched "about 2 weeks ago" - still quite bumpy, along with some bare spots that haven't responded to the punching
  
  Olde Sycamore: punched about a month ago, unfortunately divots from poorly repaired ballmarks mar the surfaces significantly - in other words, they look ok, and in general are in good rolling condition, but there are just too many ballmarks so almost any putt is likely to hit a ballmark (or 2)
  
  Emerald Lake: punched about 10 days ago, still top dressed with a lot of sand, along with other issues certainly not rolling true
  
  Skybrook: some really nice smooth areas on many greens, but also bare spots and many plugs of (presumably) poa anna, overall not bad
  
  Highland Creek: very spotty, bare areas galore, one green (#15) gone by report
  
  Red Bridge: mostly in very good condition, only a few greens with some isolated issues (Red Bridge greens are mini verde per clubhouse); definitely the best greens of all these (except Cleghorn, see below)
  
  Cleghorn (this from a month ago) - in Rutherfordton, a hike, but perfect Bermuda greens (and fairways), best overall conditions I've played in all year (and maybe ever)
  
  Hope that helps somebody...
  
  
  View this thread