Regent Park to close early next year. Played last week and could tell the maintenance just not occurring.

Played RP on 7/25. Still in pretty good shape except for the bunkers, which have the same problem as a lot of local courses. Over time, they lose sand. If the sand is not replaced, you end up with a very thin layer of sand over very hard, compacted earth. No problem as far as fairway bunkers are concerned, but a big problem in greenside bunkers. A very thin layer of sand will not allow the club head to pass under the ball, so you either try to intentionally hit it thin, or you will chunk it five feet. Someone (I assume an employee) at the clubhouse told my friend in our foursome to play outside the bunkers because of deferred maintenance - that is the first time I have ever heard that. Hopefully they can get this issue resolved.

Greens a little beaten up but putted fairly well. I probably fixed! 100 ball marks other than my own. One other issue still persisting is lack of water stations. Bring a lot of water with you.

Have played Regent Park a lot this year, and it has become one of my favorite layouts. Played on 8/30/14 and the course condition was good. One of the best things about RP on Saturdays is that the pace of play is usually not an issue. It took us 4 hours 20 minutes last Saturday, and that was actually a little slower than normal. We usually start around 7:45 so we are out early, and done by noon. Greens starting to show a lot of ball marks, but overall in good shape. Only real negative is they still need more water stations.

One of my favorite courses is Regent Park, I play there at least once a month, sometimes twice, always fairly early on Saturdays. For some weird reason they have stopped providing water coolers on the course now that we are in the hottest period of the year. The last five times or more I have been out on Saturday morningss, no drinking water anywhere. Plenty of stands for drinking water coolers, just no coolers. Also never anyone selling refreshments, I'm not sure why they have a refreshment stand in the fist place. Bizarre to say the least. Make sure you bring your own cooler or stock up at the clubhouse before you start play. Just an FYI.

We have booked a round at Regent Park Golf Club over Thanksgiving. Are the greens really that bad? Is it worth playing or should we look for something else?

Play Regent Park golf club. It's in the best shape of any course in Charlotte hands down.

For some reason this course had been off my radar for years. I'm not sure why, as I was unbelievably impressed with the conditions and layout during my round on Saturday. I took my dad there who was visiting from Buffalo, and he was blown away, saying it was his favorite of the four we've played here (Stonebridge, Carolina Lakes, & Verdict Ridge were the others). Of note, the course handled the 4" of rain rather well. Though it was cart path only, it wasn't a swamp out there, and the overall conditions were impeccable. We paid 4 for $179 for an 8:40 tee time on Saturday, which I would say is a steal.

I hit up Regent Park Golf Club for the first time ever today (8/2) and came away with a need to play it again. The layout is spectacular and the condition is even better. Could be one of the best maintained courses within 20 miles of downtown.

The course must drain well because we've gotten a good amount of rain this week and I couldn't even see many wet spots at all. Fairways, for the most part, are forgiving and the thick rough presents a challenge. The greens played well and the fringe is very well defined. In fact, the fringe helped save some of my approach shots from rolling off the green.

I paid $40 for twilight, which I'm not bragging about. Wish it could be a bit more affordable to play at Regent Park, but it's definitely worth the money.

John - I'll give you four or five all of which have been commented on here:

Olde Sycamore
Springfield
Verdict Ridge
Skybrook

The other one I will mention because it's in great shape is Regent Park. Unfortunately it's hit or miss with the staff over there but the course is in nearly perfect shape.

Just some comments on some of the courses I've played in the last couple of months.

Renaissance - completely disagree with the comments earlier. The only issue I had with this course is that it's sometimes hard to find a flat spot on the tee.

Emerald lake - completely agree with the last comment. Not going back.

Regent Park - played there Wednesday. Greens were a little fuzzy and slow but the course is in great shape.

Springfield - Always in great shape.

Cleghorn Plantation - made the drive and was dissapointed. Course is gorgeous. Great views, elevation changes, etc. Tees, fairways, bunkers all in great shape. Greens were terrible. They have something growing besides grass. It made them virtually unputtable and ruined the round.

Olde Sycamore - always in great shape.

River Oaks - greens were very good. Tee to green, not so much. Needs some work, Not worth the drive unless you're north of town.

Glen Oaks - I really liked this course. They seem to take a lot of pride in this course. Some really pretty holes and at least one where you tee off across a road. Worth the drive.

Deer Brook - I wasn't all that impressed but I was out there after some bad weather. I'll try it again before passing judgement.

Rock Barn - Played the Jones course and it was great as you might expect from a course that is a Senior Tour stop.

Charlotte Golf Links - It's horrible. Don't bother.

Moorseville Muni - You hear different things about hhis course but I liked it. A few of the tees needed a lot work but I thought the fairways and greens were very good. They seem to do a lot of 1st Tee/ Junior golf up there. There were lots of kids walking the course Mother's Day.

Have played Eagle Chase, Fox Den and The Warrior also. All were in good shape and worth going to play.

Playing Edgewater in the morning. I'll update my last comments about it.

A comment about Ballantyne Resort. They really aren't interested in attracting local golfers over there. It's all about packaging rounds with rooms and corporate outings.

Played Regent Park on 10/16. The course was in pretty good shape. Some greens were a little beat up, but fine overall. One weird thing happened that I've never seen before. I was waiting on my brother to check in so we could head to the first tee. After a few minutes he had registered and "paid" with the lady behind the pro shop counter and we started the round. We showed our receipts to the stater and teed off on 1. Three and a half hours later we were on the 16th tee and the marshall approached us, asking again to see our receipts. My brother pulled his receipt out again and realized he had only been charged $6 for three balls he purchased. Apparently the pro shop had screwed up and not keyed in his green/cart fee on his credit card in the beginning. Somehow they had dicovered this later on and sent the marshall all the way to 16 to ask my brother to come in and settle up when we finished. Once we finished he spoke with the same lady who apologized and re-entered the transaction correctly.

I can understand an honest mistake, but to send a marshall to track down someone in a situation like this when it's your own fault is a little troubling to me. My brother did not mind paying the $40 for the round, it's the curcumstances that were sort of unprofessional.

played course on 6/20/2008. Fairways in good shape. Only problem is the militant b#%&*! owner who doesn't know the first thing about PR or customer service. I'm not quite sure what her problem is, but she acted like Regent Park was Augusta National. I won't be back because of her abrasive attitude.

I played Regent Park last week for the first time. I was very unimpressed after all of the talk I had heard about it. Greens, fairways, and tee boxes were all in bad shape. Practice facility was pretty beat up as well. Most of the bunkers were very nice though. Not worth the Friday rate to play there.

* Regent Park is in better-than-average shape and the greens are rolling true. I met the new owner and he seems to be genuinely committed to providing a quality golf experience.

* Olde Sycamore is in average shape, but there are a few holes (5-6?) on the front nine that have fairways that are practically dead. Greens have been better here, but are average.

* Charlotte Golf Links is just awful. The greens are terribly inconsistent, and they're all cut high, almost like fairways. They claim to be working on the problems, but there are beetles on most greens, which suggest its only going to get worse. Are they just letting this place rot? Or are they just keeping status quo because it's always crowded?

B-man,

C'mon, man, it's Masters Week! No 2007 course updates from you yet? Where's the love, man?

Here are a few observations I had over the past few weeks:

1) Ballantyne Resort course is in great shape. It's not a favorite of mine (especially at the price) but the fairways and greens (recently aerated) are in very good shape. It's still a mystery to me why they can't even out the tee boxes. It always seems like tee shots are from sidehill lies.

2) Stonebridge has had great greens this winter/spring! In my opinion, Stonebridge and Charlotte National really keeps the best greens in town.

3) Charlotte Golf Links -- I've heard that the greens are very long and slow...again. Why can't they ever seems to get the greens right? The place is always packed with people...you have to believe they're making money. Yet, in my 2 1/2 years here, the greens are always terrible. What a waste of a Tom Doak design! I've also heard rumors that they finally sold the course to a condo developer. Not sure if that's true.

4) Regent Park -- I've also heard that the greens were in bad shape at RP this year. Haven't experienced first-hand. If true, I hope that's not a sign of things to come from the new management that bought the place.

- J.D.

I played Regent Park about 2 weeks ago. The course is in excellent shape and the greens were fast. The price is a little high but overall its in very good condition.

For those visiting Charlotte this fall, please know that this summer's conditions were very hard on local area greens - very wet and humid early and very, very dry for an extended period only now starting to come back. My opinion on those asked about in earlier posts:

Springfield - tough tough, forced carries and truly unique place - just now developing real estate on/around course. Play it now as it is one of the best premium courses in the area. I played last week and greens were so so - having just been punched and suffering a bit from the bad summer - great value durring the week and unique.

Eagle Chase - kind of a long drive, I call this a bubba course. I mean it in a nice way - more like a muni look and feel it is low end but really good layout, not in great shape - almost like a mtn course with elevation change.

Olde Sycamore - Probably best greens around right now - very playable and tough layout. typical Charlotte style course in a housing development.

Regent Park - great layout and usually great shape - i have heard greens were lost earlier this year and have stayed away but will defer to earlier posters and go back on their rec.

Waterford - in Rock Hill SC - 30 min from Charlotte. A gem, and a Hale Irwin Course very fun and some unique holes (#3 has you drive thru a "chute") Good shape

Charlotte Golf Links - scottish style layout with lots of Gorse, bunkers and elevated greens - good shape and right off 485

Stonebridge - good shape for the most part and forgiving layout

Larkhaven is a muni that is not in the same tier as above but fun/fair and cheap

Verdict Ridge is TIGHT and LOTS of houses but very nice and good shape last time I played

My top 4:

Waterford
Olde Sycamore
Springfield
Charlotte Golf Links

We played Regent on 9/17. Thought the course was great. The layout was great and the 10 minute interval between tee times kept us from ever feeling rushed. I really enjoyed the fact that the holes are really spead out and you almost felt like you had the whole course to yourself. The greens were a bit rough though. Several of them were "splotchy" and burned up in places, but other than that, I was very happy with our decision to play there. Many have claimed it's "pricey", but $60 (including cart) was a GREAT deal for a course this nice in our group's oplinion. We're used to paying $50 for an AVERAGE course around here. If you want to talk about "pricey", try playing in Vegas or San Diego, where a decent track will cost you well over a hundred to play on. All in all, we were VERY happy with this place.

If money is no object, go for Ballantyne Resort. That's a great conditioned course with all the amenities and it's not all that difficult. I did just play the Divide last week and it was fine. They don't aerate til October. Generally speaking, I'd say the Divide is overpriced compared to others around town.

Last I heard (a week or two ago), Regent was in OK shape. They had recent problems with burned out greens, but have mostly recovered.

One last one to consider is Emerald Lake. I hear it's in great shape right now. It is very playable for all skill levels.

Regent Park is a little better than the Divide in terms of overall conditioning, but I think it is also more difficult. The Divide features slightly more foregiving fairways, but the greens are a little less consistent. Check with the courses about aeration, because September is a popular time for that. A few more courses you may want to investigate are Highland Creek near the university, Birkdale, and if you really want a beautiful but tough course, Verdict Ridge. Verdict Ridge may be the most scenic course, but it's a little bit of a drive.

Check out Regent Park at http://www.regentparkgolfclub.com/.
It is always in good shape and a good price for a public course. There are lots of good course in CLT. Check the courses link and visit a few over the web. Have a great visit to the Carolinas.