- "Worth playing"
Showed up early for an early morning tee time. They're doing a lot of construction/upgrades, but there was no driving range. Many of the bunkers were under construction and were free drop areas. The course drained pretty well, especially after the heavy rain the week we played. Greens rolled well. Had a lot of fun at this course and will drive up to Statesville to play this again. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Played Larkin today. They were observing some social distancing rules (max 5 people in the clubhouse at any one time, no pencils on the carts), but at the same time they still had bunker rakes out and divot bottles on the carts. Construction continues along 11, 12 and 15. It's a shame, as the 12-15 stretch down in the valley used to be a neat little secluded part of the course, but the houses are now encroaching on that. We were sent off the back as they were doing some maintenance on the front. They were topdressing the greens on the front, but the sand didn't affect the greens at all. Greens were in fairly good shape, not the best I've seen around this spring, but certainly acceptable. Fairways were in great shape, as were most teeboxes. A couple of boxes in shady areas were a little thin. The bunkers were probably the worst aspect of the course. The sand was hard packed in most of them. Pace of play was good; our twosome made it around in 3:10. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time at Larkin (used to be Fox Den CC), finally. The first thing you notice is the laughable "driving" range -- it's about 125 yards long and only allows wedges. So if you need to warm up with irons and woods, you'll have to hit into a single hitting net they have set up next to the putting green. Once you get over that and actually get onto the course though, you'll love it. The greens are bent grass and were in great shape. One of only a handful of decent public courses around Charlotte that hasn't switched over to Bermuda greens. The greens are mostly flat but at least on this day, the greenskeeper made up for that by hiding the pins on the edges of the greens. I'd say about 1/3 to 1/2 of them were within 10 feet of either the front or back edge of the green -- which made short-sided chips and putts from off the green rather treacherous. The tees, fairways, and rough were all in fine shape -- though I saw several bunkers with standing water. The fairways and rough are all Bermuda so of course they were dormant. No issues to report however. I really enjoyed the layout. Great mix of challenges with strategically placed hazards requiring risk/reward decisions, daunting elevation changes and reachable par 5's. I was playing in a 2 man scramble but I could see being able to shoot a good individual score here. Though this course is a long haul for me (almost to Statesville on I-77), I'll be back at least once or twice a season. I'd love to see it in the Spring when it's greened up. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
The good - Course is in excellent shape, perhaps in part due to lack of play because for what seems like forever they have had #10 either totally closed or at least shortened due to neighborhood construction. #11 was shortened for some time too due to rebuilding of tee-boxes. I know I avoided it for more than a year.
Sister course to Stonebridge and Edgewater and it shows in it's condition. Greens are fantastic. Hardly a blemish. The fairways near perfect except for some approach areas with multiple divots that haven't grown in, maybe due to the recent lack of rain? Bunkers look to have been recently re-done and are in great shape. Tee to green as nice as anywhere around, or better. Best $25 conditions out there, for sure.
Holes 5-11 are like playing a mountain course with elevation changes seldom seen around here.
The bad - Afore-mentioned construction. Not on the tees, fairways or greens but they are building a surrounding neighborhood. Just a bit distracting. Have to follow a maze to get to #1 and #10. Really only affects #s 11 and 12.
Didn't see any marks/designations for penalty areas. No red or yellow stakes or lines anywhere. There are a number of holes with areas of very thick vegetation just off a short area of rough that could/should be designated a penalty area to allow for a drop rather than stroke and distance for a lost ball. Or just hit it in the fairway, I suppose.
The ugly - 12 on a par five with 5 penalty strokes. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Hadnt seen any postings lately about Larkin and would like to post an update, unless they have fixed the course in the last few weeks the course only has 16.5 holes available to play....#10 is closed due to them building homes where the driving range used to be and #11 has went from a Par 5 to now a Par 3! They have dropped prices to make the course cheaper due to this, but until they reopen all 18 holes just beware what you are getting! The greens were in good shape except for about 1000 ball marks, Im guessing with tons of play and laziness people just don't fix the ball marks that plague bent grass or improperly fix them! The rough is nice and thick as well. But otherwise the course is in great shape! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
You can tell this course has a lot of potential when it is in prime condition. Unfortunately, they were doing some serious reconstruction to the course when I was there so hole #10 was close and hole #11 was changed from a par 5 to a par 3 (make shift tee box in the fairway).
I absolutely loved the back 9 (or 8 for that matter). It played completely differently than the front nine.
The front nine felt like a mountain course, with some pretty fun holes that had dramatic slope changes. The second par 3 and first par 5 have exciting tee shots way above the fairway.
The back nine plays more like a resort style course. It's much flatter with more water.
Overall- this is a course that I'm excited to play in 6-7 months when they finish the renovations to hole 10 and 11. I would recommend calling in to see the status of the course before making the trek north of Lake Norman to play it. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Fox Den was acquired by the ownership of Stonebridge, and has now been re-branded as "Larkin Golf Club". Fox Den has always been a favorite - GREAT layout, always good condition but maybe no pristine. Looks like the Stonebridge folk will work to make it as nice as their first. You can see some changes already...New granite tee markers, big improvement in the sand traps (edging, etc.) and overall the conditions are excellent. There is a gap between Good and "Perfect" but this is better than good. Tees and fairways are excellent. Greens are a little slow, but it looks like they had punched them fairly recently. Am looking forward to seeing what the new owners do for what is already one of my top 10. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
First time making the trek up here. Very pleased with what I found. Fairways were grown in and very playable. Greens were soft, held most shots and rolled smooth. They were a bit slow but not so that it presented any problems. Pace of play was to be expected for weekend. Ranger was out doing his job and it helped. Pro-shop staff were outstanding. Really focused on making sure we had a good experience. Cart staff also were very friendly and focused. I will certainly make another trip this way soon. You should as well. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Played early Sunday morning and starter was already flustered with no shows/late arrivals. Got bumped around as he made up groups based on who showed up, but got off within 15 minutes of booked tee time. Be advised the road into the course from I-77 is closed due to bridge replacement. Detour is well marked, but adds 5-10 minutes to travel time.
Conditions OK for time of year with pretty bumpy greens due to aeration a week or so ago. Traps raked and dry. Course Marshall out and visible, but we got around in 4 hours with minimal waits on a few par 3's. You can play two rounds at Fox Den for price of one round at Warrior. Good value and fun course with a few quirky holes. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
OK, maybe I hit this course on the wrong day. Get to the course and the parking lot is packed at noon. Had to park in an overflow lot. Check in and guy says we need to wait for a cart even though there are two sitting outside. He offers no other info on the course. I wait for 20 min and no cart offered. So I see 3 sitting there so I go back inside for a cart key and he acts like he has never seen me.
Finally get the cart and head to 1st tee. Starter comes up and is really nice. He tells us the pro booked a tournament but did not tell anyone. So basically they are double booked and slow. Why didn't the pro shop guy tell me and offer me another tee time later or rain check since I prepaid?
Front nine in good shape but a 3 hour front nine took the joy out of playing as we waited on every shot and every tee. One tee I could see 5 groups on 2 holes, brutal. On 10th tee it looked just as bad so we circled back and played the front nine again. No one around us and we played in 1:45 minutes. I have read a lot of good reviews but I will not be back after this terrible experience. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This golf course is in fantastic shape. My first time playing it, an simple open layout. Not overly difficult with decent greens. Didn't get a chance to check out the putting green or the range, but I did see it was real grass.
Fairways probably their best asset. Nice to see an affordable daily public track that takes care of the golf course.
Highly recommend! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
About as perfect a course you can find for less than $40 for weekend golf. Tee to green this course is in amazing shape. Greens were in really good shape considering the time of the year. I had to make an adjustment as even my long irons were backing up. Only reason I gave it 4.5* was because of the bunkers. Some of the bunkers were not maintained, it could have been from the rain too. The beverage cart passed us 3-4 times after 10AM. We saw a Marshall about every other hole. The driving range is very well maintained and about 70% of their balls are new Nike Practice balls. If it wasn't an hour drive, I would be playing this course at least 2-3 times a month. Also, can't beat a $5 hot dog & beer combo at the turn. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The course is in great shape from tee to green. Pace of play wasn't an issue and the cart girl came around enough times to keep you well hydrated. I can also compliment the lunch special of a quarter pound hot dog and beer for $5.
The greens are in wonderful condition, the fairways and rough have grown in. Keep it in the fairway because the bermuda rough is already at 2-3 inches and it will swallow a ball quickly.
If you never played here before, you need to work on hitting from uneven lies and dramatic elevation changes from the tee box.
The course does have some "ridiculous" holes like Number 8 which has a huge elevation change from the tee box (about 2-3 stories) with a creek around 220 yards from the tee and deep woods surrounding the tee box on both sides. This hole is so hard from the tee that there is a drop area at the bottom of the hill. If you draw the ball too much you end up in the pond on the left side or one of the numerous fairway bunkers just beyond the creek. Forget it if you slice the ball.
Then there's number 10. It's a Par 4 that require a long iron off the tee then your are left with a medium to long iron to the green fronted by a pond.
Don't get me wrong it's a great course and if you can handle the drive from the Charlotte area it's well worth the trip. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Fox den is a great course. At first i thought it was going to be a housing community course,but then you wind through the woods which is great. There are 2 holes that are risk reward with a creek out about 250. The fairways were in great shape, the greens were full and pretty quick, and the cart girl was most definitely cute. For the price the course is amazing, too bad its not closer to charlotte Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Perfect conditions, so why 4 stars? Rate listed on Fox Den website was $39, they charged $45 and gave no explanation or apology. Guy at the counter was rude. Overall pace not bad but were behind several 4somes that were clueless - hitting from blue tees, tee shots routinely no farther than the red tees or in the trees. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I highly suggest playing this course soon. The greens are near perfect.. rolling between 10-11 on the stimpmeter. Much quicker than most courses currently in Charlotte. Tee boxes, fairways, and rough are all in great shape to. This place is always very inexpensive to play and for the quality right now, possibly the best in Charlotte. Get out there and enjoy it! Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
This course is in great condition and looks great too. I honestly can’t think of anything bad to say about this course. The only thing I can complain about is the golf cart, it didn’t like to run very well, even once it was warmed up. Their carts look fairly new too, maybe we just got a lemon today. The top speed on the cart was horrible also, sometimes I felt like I could walk faster. I’ve noticed on courses that have steep hills to climb that the carts don’t usually have a good speed. I assume it’s because of the way they have to gear them to climb the hills. The greens have a nice medium speed to them. Some of the greens were very tricky, especially the longer the putt got. There were times when I didn’t see a lot of break in a putt and then found out I was wrong. Then there would be times when the putt would be fairly straight. I got to the point where putting felt like a shot in the dark. I think my problem hinged around that I’m not use to medium speed greens being able to break as much as some of these greens. Anyway this is a nice course. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Played here on Friday and the course was in great shape. Rough is lush and gnarly. The fairways and tees are nice as well. Greens were just aerated. However with all the rain, the holes healed up quite nicely. They heavy top dressed all the greens and with all the rain we had, you can hardly tell they were punched (a little a hairy and bumpy). Everyday will be getting better and just wait for the Fall when these bent greens start to speed up! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Second time playing this course and still loving it. If this course was within 5 miles of where I live I would at least play here every other week. This is one of the few courses that does not have the mini-verde greens and is still in good shape. Tee boxes, bunkers and fairways were all in good shape. For the money it is totally worth playing this course. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Now that I live in Statesville it is tough to get tee times, there are only 4 public access courses here and one of them is on temp greens. My favorite course is difficult to get spur of the moment tee times on, I scored a round on Golf Now for a price I could afford and went over and played Pox Den.
The course was in great shape, the greens rolled great so it made putting fair. The staff was friendly and the pace of play was good. The only drawback I could find is the 6th hole a par 5 that is completely roped off to cart traffic. I understand from a safety standpoint the reason but it makes it tough when it is a 95 degree day to shuffle back and forth to the cart on such a hilly hole.
If you play the correct tees this course is fair and I will play here again. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I played Fox Den for the first time this morning. It's about a 35 minute drive from the city center straight up 77 to exit 45 just south of Statesville. I got a $31 coupon off this site so it was an excellent value. I shot a very good round and finished just under three hours.
I had the course to myself th first few holes before I was able to play through a foursome on the 6th. The par 72 course allows you to get in the groove with some relatively easy holes starting out. But the front nine closes with the #3, #5, #9, and #1 handicaps, so don't get too comfortable.
I enjoyed the layout of the course as the topography varies. A couple of blind shots and some elevation, but nothing like Eagle Chase. It's not particuarly long, which suits my game. A couple of holes where you need to lay-up off the tee or go with a long iron to mix it up. I particulary enjoyed the par 3 5th with an elevated tee.
The course overall was in pretty good condition. The fairways needed to be cut and the greens were rather slow. The bunkers were raked and there are a couple of pretty lakes on the course. The course winds through a nice neighborhood. Pro shop was excellent but I did notice there wasn't a cart girl coming around with food and beverages, and it was hot. Also no water coolers on the course.
This course is a good value and excellent option for those living on the north or west sides of town. I played Westport last week and Fox Den has the better course hands down (I wouldn't bother with Westport unless you really just need to practice and take advantage of the $30 all you can play option on Tuesdays).
I wouldn't put Fox Den at the top of my list, but it is a good track for the money and not very crowded. I'd put it a step above most of the Carolina Trail courses but certainly not an Olde Sycamore, Emerald Lake, Springfield, Stonebridge or Verdict Ridge. I'll save my money for those. In fact, I'm playing Verdict Ridge this weekend and will be sure to post a review. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
First time Fox Den and it was a treat. Paid $36 for a Sunday morning round. Tee time was at 9am and no one was in front of us. Matter of fact there were probably only 5 or 6 cars in the parking lot.
Overall the course was in great condition, the greens were rolling well, and the rough was moderate. One knock is people need to repair their ball marks, I probably repaired three or four on every hole.
Love the layout it is has a good mix of elevation change that give you a mountain course feel and the back 9 has more of a coastal layout.
Beer is cheap, paid $5 for 2 beers. I'll definitely be back and hopefully will have a similar experience. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Course is in good shape...Never has really had a manicured look, but fairways, rough, tees and greens are all looking good. Fun course to play. Took advantage of an $18 coupon on Golfnow.com. 2.5 hour pace. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
I played this course 4 times in the last two weeks. The course has the "BEST" greens in the area. The greens are not super fast, but have a good speed to them and are actually green. The layout of this course is gorgeous. It has a links, beach, and mountain feel to it. It is off of exit 45 on 77, but it's worth the drive. The people there are good people and bust their ass daily to make this course the best in the area. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
First time there.Course in good shape,the greens were in the best shape of any I've seen this year.We liked it so well that we did a replay and ended up with 36 holes.Little bit of a drive ,but worth it. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Beautiful course. Not overly challenging. Have to lay-up on a couple of holes to avoid hazards. It's a bit far from South Charlotte, but for $29 it was definitely worth it. Greens were in great shape and the fairways were very well maintained. Most homes were not too close to the fairways. Only problem we encountered was both our carts ran out of juice by the 17th hole. Will definitely recommend. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
The course was in pretty good condition. Problem was, everyone and their mother showed up for the $29 special and the club was unprepared. Tee sheets were stacked, rangers lax about pace of play, and a round took over 5.5 hours to play. It's a nice course and the greens were much, much better than Birkdale or Highland Creek (putting on asphalt there), but wait until next month when the crowd dies down. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Great course, and the collective staff was possibly the best I've ever encountered. After being treated very poorly at Birkdale, (see my review of Birkdale) our group of 12 were greeted very cordially by the whole Fox Den staff. From the cart refreshment lady to the General Manager everyone had a great attitude. The starters and rangers all carried smiles and they were quick to engage in friendly conversation. The lady's at the bar were sensational and the food and drink was wonderful; without being gouged on price I might add.
Thank you again to the staff of Fox Den for turning around what had been a bad experience at Birkdale earlier in the day.
We look forward to playing Fox Den again.
Irv Looney Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
A friend of mine made a tee time at Fox Den on Friday afternoon and asked me to play. This was my first time I loved it. I think the reason this place does not get more play is because of the location, but it only took me 30 minutes from Charlotte. The greens were perfect. The fairways still have a few bare spots on them, but nothing really noticable. Overall, the course wsa in incredible shape. It was also only $29, which is around $20 cheaper than other courses in north charlotte, and is in much better shape. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
Played early on Friday morning and loved it. I played this course a looooong time ago. They built a giant new clubhouse and got new carts since the last time I played. Course was in great shape. Greens were smooth and quick. The fairways are almost completely green, like everyone else in the area. I live in North Charlotte and it took about 25 minutes to get there, well worth it. Great change of pace. Read The Review
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