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.
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.
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.
Tee | Par | Yardage | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Championship (Blue) | 72 | 6744 | 72.6 | 132 |
Mens (White) | 72 | 6276 | 70.7 | 126 |
Other (Gold) | 72 | 5798 | 67.9 | 123 |
Ladies (Red) | 72 | 4807 | 68.2 | 117 |
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.
Read The ReviewI’m starting to get a little disappointed in Monroe. Being the course I grew up with and knowing its potential, they’ve let the conditions drop the last couple of years. The fairways are struggling to keep any grass and there’s several worn areas where the water has come through. The greens were slower than normal, but rolled nicely. It is still a course I recommend playing. Hopefully, they will put more money and effort to regaining their he condition from a couple years ago.
Read The ReviewStill a very nice course. It was cart path only. Not as pristine as it used to be, but a very good municipal course. The greens were slower than usual, but rolled true. I recommend this course to anyone.
Read The ReviewGreens were in very good shape except for 17. Fairways were in great shape. Some of the tee boxes could use a little TLC. If you have not played here before, the front 9 is a real treat as it was designed by Donald Ross - turtle back greens and fairly tight fairways. Worth the trip
Read The ReviewBack at Monroe where the greens are still just about perfect. They are quick and tricky, but not crazy fast as I've seen 'em before here. They are the best part of the course. The rest of the conditions were not that impressive for April. Fairways were just okay, fairly thin. Rough was erratic -- in some places it was bare and thin, in others it was overgrown with weeds. The lies around the greens, sometimes just 5 or 10 yards off, were sometimes not good. For the price and with near perfect greens, Monroe is always worth playing. I'm wondering how it will fare this year, with PGA Master Pro Nick Jacobi having left for Stonebridge. I'm sure I'll be back this summer.
Read The Review