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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

• 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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• 2/20/23 - Review by skwahder

  "Worth playing"

  I’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.

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• 2/6/23 - Review by skwahder

  "Great course"

  Still 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.

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• 10/11/21 - Review by GinMillDJ

  "Worth playing"

  Greens 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

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Updates From the Forum

• 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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• 05/25/09 - Dave posted "Course Update"

  Played Monroe CC Friday. I have nothing to add to B-Man's comments except to second them. If you get a chance, go play it.
  
  Played Waterford Saturday. Course was in really good shape. Tee boxes were a little beat up but it's hard to take care of them when the course gets a lot of play. This is my second favotrite Trail course after Skybrook.
  
  Played Eagle Chase Monday. Course was in great shape. Even with all the rain we had it was still 90 degrees. There are a lot of elevation changes on this course but I don't find it gimmicky. I wish it was closer to the house.
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