Sapona Country Club | B-Man's Guide to Golf in Charlotte

"Great course"

10/20/26: Review by B-Man

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...

B-Man's Take

I played this course for the first time in late 2021 for an event on TheGrint Tour (and won my flight!). It is an easy drive up I-85 North and less than an hour from Charlotte. The course was in great shape and the greens, in particular, were slick and challenging. The layout features tree-lined fairways amid rolling hills and slopes that will challenge your uneven lies game. While the course is semi-private, it offers great rates and course conditions to the public golfer and so I've added it to the listings here. I will post a formal review when I get back for another round this season.

Tee	Par	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Championship (Blue)	71	6620	72.2	137
Mens (Green)	71	6147	69.6	133
Senior (White)	71	5750	68.2	125
Ladies (Red)	72	4765	68.4	118

Tee

Par

Yardage

Rating

Slope

Championship (Blue)

6620

72.2

137

Mens (Green)

6147

69.6

133

Senior (White)

5750

68.2

125

Ladies (Red)

4765

68.4

118

View the complete scorecard for this course

Most Recent Reviews

5/9/26 - Review by golferdude

"Worth playing"

First time playing. Good test from the tips, better have tunnel vision on drives. Be mindful of runout in fairway to water on several holes #1, #5, #17. #5 is the hardest hole on the course...dogleg right with the lake on the right and trees then creek through the fairway. Greens were good speed with a few patchy areas. Needs some work in several areas. Area around practice green looked horrible in some spots but don't let that dissuade you from playing.

Read The Review

4/6/26 - Review by B-Man

"Great course"

Shot one of my best rounds in a year in TheGrint Tour Spring Fling event to win another trophy. The course was in excellent shape as it has almost greened up completely. The greens were quick but not quite as fast as they typically get in mid-season. These putting surfaces are very sloped so my best advice is try to stay below the hole. The course winds through tall trees with a few ponds mixed in but the distinctive features are the elevation changes. Downhill tee shots and uphill approach shots are typical throughout this par 71 layout (only three par 5's). One change I noticed since my last round here is the clearing of trees between the 9th and 18th fairways and also between the 18th fairway and 17th tee. The clearing was most noticeable and impactful on the tee shot at No. 9. It definitely improved the visuals as you play your approaches into 9 and 18 (which share a large double green). So I like it. The difficulty of this course is mostly tied to the challenging approach shots into some severely sloped greens and can vary day to day based on pin positions. We had a few pins in this round that were very difficult (e.g. front pin on No. 6, back pin on No. 14 to name a couple). Overall, this is one of the best bang-for-your-buck courses within an hour of Charlotte and is kept in great shape year-round.

Read The Review

6/3/24 - Review by Pudge

"Average"

Yup, I’m actually writing a not so good review. After my last three reviews, I thought after not playing for months because of my move, that I was just overjoyed to play and thought every course was a gem, perfection, an absolutely must play…well not today. Sapona is within an hour’s drive for most of the Charlotte area but that doesn’t mean you want to take the trip. I played during a tournament so while the pace of play wasn’t bad for a tournament, I can’t tell you what it is normally like. I also cannot tell you what the staff is like except for the wonderful cart girl who should be given every resource she requests from the club: sandwiches, more drinks, bigger beer selection, liquor, and a raise (ok I said the raise, not her). While most of the layout was good, with challenges of elevated greens, a few blind tee shots and water on more than a few holes, some of the holes were wacky, with very short par 4s with layup iron tee shots (8 or 7 iron) and tricked up fairways that had no landing area that allowed your ball to stay in the fairway. That being said I would play the layout again if it wasn’t for the condition of the course overall. There were many dirt/bare areas in the fairways and rough. While they have made changes with installing some sod and drainage, the course is just beyond the band aid fix. One of the issues with carts making the bare spots worse are the carts paths being more like motocross tracks than golf cart paths. Many players would drive next to the carts paths instead of on them. The greens for the most part rolled well and their condition was good. There were a few areas of soil showing through the grass but the ball rolled true. That’s why I gave 5 starts instead of 4. I don’t like downgrading a course because I know the staff, especially the maintenance staff, put the work in. This is more of the club not putting resources into the course sooner. Final thought would be play if you have a reason (tournament, buddy in the area, etc.) but don’t make a trip for it.

Read The Review

3/8/23 - Review by BetterThanMost

"Great course"

Played Sapona for the first time in early March. Course knowledge is everything on this course, as there are lots of tee shots that end up in blind landing areas or where fairways run out and you need to hit less than driver. Driver is not needed on several of the front nine holes, as hazards or doglegs make it a risky play. The course was in good shape for early Spring, and according to their member newsletter, work is constantly ongoing to make even more improvements. The day I played there were 3 holes that were CPO, even though it wasn't wet, but this illustrates their desire to make improvements that are lasting. There is water on several holes sometimes in the form of creeks, occasionally in the form of ponds. The tees and greens were in good shape with the dormat grass. Greens were in great shape. The practice area is good, and the staff is friendly.

Read The Review

10/30/22 - Review by B-Man

"Great course"

Played in TheGrint Tour's season opening event yesterday at Sapona and the greens were immaculate! I mean, they played like artificial turf. Every green, Nos. 1-18, would not make a mark even with a wedge shot. Yet, the greens would hold shots. They were firm and fast but did not produce hard bounces. These Zoysia greens are the toughest, fastest I've played all year. They were legit 13+ on the stimpmeter. And with the slopes and undulations, several pins were 10/10 difficulty. I saw a 4-putt and a 5-putt in my group. I had several 3-putts. They roll true, but if you struggle with putting, I wouldn't recommend playing Sapona. Outside of the greens, fairways and bunkers were in good shape (though I was in several with bad rake jobs). The sand is that heavy stuff that takes one swipe with a rake to smooth out, too. The tee boxes were just okay and hard to get a long tee into. The course is very challenging with tree-lined, hilly terrain throughout. This time of year you will have some trouble finding balls in the leaves off the fairway. Knowing the course or having a good GPS app like TheGrint will help tremendously. You need to know where fairways run out or what yardage you need to carry certain hazards. To give you some context on the difficulty of the course, my flight of players with handicaps ranging from 4.0-7.9 played from a mix of the Blue and Green tees (~6400yds). The winning score in my flight was 81 (+10) and I tied for 3rd with an 86 (+15). Sapona is a semi-private course. So it's open for public play at very reasonable rates. Only about 45-60 minutes up I-85 from Charlotte, too. It's worth the drive and money if you are up for a challenge!

Read The Review