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Description

This course – known for years as Fox Den Country Club and then as Larkin Golf Club – north of Charlotte off I-77 has TIF Eagle Bermuda grass greens and Bermuda fairways. It was designed by renowned architect Clyde Johnston with beautiful rolling terrain and scenic views. It was renovated in the summer of 2023 with new Bermuda greens and rebranded as "The 500 Club." The 500 Club endeavors to be a unique, sports and entertainment complex whose mission is to provide an atmosphere that fosters fun, friendship, and community for all ages. The 16,000 square foot clubhouse is undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation to offer multiple indoor & outdoor dining options, members lounge, and pro shop. The outdoor veranda will feature a one-of-a-kind venue for live music and entertainment with additional amenities to include 8 pickleball courts, a lighted real turf putting course, a Top-Tracer Driving Range, bocce ball courts, and outdoor firepits that incorporate stunning views of the golf course.

Notes

The 500 Club is privately owned by an investment group that includes multiple Daytona 500 winning NASCAR drivers, team owners, and other industry professionals. Look for updates in 2024 as the renovations continue.

B-Man's Take

I typically play here a few times a year but only because it's a 45-60 minute drive from south Charlotte. I had the opportunity to play the renovated course in October 2023 shortly after it re-opened with new TIF eagle Bermuda greens. The layout is still fantastic - great mix of challenges, with long and short holes, uphill and downhill shots, strategically placed water hazards that offer risk/reward opportunities, and reachable par 5's. The greens are mostly flat but the renovations restored pin locations that had been lost over the years and will provide more challenging putts. The Bermuda grass should allow the course to keep green speeds fast and conditions good year-round.

Most Recent Reviews

• 10/29/23 - Review by THE BIG SHOW

  "Average"

  I meant to post a review last week about the experience of playing the newly renamed Larkin/Fox Den course to what is now known as The 500 Club. Well, with a deep long sighhhh, it was nothing special, considering they have gone up to $80.00 on the weekend. Basically, in a nut shell it was my last time playing there for that price. The new Mach 1 greens were OK, rolled decent and at a decent pace, but IMO, the Mach 1 greens at River Oaks are much more mature, firmer and are quicker and were seeded at the same time. When you put in new greens I would assume that you would make sure the practice putting green would be one of the main priorities. The practice putting green was closed and it looked terrible. Not sure what happened there, but to charge $80 for that course with no range and closed putting green is an absurdity. Just because you change the name "AGAIN" and put down another type grass on your greens doesn't justify that price. The course was in the same shape as it was when it was Larkin. This place was purchased by a group of Daytona 500 winners, meaning a Nascar group, hence the name change according to the word going around. Well, let's say you can't almost double the rate because you put in new greens. The course was fairly empty and we played in a flat 4 hours. Just an FYI to any who will read my review to this point, River Oaks is a far better deal @ $58.00 on the weekends, Tony did not go up 1 dime on the rates after he put in new greens and moved the green on the first hole back across the ravine to where it originally was.` The 500 Club has gotten my last $80.00. Golfers beware!!!

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• 4/29/23 - Review by stevensmith53186

  "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.

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• 4/21/20 - Review by BetterThanMost

  "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.

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• 12/7/19 - Review by B-Man

  "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.

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• 9/9/19 - Review by IM4DHERD

  "Great course"

  Larkin is in great shape. They aerated a coupla weeks ago so the greens are a bit slower than normal but should be perfect in about a week. Quantum leap in conditions since being acquired by the Stonebridge/Edgewater group, whatever they are called. Three of the best-condition courses in the area.

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Updates From the Forum

• 05/11/22 - B-Man replied to "Aerification Dates - 2022"

  Late notice but Larkin Golf Club aerated their greens on Monday 5/9.
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• 07/20/17 - BetterThanMost posted "Larkin Golf Club"

  For anyone who is interested, Larkin's 10th hole will be reopening for play on July 28th. The club has been using only 17 holes for the better part of the last year while houses were built around the 10th hole.
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• 10/16/14 - IM4DHERD posted "Fox Den is now Larkin Golf Club"

  As noted in my review today, the ownership of Stonebridge has finalized their purchase of Fox Den and re-branded her "Larkin Golf Club". Looking forward to seeing what they will do for the place, which is already a gem. Seeing some improvements already.
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• 06/04/14 - B-Man replied to "Fox Den"

  Thanks, panthersfann55. Here's the story:
  
  Fox Den Golf Club in Statesville, N.C. is pleased to announced new ownership as of May 1, 2014
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• 05/31/14 - B-Man posted "Fox Den home foreclosure"

  Noticed this article in the Observer today:
  
  Statesville homeowners try to ward off foreclosure over money developer borrowed
  
  It mentions that a limited liability company called Fox Den Acquisitions acquired the golf course earlier this year. Judging by the recent review, it hasn't affected the course conditions, but I'm curious what anyone else knows about the situation.
  
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