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Description

This residential course is located just off I-485 in the Matthews-Mint Hill area. Several holes can be seen from the highway as you drive by. Fun course to play with different types of challenges -- water, tight fairways, length, doglegs and bunkered greens -- evenly sprinkled among all 18 holes.

Notes

The Divide came under new management (Pinnacle Golf Properties) in 2014 and memberships & discounts can now be shared across its former sister courses in the old Carolina Trail -- Highland Creek, Tradition, Highland Creek, and Waterford. The course underwent a much-needed greens renovation in August 2020 and now has Diamond Zoysia greens in place of the Bent grass that typically suffered in late summer.

B-Man's Take

Another course I grew to like once I got to know the nuances -- such as where you can hit driver off the tee and where you should play it safe. It winds through a neighborhood. So there are plenty of O.B. and spectators throughout all 18 holes. The course has a very good mix of easy and difficult holes, but overall to score well you'll have to keep your tee shots in play. The new (as of Fall 2020) Diamond Zoysia greens should be in good shape year round. My favorite holes are the 501yd par 5 5th hole, reachable in 2 with a good drive, and the 568yd par 5 18th, the signature hole with an approach over water. The course can play tough too, so there are hell holes here and there, especially the 450yd par 4 8th hole and the 407yd par 4 dogleg left 16th hole. Make par on those two holes and you just shaved 3-4 strokes off a typical score.

Most Recent Reviews

• 2/20/23 - Review by Hunter

  "Below average"

  Trending in the wrong direction. Greens were fine, bunkers were decent, and the TopTracer range is nice. Rest of the course is in bad shape. Not worth close to the $70 rack rate. The range was also full which allowed no warm up prior to round. Pace of play was surprisingly slow for carts on fairways.

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• 1/15/23 - Review by tpac

  "Worth playing"

  The course was in really good condition. Greens were excellent, albeit hard due to the winter temperature. A few of the sand traps needed some attention as were still suffering from the previous day's rain. All in all the course was really good for a January round. Pace of play wasn't bad at all even though we were stacked up a bit due to the frost delay. And no one chooses which course to play based on the cart paths, but holy cow are those paths in bad shape - make sure your bags are strapped in tight! Would I go back, for sure. The layout is fun, with some very challenging holes, but not so hard that even a mid/high handicap can't enjoy a round. The price of a round has really increased, presumably since the addition of the covered TopTracer technology bays recently added. Those were definitely cool, but you'd think for the price they're charging for range balls (you can use the tracer technology for no additional charge when you get a bucket of practice balls, though only half of the bays have the tech installed currently) would more than cover their recent tech spend..

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• 1/7/23 - Review by Hunter

  "Worth playing"

  Fun layout and the zoysia greens are solid. Little firm as they are new and it's been cold. Practice facilities are solid as well. Fairways and bunkers are what you would expect for this time of year and all the rain. Areas around the tees, fairways, and greens have some pretty significiant issues but if they can improve upon these in the spring this might get back into a regular course for our group. It was cart path only so giving the pace of play a bit of a break but even so it was brutal. We teed off just after Noon and barely finished before sunset. Lots of log jam on last 4-5 holes. (To be fair group in front of us was playing it back and we didn't see a drive go over 220)

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• 1/7/23 - Review by Steveboos

  "Below average"

  The Divide has a lot of work to do to get back to it's roots. The majority of the tee boxes are ruined and all sand/dirt. Most of the cart paths need full replacement and they are charging way too much for what this course is. For $70, i expected them to spend more time and effort on making all aspects of the course nice. All they did was replace the greens(which they should have done a long time ago) and add a Top Tracer range and that still doesn't justify the cost of the round. I know Charlotte golf has almost doubled in price during Covid, but it should reflect the quality of the course, and not just because people are willing to pay. I love the layout of the course, but i wont return due to the lack of maintenance and the cost.

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• 8/7/22 - Review by Steve K

  "Worth playing"

  Greens nice but super firm. Fairways: some good. some a bit tight and dry. tee boxes were rough. don't expect any turf-tees here. Was an enjoyable, albeit SLOW round.

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Updates From the Forum

• 08/05/20 - B-Man posted "The Divide closing for greens renovation this month"

  Great news for The Divide! The course was approved for a $350k greens renovation starting this month. The greens will be sodded with Diamond Zoysia grass, the same as Eagle Chase in Marshville (and those have been good year round).
  
  The work starts next week and the course plans to re-open for play around Labor Day. Stay tuned for progress details and a more solid date for re-opening, as I will be keeping tabs on it (I live 3 minutes away).
  
  I spoke to the team at The Divide and Pinnacle Golf Properties and they said Birkdale is on the schedule for next summer -- which will leave only The Tradition and Highland Creek of the former Carolina Trail courses under PGP management with Bentgrass greens. Those courses would be next on the list for future renovations.
  
  Whenever you hear rumors about courses like this or have major issues with a course, send me a feedback message -- as I can usually get an answer directly from the course in less than 24 hours.
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• 10/23/14 - Jamie replied to "The Divide"

  Played The Divide on Saturday 10/18. The recent reviews are accurate - the course is really showing signs of dramatic improvement. Good job by new management to turn things around. And the green fee was only $40 for prime time. Time to put this course back on my play list.
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• 04/26/14 - B-Man posted "Statement from the new owners of the CT courses"

  In case you are not on Clickit's mailing list, they sent out this statement from the new management company of the Carolina Trail courses. I'm not sure why it doesn't mention Waterford. We already know Charlotte Golf Links is closed for good and Skybrook has got a new owner.
  
  "As you have probably heard, a foreclosure process was recently completed with respect to Birkdale Golf Club, The Divide Golf Club, Highland Creek Golf Club and Tradition Golf Club. As a result of that process, effective April 8, 2014, Romspen Birkdale LLC / Romspen Divide LLC / Romspen Highland Creek LLC / Romspen, The Tradition LLC is now the owner of the respective courses.
  
  The new owners are committed to returning the golf courses to their r! ightful place as some of the best daily fee facilities in the Charlotte area and have retained the services of Traditional Golf Management to operate the day to day business. We understand that this has been a very volatile environment and we are confident that the new ownership and management will provide the much needed stability that these clubs need. We are currently working on both operating and capital plans that will allow us to show continuous improvement in the facilities and service levels at the clubs.
  
  New membership programs are in place and special considerations are being given to those that held memberships under the previous ownership. Please contact the respective golf club for more information on the membership details (including the revised pricing for weekday sports members).
  
  We are excited to begin the process of restoring these courses to the quality that was enjoyed years ago. We look forward to earn! ing back your business and seeing you on the golf course."%3! Cbr />
  -Traditional Golf Management
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• 04/08/14 - Wulfpack posted "Carolina Trail Has New Owner"

  A Canadian lender has taken ownership of four Charlotte-area golf courses that were part of the troubled Carolina Trail group, according to letters from the company.
  
  After the foreclosure process, Toronto-based Romspen is the new owner of the Birkdale, Highland Creek, The Divide and The Tradition golf clubs, the letters say. The new ownership is effective as of Tuesday.
  
  Carolina Trail golf courses have new owner
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• 04/15/13 - PT3040 replied to "The Divide"

  Played this course on 4/7. This is the first time I have played it in several years. I found it to be in the usual winter shape like most courses in the area. Thin fairways but the greens were in better shape than what I remembered them to be in. I really enjoyed the round. Although not my favorite course I enjoyed it enough to want to play it again when things green up. Pace was good and the staff was very friendly
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