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.
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.
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.
Tee | Par | Yardage | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Championship (Gold) | 72 | 6922 | 73.5 | 137 |
Mens (Blue) | 72 | 6506 | 71.9 | 131 |
Other (White) | 72 | 6090 | 69.3 | 123 |
Ladies (Red) | 72 | 5183 | 69.9 | 122 |
Course was in solid shape, but The Divide has a lot of work to do when it comes to customer service. They stack tee times in anticipation of no shows (5 minute intervals), so the first tee was already backed up by 8:30 on a Sunday. Starter is more concerned with being the cooler police than he is with giving pin placements, managing the box, or any other function of his job. When we called the pro shop about slow play, the guy drove out to meet us at the 7th and argued that 2 hours was not slow play when putting on 7. Only saving grace was the back 9 clearing out due to rain so we were able to salvage a 4 1/2 hour round by playing the back 9 in under 2 hours. Unless you want a 5+ hour round and to be yelled at to make sure you don't have a cooler, play elsewhere.
Read The ReviewThe Divide is trying. I can say that. But it's a work in progress with ways to go. They have an amazing range. And greens and bunkers were for most part solid. They are currently sodding some tee boxes. Everything else needs major work. I love the layout so I hope it becomes what it has potential for. And it's close to fair for the price. What we didn't like was zero ranger influence. Our front 9 took 2:10 (fair on Sunday). The back we got stuck behind a couple who was clearly new to golf. That's understandable but they wouldn't let us play through even when we asked, were waiting for par 4s and 5s to clear for long 2nd shots in, etc. Back 9 took over 3 hours. No ranger to police them.
Read The ReviewThe course had improved as much as any course in the area. The greens have come in nicely (16 had a couple of spots). Overall I’d recommend this course. Only negative this time are the tee boxes. Quite a few had no or very little grass.
Read The ReviewTrending 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.
Read The ReviewThe 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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