- "Best of the best"
 Rock Barn continues to be my favorite course within an hour of Charlotte – and it stretches that radius to the max as it's located in Conover just west of Statesville. The course is well worth the drive, however, and the price. At $65 for a weekday round and $75 on weekends, Rock Barn is still a great value for what you get.
The Tom Jackson course is the public track but the resort also has a private Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course for members only. Both courses share the same clubhouse and practice area, which are resort quality. The practice putting green is by far the largest I know of in the Carolinas and it allows you to practice those 200-foot putts if you want a fun challenge.
The Jackson course is a par-71 layout that tips out at only 6427 yards. So you may feel it plays short, but your first shot will have to carry 180-200 yards uphill across a hazard to reach the short grass. Several holes feature dramatic elevation changes, both downhill and uphill on tee shots and approaches.
With the shorter length, you get some fun risk-reward choices throughout the round, none more exciting than the 10th hole. This downhill then dogleg left par 5 is one of my favorite public course holes in the area. If you hit a good drive, you should only have 200 or less yards to reach the green. However, that shot will be 90% carry over water! I didn't trust my 210-yard carry and so I laid up to about 80 yards during my round to give myself a birdie putt.
One of the signature stretches is Nos. 5 and 6. No. 5 is a narrow par 4 tee shot with a severely downhill approach to a green that falls off the back into a pond. That same pond surrounds the front and right side of the par 3 No. 6 hole that plays dramatically downhill. And speaking of dramatically downhill, the par 3 9th hole is another long tee shot over a hazard with a 100-foot drop from tee to green.
The back nine closes with a fun stretch from Nos. 15 to 18, again with elevation changes and ponds in play. The closing hole requires an uphill approach shot to one of the largest greens on the course that protects par with a two-tiered, back-to-front steep slope.
Overall, this layout is very memorable and fun to play, which is one of my criteria for the Top 10 list. The course is part of the Rock Barn Resort & Spa and so the amenities (which include a very nice public bar/bistro and a members-only restaurant) are top-notch. Your range balls are included in your round, making the price even better by comparison to other Charlotte courses that charge another $6-$8 for a bucket.
Not to give too much away (the new Top 10 list will be out in a few weeks) but Rock Barn was No. 1 last year for good reasons and not much has changed.
NOTE: the course will be aerated next week. So give it a few weeks to recover. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Good to be back at Red Bridge after almost 2 years. They had some maintenance issues in the summer of ‘21 and so it had been awhile. I still love the layout and a few of the holes stand out as very unique to Charlotte.
I was playing in TheGrint Tour’s two day Spring Sizzler event (Oak Valley was the day 1 course). We were playing the Black tees (just under 6800 yards) and that was a first for me, playing the tips here. I’m not a long hitter so this made it extra challenging for me today.
From the Black tees, several tee shots require a 220-240 yard carry to reach the fairway (!). With houses and backyard fences now guarding the dogleg on the par 5 third hole, it can be a very intimidating tee shot. Speaking of those new housing developments, Out of Bounds stakes now encroach very quickly on the left side of holes 3 and 4.
With the layout featuring five par 3s and five par 5s, it feels fun and score-able (just not from the tips!). A few years ago, they redid the bunkers British Open style on the signature par 3 9th hole and it’s a very picturesque hole now.
The short downhill dogleg right par 4 17th is still my favorite though. Lots of risk reward on both the tee shot and the approach, with a creek and a pond threatening those shots.
The 600+ yard par 5 18th is the longest hole in the Charlotte public golf landscape. From the tips yesterday, the GPS on TheGrint app showed it playing 627 yards (!). After my tee shot got into trouble left forcing me to punch out, I managed to reach the green in *five* but missed my bogey putt. [sigh]
The Bermuda greens were quick and in good shape overall. Although most looked like they had been raked (?) when they were last aerated and most had several old cup scars, they rolled true. A few of my competitors thought they were bumpy but I guess everyone’s mileage varied.
For the price, conditions and the fun factor in this layout, Red Bridge is worth playing and in the top 15 tracks in the area. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 My first trip back in over a year. Carolina Lakes got a lot of bad reviews last summer when they had issues with their Bentgrass greens. Not only did they suffer in the summer heat as Bentgrass can do sometimes but they had some sort of fungus or disease.
I'm happy to report that the greens are in fine shape with no major issues. The greens were very consistent with good speed (not slick but not slow). I saw very few problems on any green. I wouldn't say they were perfect (I have been spoiled at Longview), but by comparison to say, Olde Sycamore, they were better. I think Edgewater's Bentgrass greens were smoother and quicker, but not by much.
There were a few holes on the back nine that had areas in the fringe and within a few yards around the collar of the green that were dotted with clumps of poa annua - similar to Edgewater. I didn't notice this problem on the front 9.
Tees and fairways were good with a few exceptions. The fairway on the par 5 13th hole (one of the signature holes, I might add) was dotted with burnt out spots, almost like winter kill scars. It was more of an eye sore than a problem that affected play, though it made for a thin, hardpan lie if your ball was sitting directly on one.
I really, really love this layout. It is one of my favorite public tracks in the Charlotte area. I started on the back 9 and was reminded how tough those first few holes on the back really are. The 10th hole is a long dogleg right par 4 that requires a very accurate approach. The 11th hole is a short dogleg right with such a sharp left to right sloping fairway that it is extremely difficult to hold the fairway. The par 3 12th hole requires an all-carry tee shot of at least 135 yards (depending on your tee) to a wide but shallow green. Just some nervy shots to start your round (or rather your back 9).
The stretch of holes 13-16 is picturesque and breathtakingly dramatic. The par 5 13th is reachable with two good swings but the perched green is protected by water on 2 sides. The par 4 14th is a dogleg right that climbs steeply uphill to a large two-tiered green. The short par 4 15th is a driveable dogleg right but you have to challenge the pond and fairway bunker on the right side to get there. The long par 3 16th requires a 160+ yard carry over water and a murderer's row of bunkers protecting the green. Just an exhilarating stretch of holes.
The front nine is similarly fun and varied with elevation changes, hazards, doglegs and tricky greens. My favorite hole on the front is probably No. 9 with bunkers protecting the dogleg right and the opposite side of the fairway. You can't see the green from the tee, but big hitters who can cut the ball left-to-right have a chance to get close with a good drive.
Overall, I was happy to return to Carolina Lakes and play this layout again with greens in good shape. I worry about the Bentgrass surviving the summer after last season, but right now the course is in very good shape.
The course still ranks as one of the more expensive ones in the area ($49 for a twilight weekday round felt pricey), but when conditions are good, it can be worth it. And right now, it is. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Edgewater has always been one of my favorite layouts with excellent Bentgrass greens. Playing yesterday afternoon in a tournament with TheGrint Tour, I can say I still love it and it shows! I shot one of my best rounds of the year with my career lowest putts for 18 holes (25). This review may be a tad biased due to that, but I will be frank about a few things.
The greens were in very good shape overall. While the putting green seemed furry and on the slow side, the greens on the course were quick and rolling true. These greens are very large and while there were one or two with burnout spots, they did not affect play at all.
The one issue that *did* affect some play though was the clumps of poa annua grass just off the greens around the fringes. These were common around most greens and they had not been treated or buzzed with the mower. That meant that if you were a few feet off the green your putt or chip could be bumped off line. For those of you like me who putt from off the green whenever possible, this was especially problematic. I ran into this on at least 2 holes (15 and 18) but saw it affect my playing partners a few times as well.
Tees and fairways were fine. The bunkers were like beach sand. While they were very consistent that way, it was difficult to not hit it heavy each time.
A few comments about the layout. The 1st hole is a medium length par 4 that is steeply downhill and very drive-able for most players if you catch the right bounce. If you catch the wrong bounce, however, you could get lost or deep into trouble. So be careful with that tee shot.
The 7th hole is my nemesis hole here. It is a downhill, then uphill 90-degree dogleg left with a pond guarding the corner and thick trees (and mud) to the right of the cart path if you bail out. I was in the latter this time. Just a very challenging tee shot for players like me who hit a cut.
The 8th hole is a benign looking par 3 with just a bunker front left. However, beware! Any shots right or long will bounce or roll down over the cart path into a drop-off ditch that is not playable. In my opinion, this area should be marked as a lateral (red) hazard but is not. So you are re-teeing if you hit it there. Several other holes have similar woods or marshes and were marked as lateral. This one should be as well. And I'm not just saying that because I made triple bogey here (promise ;-).
10 is a lo-o-o-ong par 4. In my tournament we were playing a mix of the tips and 2nd tee from the back. The tee marker said 419, but into the wind and uphill for the approach, this hole played like 450, 475 today.
I love the closing stretch of 15-18, with the long, downhill par 3 15th, the long par 4 16th, the short, eagle-able par 5 17th (which I've eagled before), and the tough par 4 18th with two large pine trees just in front of the fairway, forcing you to pick a side and then work the ball one way or the other to hit the fairway.
Edgewater still ranks as one of the best public courses within an hour of Charlotte and right now it is in very good shape (the poa clumps, notwithstanding). Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 Been awhile since I've gotten back out here. I used to play this course frequently about 15 years ago or so, but not so much anymore. Olde Sycamore is one of the last holdouts among public courses in Charlotte with Bentgrass greens (Stonebridge, Emerald Lake, Highland Creek, Carolina Lakes are among the others). As greens fees have gone up the past few years, it's been more difficult for Bentgrass courses to compete with the nicer Bermuda ones (e.g. Rocky River, Skybrook, Mooresville, Verdict Ridge, Warrior, etc, etc).
So while I would say Olde Sycamore is in very good shape for Olde Sycamore, it is just middle of the pack for your public golfing dollar. In fact, it's pricey for what you get in comparison to the market. It was $55 for a weekday morning and I've heard from folks that it can push $80-$90 on weekends. That's outrageous, if true.
Back to the conditions, the greens were fine. There were several greens with bare dirt spots but most were near the edges and holes were cut to keep them out of play (No. 11 was the worst example). No ball mark issues for now and the greens were lush. The speed was decent. Not really fast or slow.
Fairways and tees and bunkers were fine. There was some work being done to clear trees and other brush (Hole No. 5) in some places, but we didn't encounter any issues.
Layout-wise, this track is unique. Tons of doglegs and layup tee shots. If you are a long hitter, you don't have to hit driver literally all day, but definitely shouldn't on Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, and 15. That's 2/3 of the par 4's and 5's! I remember I used to like that when I didn't hit driver very well. Now though, the course doesn't play to my strengths as much.
The course has a mix of everything with the doglegs, elevation changes, ponds and fountains, creeks and rocks. It plays *very* different from the Gold to the Blue to the White tees.
As for the tough holes... No. 3 is a tricky target tee shot with OB right and trees left and then a valley in the fairway where you want to land a good drive. That leaves you with an uphill approach to well bunkered green. No. 15 is similar on the back nine. Downhill par 4 with the fairway running into a hazard, then a long-ish uphill approach to a big green with bunkers all around.
The par 5's are all gettable though and the par 3's are fairly benign. Generally speaking, if you are swinging well you will get rewarded here.
Overall, this is a fun course to play and it brings back memories for me. So I will return once or twice a year. Now's a good time to play it but don't pay $70+! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 Got out to Springfield as I make my rounds for the updated Top 10 list (coming in May). This course has never left a great impression on me but I tried again to see if I could come to appreciate it. I made some strides in that direction, but a few things keep this course just outside my Top 10.
The greens are in great shape and I don't remember them not being good. So in that regard, the course is a good value every time out. Almost every one of these Bermuda greens is elevated and sloped or crowned. So they can be very tricky to hold and to putt when they are slick. Today they were quick but not silly fast.
The dormant Bermuda fairways make this course play hard and fast. With all of the slopes and elevation changes, your ball can bounce or roll out of play quickly. That can be very frustrating and make the course play very difficult at times. Several holes play severely uphill, making them play much longer than the yardage (and several par 4's are already over 400 yards from the Blue tees).
So, from a layout perspective, this course is very challenging. From a conditions perspective, outside of the near-perfect greens, the tees, fairways and rough were just okay. Thin, sometimes bare dirt lies. A few fairways had patches of weed grass throughout. The course is using the Cart Path Only rule until May. On a dry afternoon, that was no fun. That also meant the fairways were dotted with unfixed divots.
The rate was only $40 for a weekday afternoon (2:30pm) and that felt like a good value. Checking a few other courses online showed $50-$62 rates for the same time.
My primary reason for not ranking Springfield higher is that there are very few memorable holes. The long dogleg left par 4 No. 9 is probably the signature hole (it would be a great finishing hole).
I rate Springfield as one of the better but not best public courses in the area. The price puts it in the value half of the courses in the area. With very good greens, Springfield is definitely worth playing. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Mooresville continues to be one of the best values in the area. $34 for a weekday afternoon is very good, especially given the conditions/amenities. So my 4.5 star rating is based on the price and the greens more than anything. Speaking of, the Bermuda greens were near perfect. Slick and smooth. The fairways were extremely wet and muddy and it was cart path only. So to be honest, it's not the best draining course around town (especially hole 1).
Pace of play was solid despite the cart rule, though we had a twosome and single in the two groups directly behind our foursome. Seems like the twosome and single should have paired up so they wouldn't be waiting on us, but to each his own. By the back 9 we were waiting on almost every hole. High school matches were teeing off No. 1 when we made the turn and I believe the course let a group out in front of us on No. 10. So that slowed us down a tad, but it wasn't brutally slow.
I did not notice any significant changes to the course since last season. We played the tips and given the wet conditions, several holes played very long. I seemed to shoot about the same score I would normally expect. So I was kinda surprised that it didn't seem brutally difficult from back there (6800+ yards).
I do like the diversity of the layout. Some folks don't like the back 9, but not me. I appreciate the full 18. There's a great mix of easy/difficult holes and risk/reward. Some holes seem quirky (Nos. 4, 13, and 16). Others are just difficult (Nos. 5, 11, 17, 18). But overall, I really like this course. It will once again rank highly in my Top 10 list. Read The Review
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- "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
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- "Worth playing"
 Sifford is in good shape, no issues to report. Greens were consistent and cut to medium speed. Fairways were solid. As always here, if you get off the fairway, wide left or right, your lies can be dicey, with bare dirt or rocks and tree roots. I play a regular 9 hole game on late afternoon weekdays with a few friends and Sifford is a great place for that. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Eagle Chase has gotten even better over the past year. They've completed the bunker renovations and they are excellent now. And glory be! They repaved cart paths throughout the course! I've been complaining about broken cart paths and recommending that you don't even use them for years. They finally fixed them!
There are 3 covered pavilions next to the clubhouse now, including one with tables and stools for gatherings and events. It's a great place to settle bets after the round over beers. I was disappointed they didn't have any hot dogs on this Sunday. So just pre-packaged sandwiches as far as food.
The fairways and greens were in fine shape. The greens were consistently good throughout. Typical speed not lightning fast.
The rate was $54 for a weekend morning. That's at least $20-$30 less than other top tier public courses around Charlotte. This course and Deer Brook are the best courses for your money locally.
Living uptown, Eagle Chase is now a good 50-60 minutes for me but I will continue to go back every chance I get. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 This was my first round back at Waterford in many years. I had heard good things about conditions recently and they were in fact pretty good, especially the greens. The Bermuda greens were all in good shape, pretty consistent and fairly quick. The size, slopes and undulations in the greens make them challenging to putt but in my experience they roll true.
Tee box conditions were just okay, fairways were fine but some had rough spots, bunkers were good, but oh boy, the rough! Perhaps it was because of the U.S. Open last week, but the Bermuda rough had not been mowed throughout the course, even around the greens, which made those shots very penalizing. In some cases, you had to walk right near your ball to find it because they tended to settle down in the grass to where you could barely see the top of the ball.
The one thing I remembered about this layout that is still true – it's very easy to lose golf balls here. Every hole feels tight and sloped, with trees, brush, creeks, rocks and other unplayable areas awaiting errant shots – many of which are blind. Several guys in my group hit seemingly good shots that bounded into trouble anyway. The "rub of the green" was evident throughout our round and it felt very British Open-esque.
There are some fun holes in this layout with risk-reward choices to make. So if you know the risk (because you've played here before or have a GPS phone app like TheGrint), then it's cool to try for the reward on some of those shots. The par 5's on the back 9 along with some of the short par 4's were my favorite holes.
Pace of play was not good. Our group had a 1:10 tee time and times were running about 10-15 minutes behind when we started. We finished just after 6:00, a shade under 5 hours.
While the price was great ($56) considering the condition of the greens and course overall, I won't be in a hurry to come back and play Waterford again. With so much trouble on every hole, it can be a frustrating round of golf. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Had to get back out to Stonebridge since I had been hearing good things. First off a conditions update. Greens were in good shape though I noticed the slowness of the Bentgrass more this round since my last round was on Cramer Mountain's lightning quick Bermuda. Tough comparison and while the difference is exaggerated since Cramer is private, it illustrates what a public Bentgrass course is up against. It is difficult to keep these greens firm and fast during the heat of the summer, which for Charlotte lasts pretty much late May to early September. It was difficult to get the ball to the hole, especially from just off the green even thru just a few feet of fringe. A few of my putts were bumped off line by old ball marks. So, all in all, I have to give the greens a B-minus. A couple even had some sizable bare spots that almost looked like vandalism or maintenance mistakes (No. 8 in particular).
The tee boxes, fairways and bunkers were all in good shape and I didn't notice any other issues that affected play. As reported in April, they've flipped the nines to improve pace of play. A source told me rounds are 12-15 minutes faster with the nines flipped. While I appreciate that improvement, I sure miss the Nos. 5 through 9 being the closing stretch. It's the best part of the course, bordering the large pond and featuring risk-reward choices on every hole.
Since my last visit, the course has undergone another significant change, with developers finally clearing land to build more houses around several holes. The clearing has changed sight lines and aesthetics (arguably not for the better). This has changed the surroundings on No. 2 (left fairway and green side), No. 3 (left fairway), No. 10 (right fairway), No. 13 (right fairway), No. 16 (left fairway, now out of bounds), and No. 17 (left fairway). So far, it's just clearing and marking of lots. Once construction starts, expect significant intrusions and distractions to what was once a fairly peaceful round of golf.
Stonebridge has one of the best practice areas and staff of teachers in the Charlotte area, led by GM and PGA Master Professional Nick Jacobi. The range servant accepts credit cards and Apple Pay. So it's easy to get a bucket of balls for the range or the short game area. You can now check in online when you get to the course. So you don't have to wait in the pro shop. That was nice.
Finally, I have to mention the price. The online reservation said $75. That did not include taxes or the $2 reservation fee per golfer that the reserver has to pay when booking. You get the fee back as a credit assuming your group checks in, but we're talking $82 for a Saturday late morning tee time. On a value scale here in Charlotte, Stonebridge falls somewhere in the middle. It's not the worst (I'm looking at you, Olde Sycamore, and your $97 weekend rate), but it's nowhere near the value of Rock Barn, Mooresville, or Deer Brook.
I'd keep my eye on these reviews to see how the greens hold up this summer and I would suggest finding an afternoon time or weekday to play this course at a better rate. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Played Sunday in TheGrintTour's Classic at Mooresville. Overall, the course was in great shape. The greens were typically immaculate, rolling quick and true – watch out for some of the pin positions near slopes! Tee boxes and fairways were lush and green, except for signs of heavy play. I did end up in one sand-filled fairway divot and a few of the par 3 tee boxes were divot minefields. Bunkers were in good shape and I didn't notice any maintenance issues throughout the course.
My only *complaint* is the inconsistent markings of hazard areas. In a tournament, you have to play things very strictly. If an area of high grass or marsh is not marked Red, you have to play it as a lost ball if you don't find it or unplayable if you do find it but don't have a shot. This made the course play very difficult. I went through scorecards and probably 2/3 of the field had at least an 8 or worse – there was even a 13! I lost a couple of balls in the high grass, which comes into play on many holes: #1, #5, #8, #11, #13, #15, #16, #17, #18. Several of those are not marked as Red hazards. This slowed play tremendously and led to those high scores.
The other difficult aspects of this course are the long, forced carries from the tee on several holes: #1, #8, #10, #11, #16. In some cases, those carries are 175-200 yards to safely reach the fairway from the White Men's tees. So, by no means is this a course I would bring a beginner or high handicapper to play.
If your game is in good shape and you can putt slick, Bermuda greens well, you will like this course. It's kept in great shape and has top-notch amenities, including an excellent practice area. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Sifford has gotten more crowded and I think that has put more stress on course conditions. I've seen the course in better shape. Greens quick but bumpy. The Bermuda here seems to be more fickle because of those bumps. Just not as smooth as some of the other nice Bermuda greens in the area. For some reason, a few of the back tee boxes were closed, which made the course play unusually short. In particular, this was the case on holes 2 and 6. There were areas under repair but I didn't notice any major changes since my last round here. They've almost finished the repair of the bridge between #1 and #9.
One other thing I didn't care for was how closely mown the "rough" was around the greens. With many of the greens crowned or elevated, approaches and chips that either didn't quite make the putting surface or ran through would not stop rolling until they settled well off the green and down the hills. I noticed this especially on #4 where I was chipping from the right side and my ball rolled through the green down the left side and across the cart path. And then similarly on #8 where my playing partner was pitching from below the left side of the green and his ball hit the green but rolled off the front, missing the bunker and rolling all the way down the hill and across the cart path! It's kinda weird to me how the conditions and vibe here at Sifford can feel beginner/amateur/easy, yet shots around the greens can play so difficult, requiring the precise accuracy and touch of a pro.
I like Sifford and it's generally priced for what you get, but conditions are just okay right now. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
Go play Rock Barn. You won't regret it. It's a good 50-minute drive up Hwy 16 from Charlotte (you'll pass Verdict Ridge on your way), but you will be well rewarded for making the trip. The club feels like a resort with 36 holes (the Jones course is private, however), a spa, tennis courts, pool, and a couple of restaurants onsite. Range balls are included in your fee – which, at $65 for a weekend round, is still a great value compared to the $75+ rates at a few courses in Charlotte. The club features the largest practice putting green I've ever seen. So if you need to practice those 100-foot putts, Rock Barn will be your jam.
The Jackson Course is the public track but it is kept in great condition. The Bentgrass greens were in great shape and rolled quick and true. A few of the greens can be really tough due to the slopes – during our round, the pins on 11, 13 and 18 were treacherous. The course plays short, giving you many chances to hit less than driver off the tee. Risk-reward choices abound, but none more tricky than the par 5 10th hole – where even the layup makes you consider how much of the water-guarded dogleg to bite off.
The par 6th hole is one of the signature holes with a long downhill carry over water. During our round, it played as nearly a 190-yard shot with a stiff wind in our face. Bogey won this hole in our group.
I love playing here when I get a chance to make the drive. As the days get longer, it'd be a good one to pair with Verdict Ridge or River Oaks for a 36-hole marathon. I highly recommend the hot dog at the Fresh Chef cafe in the clubhouse at the turn and the chicken quesadillas afterward.
Last thing – see my note in the Forum about aeration dates. Rock Barn will aerate the Jackson course on April 11th. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Still one of my faves. The layout, the scenery and the greens will keep this in my Top 10. In the meantime, they have made some improvements and have some in progress that will make it even better. They are halfway through a bunker renovation with the front 9 completed and the back 9 nearly done. For now, several holes on the back have bunkers marked as Ground Under Repair until they are able to fill them in with sand – this made for a hilarious shot by one of my playing partners where he tried to chip over the left greenside bunker on 13, duffed it, bounced off the concrete bunker bottom and onto the green :-D. The bunkers that are done are niiice. Full, fluffy white sand has replaced the old, washed out red dirt bunkers. This will be an excellent upgrade.
They've also reshaped and enlarged a few of them. Case in point, the aforementioned left greenside bunker on the driveable par 4 13th now extends across the front of the green. This will block a ball from rolling up onto the green, but it will also save balls from taking the left to right slope and rolling into the water. So I'd call it a good change.
They've laid new sod around some of the greens and new bunkers as well. They have also dug up the pond to the right of the par 3 6th hole to put in better drainage I'm guessing. This won't change the hole but might improve the aesthetics when they are done.
The Zoysia greens have matured now and they are able to keep them smooth and fast. Downhill putts – and you will have many on these greens – can be scary fast. They are in great shape.
Eagle Chase used to be this hidden gem out in the Union County pastures, but with its beauty and excellent greens, word has gotten out. The course is more crowded now and the rates are going up (now $60 for a prime weekend tee time). Still, it is worth the drive and the money! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 My first time out at Deer Brook and I loved the layout. It's scenic, with several elevated spots where you can see several holes at once (I love courses like that, a la Eagle Chase). It's challenging with elevation changes, fast, tiered greens, and water in play on 3 of the last 5 holes. For my round, the greens were in good shape and rolling great. It was crazy windy (30-40mph gusts at times) so that made the course play harder – though it allowed me to nearly drive the first green with the wind at my back. The aesthetics take a minor hit with lots of holes framed by power lines but at least they don't buzz like the ones at Birkdale. Otherwise, I loved the layout. It felt very wide open and straightforward with only a few exceptions where the landing areas were narrow and bordered by OB or hazards. The par 3's are all tricky with most requiring a long carry. The closing 2 holes offer great risk-reward with the short par 5 17th requiring a 2nd or 3rd shot to carry a large pond and the long par 4 18th requiring a similar carry over water for your approach. Even though I suffered from some difficult putts due to the slopes, I enjoyed the challenging greens and I am sure they are even tougher when the green speeds are ratcheted up. Speaking of the greens, Deer Brook is one of the last public courses in the area with Bentgrass greens. So if you prefer them over Bermuda, Deer Brook is a great course for you. I had lunch and drinks at Mulligan's on the covered patio watching March Madness before my round. It's a great spot with a wide variety of menu items. Overall, I had a great first visit and will be back a few times a year now that I know what I'm missing. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
 Still the best public access course around Charlotte. This is a semi-private course with private club conditions and amenities. Greens are in fabulous shape. The fairways and rough are dormant, of course, but will be ready for Spring. They are using tee mates for the par 3's during the winter months, but the turf mats are top quality, even allowing you to put a tee in them. So they actually play as good or better than the natural teeing ground right now. The work done on the bunkers last year has paid off. The sand is fluffy and consistent and does not get washed out during big rains.
They have also made improvements (or have them in progress) to several holes with marshes and penalty areas like hole #7 – where they are clearing the wooded part on the low right side and will fill in with dirt to guarantee good lies for balls that roll down the fairway slope into the rough. On other holes, they've significantly cut back the brush in the marshy hazards – on #15 you could even walk in there and search for your ball – and that has made a few shots less intimidating (e.g. the par 3 11th as well).
The course's affordable memberships have been popular over the past year or two. Saturday and Sunday tee times are reserved for member play only (since last Nov) and Fridays may soon be as well. The course is definitely worth taking off early to play during the week. So get out there when you can. You won't be disappointed. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Skybrook is one of my favorite layouts in the area and I've played it a ton over the years. The improvements to the whole experience with the clubhouse upgrades in particular as well as the Bermuda greens make it worth the higher price of golf in Charlotte nowadays. On this day, we were cart path only and the fairways were indeed still a bit muddy. The walking to and from the cart made for a longer round but we were still able to finish before sunset after teeing off at 1:30. The greens were all in good shape, not super fast but a good true roll helping my group to hole some decent length putts. I still struggle with the 3rd hole and the 10th hole due to the trouble on both sides of the tee shot. The closing stretch 15-18 is one of my favorites in all of Charlotte public golf. Once Spring hits and the dormant fairways and rough come back to life, Skybrook is set for a great season. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Rocky River was in great shape. The Bermuda greens were in near-perfect shape. Not crazy slick but quick and true. The grass is all still dormant for another couple of months, but plays well. We were cart-path only on a couple of holes (the golf cart GPS notifies you and restricts the cart) but 90 degrees on most after some rains the day before. So not too bad. They have cleared brush and trees on several holes. For example, on the par 4 7th hole, my approach landed short just in front of the green, which is normally an unplayable hazard. That has been cleared now and I was able to play from it. The layout here is still unique to Charlotte and fun to play. That giant American flag at the speedway is visible in the background of the closing holes and is a cool feature. Rocky River will remain in the Top 5 when my updated list comes out next month! This round I even got to meet Floyd Gragg, the namesake of that giant boulder in the middle of the 3rd fairway. He was ranger'ing the day we played and so I chatted with him and posted a photo (check my Instagram). Great guy and big name in Charlotte golf history. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 Back at Emerald Lake for the first time since Memorial Day weekend. The greens are starting to get their late summer softness, which leads to many, many ballmarks and sometimes bumpy putts. So they are not as good as they were in early summer. However, I'd say they are in much better shape for this time of year than in years' past. The speed was decent but not fast at all. The tees and fairways were fine, no issues to note. The disappointing aspect of the course conditions right now are the bunkers. Several -- especially the ones on the par 5 5th hole -- were overgrown with grass and weeds. I was shocked. My playing partner lost a ball in a fairway bunker on that hole due to the overgrowth. Just a severe lack of attention and care to a basic aspect of course maintenance. There were a few more bunkers on other holes with grass (e.g. par 3 16th greenside bunker) and some that just had not been raked or maintained. Given the price ($72) and the condition of the rest of the course, I don't understand why these bunkers were neglected. I did see the GM and the superintendent riding around the course but did not get a chance to ask them about the bunkers. While Emerald Lake has made great strides from previous seasons with their Bent grass greens and course improvements, I was disappointed with this round. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Mooresville is in great shape right now as many local courses are hitting their prime conditions. And that goes for everything, tees, fairways, greens, bunkers. There were only a few sporadic issues with some bare, washed out areas around some of the greens (#11, #15, #18) - I suggest playing them as GUR. The greens were typical TifEagle Bermuda – fast downhill and slow, breaking more uphill. They gave me fits as I had at least 5 lipouts in 18 holes. The grain grabs the ball as your putts slow down and they break away from the hole. So not my favorite Bermuda greens, but your mileage may vary. The only other thing of note is the clearing / construction work being done around holes 6 and 8. Not sure what is being built there but it will certainly change the aesthetics of those holes 6-8. Right now it's just mounds of orange dirt. For me, the front 9 plays easier than the back, though overall this can be a tough track. The closing 3 hole stretch of 16 (short par 4 but a difficult tee shot), 17 (long par 4 with OB on both sides and a large sloped green) and 18 (long narrow par 5 guarded by OB left, hazard right and fairway bunkers in the layup zone) is one of the more difficult in town. For the money and the amenities (incl. a nice practice area and large clubhouse/restaurant), Mooresville is still one of the nicer places to play around Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Played a GolfWeek Amateur Tour event at Lancaster this weekend, which is about the only time I make it down to play this course. That's a shame, too, because I really like this classic Donald Ross track (it's over 85 years old!). The Bermuda grass greens are typically in great shape and they are vintage Donald Ross. Very challenging. Right now, a few of the greens have some issues around the edges and collars, with bare spots that have been filled in with sand to repair them. On a few holes, these spots came into play requiring relief (holes #2 and #7) for chip shots just off the putting surface. Tees, fairways and bunkers were good. This course can be sneaky tough. The first few holes run adjacent and give you tons of room off the tee, but the uphill approaches on #1 and #3 can be difficult to judge to large sloped greens. The par 5's are all reachable in two but they defend par well with hazards (#2), O.B. (#5), blind, uphill second shots (#14) or trees guarding the dogleg (#16). Ponds make the par 4 6th and par 3 7th holes challenging as well. And #17 continues to give me fits. This downhill dogleg left par 4 requires a layup tee shot (unless you are comfortable hitting a long, accurate draw off the tee) and then a long downhill approach shot to a green guarded by bunkers and a rocky ditch. Overall, I really like the layout and the conditions, along with the price. I just wish it was closer! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 Back at Monroe where the greens are still just about perfect. They are quick and tricky, but not crazy fast as I've seen 'em before here. They are the best part of the course. The rest of the conditions were not that impressive for April. Fairways were just okay, fairly thin. Rough was erratic -- in some places it was bare and thin, in others it was overgrown with weeds. The lies around the greens, sometimes just 5 or 10 yards off, were sometimes not good. For the price and with near perfect greens, Monroe is always worth playing. I'm wondering how it will fare this year, with PGA Master Pro Nick Jacobi having left for Stonebridge. I'm sure I'll be back this summer. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This was another GolfWeek Am Tour tourney round - so the pace was typically slower than normal. Carts were 90 degrees (yay) except for a few holes. Greens were in great shape, fairly quick and true, no issues. Bunkers are full of fluffy sand. The starter actually warned us to watch for balls landing in the bunkers because they were known to bury and disappear. We didn't have any problems, but the fluffy sand is definitely a change from other courses that have more hardpan or dirt than sand. Tees and fairways were thin and not great, but playable. Definitely still in winter shape. With the greens good, though, the conditions were fine and a little better than most. This is still one of my favorite layouts for scoring. The front nine begins and ends with two short par 4s and the par 5 17th can play shorter than the par 4 15th. The par 3's are difficult, however, especially #16 which can play over 200 yards to a perched green with a steep fall off left and bunker short. I didn't have a great day but I enjoyed the challenge and will be back again this season. Reminder: this is a great choice for a 36 hole day because you can hop over to the nearby Donald Ross track, Lancaster Golf Club, for a second 18 holes. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Based on other recent reviews, I'd say Carolina Lakes is in good shape, given the extremely wet weather of the past 2 months. Greens were in good shape, rolling quick and true with a few exceptions. On some greens that had a few bumpy spots, the pins were placed far enough away that I didn't experience or witness any bad rolls. The tees and fairways were not as good, with some poa annua affecting several holes. I was playing in a tournament (which explains the 5+ hour round) and we were playing lift-clean-place. So those poa annua spots didn't affect play. Bunkers (and there are a million on this course) were in good shape, with no standing water. The layout here is a still a favorite of mine, with tons of risk/reward holes and large, sloped greens that test your approach shot accuracy and your putting. This course will be in my annual Top 10 list once again. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Greens were fa-a-a-st! When I play during the warmer months, the greens are usually lush and play like thick carpet. At this time of year, they are dormant and slick. Downhill putts were treacherous! The course has dried out so no issues in the fairways or bunkers. $40 for a holiday Monday was a great deal. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Introduced a good friend of mine from SC to Verdict Ridge on Tuesday. The course ate him up, despite all my advice (ha). Conditions were good despite the heavy rains over the weekend. It was cart path only but we didn't really encounter any trouble with casual water or muddy lies. Bunkers were okay as the sand had dried out. Tees, fairways and greens are all very lush. The greens were in great shape and rolled quick but not lightning or unfair. It was a beautiful day to play and the trees around the course are changing colors. So the course looks spectacular right now. Check out my Instagram (@charlottegolfer) for pics and vids from my round. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Got my first chance to play the new Diamond Zoysia greens at The Divide, the closest course to my house and one I've been waiting for its return to glory. This is a good start. The new greens are soft and they can't cut em really yet. So they were expectedly slow, but fairly smooth on the roll. It was difficult to get the putts to the hole no matter how much you tell yourself to hit em hard. It will likely be a few more weeks before they are able to keep them lower and faster, but I can certainly see the potential. And they beat the heck out of late summer bent grass you are seeing at Olde Sycamore and Carolina Lakes right now, to name a couple. The rest of the course was in really good shape, as you would expect for a month of no play. The tees and fairways are about as good as they get here. The bunker work over the past week was well done. So they were all very playable. Several greens have very wet, muddy entrances or surrounds -- so you will get no run up and likely some plugged lies. This affects play on #3, #4, #12 and #16 in particular. Speaking of #16, this is one of my least favorite golf holes in all of Charlotte and unfortunately today the Blue tees were all the way back and set on the left side of the tee box. That gives left-to-right drivers like me no chance on this hole. I had a +7 round going until a triple on this hole derailed me. I did nearly ace #17 though for a bounce back birdie. All in all it was a good round and the course is very playable now. By next month, I am sure the greens will be very good. And then this course should make its way back on my playlist. A couple of other notes - the practice green is not open yet -- they are giving it a few more days to grow in. Also the rate for a weekday afternoon is a bit pricey ($44) for now. Once the greens have grown in to the point they can cut em fast, then I'd say fair price. And lastly... there are still no Gold tees?!? I've mentioned this several times and haven't gotten an answer yet. This meant that the Blue tees I normally play were sometimes back on the Gold tee box (today this happened on #1, #3, #9, #12, #14, and #16). The course is already fairly long from the Blues and this made it play over 6600 yards. I'll try to find out what the deal is on tee boxes. If you play The Divide over the next month, please post a review so I can keep track of its progress. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Nice leisurely afternoon round at Skybrook with my Dad. We were paired with two other singles for a 3:18 tee time and finished in the dusk. Greens were fantastic. Super slick and smooth. They have really grown in after a year so they can cut em low and fast. Coupled with the slopes and the size of the greens, they make this course much more difficult than it used to be. Now one of the toughest public course tracks in Charlotte, in my opinion. Rough was not bad, very playable, in stark contrast to my round at Ballantyne (see my review from last week). Like most courses, the lack of bunker rakes and all the stormy rains have left the sand traps in rough shape - I nearly got swallowed up by the quicksand bunker on #2. With lift, smooth and place rules, though, you can usually find a playable spot. The staff here is great and take feedback to heart. This course should be in your regular rotation. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Got in 15 holes before dusk at Ballantyne resort. The course is in good shape overall, but not pristine. Fairways have lots of divots - and they have not put sand bottles back in the carts. The bunkers are hit or miss - with no rakes and players lifting and placing, they seem kinda neglected as far as daily maintenance. And, wow, the rough. The bermuda rough is so thick that my group nearly lost balls just off the fairway on about 6 holes. If you don't see exactly where your ball entered the rough, good luck. I found one ball literally by stepping on it. For a public course, the rough is ridiculously thick and penalizing -- and maddening. Searching for balls just off the fairway is extremely frustrating and slows play tremendously. The greens were typically slick. Combined with the slopes on most greens, the speed really increases the difficulty of the course. Adding to that, the greens did not putt very smoothly today. Overall, my opinion on the conditions for this being a resort course was very mixed. Due to COVID policies, their hole cups are still upside down (causing some good putts to bounce out and you have to decide to count it) and there are no attendants to bring your bag up or down the stairs. Yet, they are still charging their normal resort course rates. I keep hearing different predictions on when the course will close for the re-development. So I guess I will still play it while I can. Just hope to have more of a "resort" experience for my next round. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Warrior is in fantastic shape. The greens especially were pretty much perfect, rolling fast and true. Tees, fairways and rough were in good shape. A few bunkers had some water but with lift, smooth and place rules for bunkers, it's not really a problem. We got off early (8:16) and had an easy round, pace wise. The course has several picturesque holes (check my @charlottegolfer Instagram for the photos) with Lake Wright bordering the 9th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th. Still not a fan of the 7th hole -- I say this every time... the turf mat tee box is difficult to get a tee in the ground on but I was able to do it this time and hit a decent 3 wood off the tee. That still left me a long approach though! Tough hole. 16 is my second least favorite hole because it requires such a long carry off the tee for a par 3 (~175yd from the Blue tees to carry the lake and front bunker). The 17th is a fun par 5 that you can reach in 2 with a good tee shot and the guts to challenge the lake along the right side. I like this course and now it's in as good a shape as I've seen it. It came in at #10 on my list of best public courses in Charlotte and likely deserves to be a few spots higher. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Sifford is in spectacular shape. Greens were rolling well, faster than I am used to here. They've really got them where they want them, in terms of maintenance and conditioning. The rest of the course was very lush. The course gets all levels of play -- so it can be slow when it's packed, as it was today. You'll need to be patient on those days. Just played one loop of the 9 holes and had to skip #9 due to an appointment. I used to play here every week during the summer in a work league, but that was postponed due to COVID-19. So I took the chance to get out while I was uptown today. Just a reminder, this course has an excellent practice facility too. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
Much like my review earlier this year, the conditions at Rocky River were pretty much perfect. The Bermuda grass greens are nearly flawless, rolling quick and true with no issues anywhere. Tees, fairways and rough (which is penalizing thick stuff) were all in good shape. The bunkers are fine if you play them as lift, smooth and place. The holes still have the foam inserts which don't affect the ball going in the cup. On this hot summer afternoon, they had a ranger making the rounds with free ice cold water bottles. I saw him at least 3 times on each side. He was Johnny-on-the-spot with the water! The carts have GPS and the pin positions were dialed in accurate -- something not all GPS systems do well. Only change since March I noticed is that they've removed the wooden stairs beside the 18th green and sodded with grass. You can't even tell the stairs ever existed and this is a good change. The stairs were not necessary and even though they weren't really in play, it's good to have a nice big bailout spot now that's all grass. Rocky River has had a great year as far as conditions go and it is now a top 5 course here in the Charlotte area. Go play it! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course is still hanging in there amidst the hot summer days, though the greens, with dozens of unrepaired marks on every green, are teetering on the edge. They rolled with good speed (and faster than I thought) but were a little bumpy, making shorter, normally makeable putts (10-15 feet) a bit of a crap shoot. It's likely than by month's end, they will not be fun to putt on. So get out and play em now. The rest of the course was in fine shape, no issues anywhere that I noticed. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
Eagle Chase almost never disappoints. Greens were in fabulous shape, rolling well. Tees/fairways all good. A few bunkers had standing water, but with lift/clean/place were not a problem. $39 for a Sunday 12:50 tee time was a deal (compare to $59 at Birkdale on Saturday). The ranger was on the course and checked in with us a few times, letting us know a slow group in front of us was "on the clock". He swung by on the back 9 and in the parking lot (!?) to make sure we had a good round. Maybe he liked us? LOL. All in all, just a great track at a great price with great service. I'll give my usual caveat advice to avoid the cart paths. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 Birkdale is in very good shape. Greens are doing just fine in the summer heat and rolled with good speed. Lots of ball marks to fix, but most were fresh and not causing permanent pock marks. Tees and fairways were all good. About the only issue I had was with some of the rough just off the fairway and nowhere near out of play. To the right of #8 fairway really penalized me with tall grass and weeds when I was maybe 5 feet off the fairway for my 3rd shot into the par 5. Right of #9 fairway gets you into a net or an area of rough loaded with driving range balls. This hole will likely be altered next year when they take out the driving range to develop that land. Overall, this course is worth playing right now - which is great news for a course I've been down on in recent years due to poor maintenance. $59 after 1:00 on a weekend is a bit pricey compared to other courses in similar or better shape, but not far off market price these days. Arnie's Tavern is open and they have tables outside overlooking the 18th green -- which is a great spot to relax before or after your round. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 Played this in a scramble tournament so not a regulation round. The Bentgrass greens are still doing okay. Just a crap ton of unfixed ballmarks on every hole. The greens are very soft and average speed. The downhillers will roll out a bit but you'll need to take a good whack at the uphill ones. Conditions around the rest of the course were fine, though many bunkers have not been touched by the maintenance crew. This seems to be a trend around some of the courses here lately. Without the rakes, courses should be giving the bunkers some love every day. All in all, this course is in about the best shape it's been in the past few years, but it still ranks in the lower half of my Charlotte rankings due to the conditions / $$$ value combo. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first ever visit to Lancaster Golf Club and it gets a perfect conditions rating. Everything was immaculate, tee to green. Extremely well maintained. I've noticed many many local courses that don't care well for their tee boxes. So when I play one like Lancaster that takes extra care to keep their tee boxes lush like carpet, I notice. The Bermuda greens were rolling quick and true. I only noticed one hole with any kind of issue and that was the green apron on #9 that had some bare dirt spots. That was about it that I can remember. This is an old school course, especially the front nine designed by Donald Ross in 1935. Wide open, with the challenge mostly in the elevation changes tee to green and then the tiered and sloped slick greens. The turn to the Russell Breeden designed back 9 is very different - tree lined and doglegged, but with some of the same elevation changes tee to green. One thing that was true throughout, for the holes with a pin cut in the back or front, they were 5-10 feet off the edges, making for some tricky approaches. Definitely consider pin location before choosing your club. A few of the fun holes include an island green par 3 (#7, roughly an 8 iron) and the dogleg right par 4 9th hole protected by a pond. You do need some course knowledge for a few of the tee shots -- especially the dogleg left par 4 17th where it's easy to drive through the fairway into the woods. Overall, if you are chipping/putting well on the slick, undulating Bermuda greens, it's not a difficult track and you can score well. This course is very reasonably priced and the pro shop guy was very friendly and helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed my first visit (and I'll be back again Saturday for a GolfWeek tourney) and can highly recommend this course, despite the long haul from my neck of the woods (~45 min). Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 My second round here (ever) was a fun one and I'll be back. Quick note: they are aerating the greens next Monday (7/20). Today the course was in good shape. Greens were not fast but rolled fairly well and my group was able to make some putts when they counted. Tee boxes were a bit hairy but better to have too much grass than none like some other courses. Fairways and bunkers were good, no issues. This is a cool course. The biggest challenge are the blind tee shots where you're not sure how far you can hit it on certain lines, which wreaked havoc on some of the long drives in our group from the Blue tees. Outside of that there are only a few dangerous holes and really they present risks and rewards. So it's your choice to take on a tough pin or that long carry to reach a par 5 (such as #18) in two shots. One observation is that the turf near and on the greens is very hard. We got lots of hard, high bounces on approach shots, saved at times by the slower greens. I think once you get to know this course it's not a difficult track. Very reasonably priced too. I'll be back in the Fall for another go at it. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Back at Emerald Lake to use up a raincheck before it expired (and managed to dodge the storms so I didn't get another one). Got what I expected. The bent grass greens are getting close to the edge with unfixed ball marks and bare dirt spots where old locations used to be. You've probably got another couple of weeks before the greens will be in trouble. Today they rolled well as long as you fixed any marks on your line. The rest of the course was in fine shape, no issues. Very pricey, as I've reported for years. Got there as a walkup about 2:40 and the rate was going to be $64. The pro shop suggested I go out at 3:10 when the rate would drop to $45 - so I appreciated that. Still, $45 after 3 on a Friday afternoon for Emerald Lake is... not a deal. I kinda had to use the raincheck or lose it, so... One other note, they have paved the parking lot where the old clubhouse used to be to the right of #18. So that's a different visual now, not to mention dangerous O.B.(better have insurance ;-). Other than that, Emerald Lake is still a fun track to play and I have so much history here that I'll be back when the time and price are right. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 My first time playing all 18 holes here and only my second visit. Man have I been missing out! Just a fantastic layout, front and back, with unique challenges and many memorable holes. This course fits the "Wow" factor of my Top 10 rankings very well and that's why it earned an Honorable Mention in my Charlotte Agenda Top 10. If I had played all 18 before I wrote it, River Oaks would likely be in the Top 10. It's a haul for me (1 hour plus from southeast Charlotte) or I'd play this course every week. And I need to, to get used to some of the more difficult holes. The front nine has 4 really tough ones -- the par 4 3rd hole and the par 4 8th hole require two of the most accurate tee shots you'll face on any course. You can sometimes get a break on #8 if the tee is down on the bottom, making the hole 10x easier as an iron/wedge par 4, but oh man, if the tee is on top! You are barely able to see the narrow fairway, protected on 3 sides by hazards with the view blocked by a steep hill on the left. The closing par 4 on the front 9 is a blind, layup tee shot with an approach to an elevated green perched in front of the clubhouse. The back 9 doesn't let up either, with a back and forth mix of risk/reward and birdie/bogey opportunities throughout. The closing par 5 is the best example -- you can play for birdie/eagle with an aggressive tee shot that better be in the fairway to try for the creek-protected green. Or you can play it as a 3-shotter but that again requires 3 accurate shots with hazards and bunkers challenging each shot. It really is an exhilarating course that you will score better on the more you play it. Conditions were very good - the greens rolled true and quick with no issues at all. The tees and fairways were lush. There are a few areas on the course you want to avoid -- especially the right side of the par 5 #2 hole, which is all dirt and dead trees and not cleared out yet. There is also quite a bit of thick high grass bordering the fairways on some of the back nine holes where errant shots go to die. I did not use the practice facilities but I did notice they have a uniquely elevated driving range. The clubhouse and restaurant are top notch and when the COVID restrictions ease, it's a great spot for your 19th hole gatherings as it overlooks the 9th and 18th greens. And check out their rates -- this course is value-priced with a 5 star layout and great conditions. I can't wait to get back and try this one again! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
My annual round at The Divide to see how things look. My take: much better than it's been. In fact, if you like this course (I'm kinda ehh about it), now's the time to play it. This is the best shape it's been in for years and the summer heat has only just started. So the greens should be decent for another month or so. The course was green and lush (look for the pics on my Instagram) with only a few issues of note. The greens had no issues. There weren't even any ball marks to complain about. The greens are soft and a few were slower than others but mostly they were just fine. The fairways and rough weren't cut to my liking, a little furry creating some poor lies. A few greens had some muddy unplayable spots just off the collar. This course will always have trouble with some of the shadier spots. Hard to keep those greens and surrounds in good shape (#3, #4, #16 in particular). The other thing I noticed is that they've done away with the Gold tees (back set). The tees themselves are mostly intact except for a few that were not kept up, but no sign of the Gold tee markers on any hole. That makes this course not really one for long hitters. You already can't hit driver on many holes from the Blue tees. Also this is not a course for beginners or hackers. Lots of trouble off the tee with O.B. as the course winds through a neighborhood and then woods, shrubs and little creeks. You will lose many golf balls if you are wild off the tee or misjudge distance to trouble. So I'm not really a fan of this course. I wish I was as it is 5 minutes away. The price was decent ($33 for a weekday twilight) but on a regular basis I'd hit Charlotte National, Stonebridge, Monroe or Red Bridge instead of The Divide. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Last week was Charlie Sifford's birthday (June 2) and it reminded me I hadn't been out here to the course named in his honor in quite some time. Fun to be back. Sifford is a cool little par 35, 9 hole track that also hosts the First Tee of Charlotte -- there was a clinic going on as we teed off. The course is not long at all -- though the par 4 opening hole can almost reach 400 yards from the back tee. The rest of the holes give you options to cut corners -- especially #5 and #8, which are drivable for players who can hit high fades over trees. The two par 3's are not easy either -- #3 has a bunker protecting the right half of the putting surface and #7 is a long downhill shot to a large two tiered green. The closing par 5 requires a carry over a ditch for your tee shot then a careful uphill approach that can't miss left or right. It's an inexpensive, quick 9 hole trip. The course was in lush shape tee to green. The greens were not fast at all but rolled true. So get the speed down and it was fine. I'll be back for another 9 holes again soon. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Mooresville comes in at #4 on my recently published Top 10 list for Charlotte and this round validated that ranking. The layout is fun and challenging. The greens are tough but fair and the price is right. Just a well maintained course and great bang for the buck. Today, conditions were very good. Tees and fairways are lush and full with very few issues due to the rain. The greens were not as fast as I've seen them here but they were rolling true. It was still cart path only today but I heard that should change tomorrow. The path restriction meant we couldn't use the GPS on the carts today but it's a nice feature when you can drive to your ball. It's two to a cart now and there were sand bottles on the carts. So some of the restrictions are easing up. This course has a nice practice area for your warm-up. I really like the front nine. It's easily walkable and has two reachable par 5's. The back nine is a little trickier and has three of each par 3, par 4 and par 5s, which is unique for Charlotte. The only issues today were some ground under repair on #1 where the rains have washed out some areas that just have sand right now and also around the green on #11. Those issues were isolated but I found both areas with my approaches and had to take relief. This is a great course and if you have never played it, take a trip up 77 and check it out. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course was in good shape, greens especially. A bit slow, but I figure that was due to the rainy soft conditions. Lots of unfixed ball marks. We repaired a bunch on every green. Tees, fairways and bunkers were all very good. Conditions-wise, now's the time to play Olde Sycamore, but find a good deal online. $75 plus another $7 for range balls. Yowser. About $15-$20 more than Eagle Chase and $10 more than Rocky River in similar shape. Pace was slow too with no ranger regulating play on the course. I like the layout and the Bent grass greens are good right now, but this is still a 2-3 rounds a year place for me. Just not enough value or uniqueness to bring me back soon. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Eagle Chase was in good shape, despite all the rain. Tees, fairways and greens were fine with little or no puddles even with another mid round rain shower. Many bunkers had standing water though. With the no rakes, lift/clean/place rule already in effect, this didn't matter much. They have PVC pieces in the cups and they worked fine. Greens were smooth with nary a ballmark but they were a bit on the slow side, softened by the rain. Course was beautiful and fun to play as always. This course deserves its spot in my Top 10. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I'll first say that I love the layout here -- and not just because I almost shot par today for the first time in my playing career! Five par 5's (including back-to-back on the front 9), five par 3's, several short par 4's, the namesake bridge, a mammoth par 5 closing hole, quick Bermuda greens, value-priced greens fees. There's a lot to love about this course if you are willing make the drive out to Stanly County and the little town of Locust. For the past season or so though, the conditions outside of the greens have deteriorated, I'm sad to say. The fairways had tons of crabgrass patches and divots. I had several terrible lies in the middle of the fairway due to this. There was also crabgrass on the collars and just off the greens, which made those delicate putts from just off the green very unpredictable. The tee boxes were chewed up with very little grass and not just on the par 3's. The greens themselves were good. They had been top-dressed with sand recently but didn't affect play. They were rolling quick and true. And though I did miss a couple of short putts I won't blame the greens. I had this in my Top 10 last year and I came back to play today to see how it was shaping up. Have to say I was disappointed overall. This is a top 5 layout saddled with average conditions outside of the greens. Hopefully it will round back into shape by next season. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 This place is like home to me -- maybe because it's near my home (5 min away). Mostly because this is where I go to practice -- it has a practice chipping green cut like a real green with a large greenside bunker to practice your sand game. It has a large putting green and a bag of balls is $6 ($5 if you have one of their annual discount cards). It's also a very friendly and walkable course -- so if halfway through your practice you decide you wanna go practice on the course and play 9, it's very easy to do. The staff is the friendliest around when it comes to squeezing in a single or a walk-up group that just wants to get out and play. I played 18 today as a walk-up single around 1:30 -- $25! Try to beat that anywhere in town for a weekday afternoon with cart. They had me join a twosome that was just teeing off. Had a great time with those two and we made it around the course in less than 4 hrs. The Sunday Ultra Dwarf Bermuda greens are now in their second season and are consistently in great shape. Charlotte National has very large greens so having a smooth consistent surface helps alot for those long putts. The grass type even has its own website (go check out http://www.sundayultradwarf.com/). The rest of the course will probably never be top tier for Charlotte. And that's okay (esp. at these prices). The tee boxes, fairways, rough and rocky ground surrounding the trees and brush off the fairways leave something to be desired. You're also out amongst the farms and backroads of Union County. So the aesthetics are definitely more rural than suburban. You may get some ultralight or propeller planes flying over from Goose Creek Airport nearby (one crashed on the 8th hole several years ago on a day that I played there!). Charlotte National kinda is what it is. So depending on your tastes, it may not fit you, but for me, the golf and the price keep me coming back. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
My second perfect rating of the year. Carolina Lakes is in fabulous shape. The Bentgrass greens were immaculate and rolling true (and quick). Tees, fairways, bunkers were all good. I couldn't find a thing to nitpick all day. Everything was in great condition. The layout is challenging yet scoreable and it includes several picturesque and memorable holes, including the par 5 13th (reachable in two if you challenge the water on the left with your approach), par 4 14th that follows it going up the hill and the short (driveable if you risk the water on the right) par 4 15th. Then there's the murderous par 3 16th with a long water hazard carry to a green guarded by a huge bunker (it looks like a series of bunkers but it's one continuous "trap"). Few courses have such an indelible layout like this - where you will remember so many of the holes. I love this course and the facilities are also top-notch with a great practice/learning area as well as a huge clubhouse / restaurant. Look for deals through GolfNow to book your tee times, though. I went through the course website and would have paid twice what I did through GN ($73 vs $37 for a weekday afternoon). Carolina Lakes is in my local Charlotte Top 3. Go play it! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Been awhile since I made the trek down to Lancaster to check out Edgewater again. I really enjoy this course but it is over an hour from my house. So this day, I made a 36 hole day of it with the first 18 holes here and the second at Carolina Lakes (just up the road in Indian Land about 30 minutes back towards home). This is a very fun layout, starting with a nearly driveable par 4 opening hole (downhill 300-325 yards). Both myself and my playing partner opened with pretty easy birdies. The par 5's are reachable -- especially the 17th hole -- and there are a couple of other short par 4's (like #9) where you can have just a short pitch shot left for your approach. The course does have teeth though and off the fairway you can get into trouble with trees, brush and creeks. It helps to have a GPS app on your phone to know when to risk it off the tee and when to avoid hazards. The Bentgrass greens are a dying breed in the Charlotte area and they are kept in great shape here. The greens were very quick, even though you could still see punch marks from aeration last month. This course is definitely worth a trip -- maybe do what I did and pair it up with Lancaster, Carolina Lakes or another course on your way back home and play 36! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Had the privilege of playing Verdict twice last week with the GM Scott Knox. I even got to meet his dad, the owner and developer of Verdict Ridge -- and former Charlotte mayor -- Eddie Knox. Great man and a great course he built! Verdict is still #1 in my annual ranking of the best public courses in the Charlotte area. The layout is very unique for the area and plays like a mountain course. Extremely challenging with risk-reward holes throughout both 9's. There are a number of picturesque holes, including the signature 9th hole with it's waterfall backdrop behind the green. I love playing here. The Bermuda greens are always in great shape. They also have GPS on the carts and a beverage cart stationed at the cross path of holes 6 and 14 so you're guaranteed two chances to grab some drinks during the round. Top notch practice facility and clubhouse/grill (when it reopens). If you haven't played Verdict Ridge before, go play it when you can. Only about 30 minutes north on Hwy 16 from uptown Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 Tradition is in good shape. Greens were rolling good, above average speed and no issues. They are not quick, mind you. Fairways, tees and bunkers were all fine. Off of those and it's just okay, which is what Tradition is, in my opinion. It's a good course and worth playing when it is in good shape like it's in now. However, it will never be one of my favorites. You have almost no chance to find a ball that veers off course. So much thick brush and trees and little creeks on every hole. It's easy to lose balls if you are not keeping the ball near the fairway (can you tell I had a rough day off the tee?). So I wouldn't recommend this course for a beginner or high handicapper. Not because the course is that difficult - it's got several great scoring opportunities for better players - just because it isn't that fun to play when you are losing a ball and having no option to play another shot on so many holes. I'm sure if I played here more I would get used to it and know which holes to be conservative off the tee. Let's just say this course isn't very forgiving. And the $46 price for a weekday morning is no bargain. That said, the round played swiftly as far as pace and the experience itself was good. Tradition is using upside hole cups and they didn't affect play. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Finally got back up to Highland Creek in Huntersville. I had been seeing and hearing better things lately and I used to play here often with a friend who lived in the community. I had modest expectations and I'll say the course met them. The Bentgrass greens were fine -- not great, not bad. The speed was decent but not fast. Putts seem to take more break because of that and that made shorter makeable putts more challenging today between the speed and the break. Perhaps I'm biased with some of the nicer courses I've been playing lately but it just goes to show that courses with smooth, fast greens stand out compared to the likes of Highland Creek. The bigger issue with the greens was the collars and areas just off the edges of greens. On several holes there was no grass on the edges, just several feet worth of bare dirt and/or weed clumps. This issue made chips and putts from just off the green dicey. Tee boxes were okay. Fairways were okay though there were some holes with the weed clumps here and there. Overall the turf conditions throughout the course was just kinda average. That said, this course has a fantastic and very challenging layout that I really like. So the gem is there. They just gotta bring it back up a notch to where it was 10 or 12 years ago when it was one of the nicest public tracks in town. All the par 5's are scoreable and offer great risk reward options -- especially the signature 18th hole, which surrendered my first eagle of the season! Much like other courses, this one is using the foam fillers in the cups, which don't affect play and do the job for not having to touch the flagstick. One note of caution, for now, this course (and supposedly others in Meck Co, though this is the first one I've heard this rule) strictly allows one rider to a cart, no matter your relation to the person. At the end of the day, I enjoyed revisiting an old favorite, but I will likely give this course another season to improve before I come back. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
My first time at Rock Barn (Jackson course) and my first perfect rating of the year. The course was in immaculate condition tee to green. The layout is fun, challenging and score-able. It only cost $35 for a weekday afternoon with range balls included. And if it weren't for the pandemic I would have enjoyed the restaurant and amenities as well. This is a great resort course that is more than worth the hour's drive from Charlotte. And it is less than 15 minutes from another top 10 course in our area -- River Oaks. So if you want to make a weekend of it or play 36 in one day, pair these two courses together. Of course, Rock Barn has a Robert Trent Jones II course as well, but it is now members only and private since 2016. Look for some photos from the course on my Instagram (@charlottegolfer). I can't wait to go back and play Rock Barn again! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Emerald Lake used to be my home course and so I played it a ton over the years. Wasn't particularly happy with my experience this time back for 3 reasons -- they have raised the hole cups, they've added a $7 surcharge for single cart usage and their rate for a Tuesday morning round 3 weeks after aeration was $55 (!). The fairways were in good shape and the greens rolled well considering you could still see the aeration holes and some of the sand. But come on, the raised cups do not feel like golf. Put a foam filler in, turn them upside down, but don't raise the cups. Every thing within about 8-10 feet was a virtual gimme. No fear at all. At least my two birdies on #6 and #10 were gimmes under normal conditions (less than 3 feet), but I had a few pars that were no sweat at all from within 10 feet. And I made a dubious "bogey" on 7 with a chip that hit the raised cup. So it was a great round (75) but was probably a 78 with normal cups. This is the first course I've played that's using raised cups and I'll wait to come back until they go back to normal and wipe out that ridiculous $7 surcharge. $62 for a weekday morning round! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Rocky River is in fantastic shape tee to green -- the best of any public course I've played this year so far. Fairways in particular were nice and lush and providing lots of roll on tee shots. Greens were near perfect (with one exception noted below) and very quick. I still have trouble reading these Bermuda greens though and I didn't make anything over 10 or 12 feet all day. Tees and sand bunkers were also good. We were able to take individual carts and the pace was brisk starting at 8:30. Not crowded at all. The hole cups had foam fillers which made it easy to retrieve our holed putts without disrupting anything. The snack bar was open and stocked. The only issue on the course was the repaired spot on #4 green. It looks like maybe they had some vandalism on that green a little while back and had to sod a 10 foot wide strip through the middle of the green. The hole was cut away from it and it didn't affect my putt rolling across the strip from the other side of the green. So not a big issue just an anomaly. Overall, these were the best conditions I've played in recently (see my reviews for Warrior, Monroe, and Springfield -- I've also played Skybrook and Olde Sycamore). This course is Top 5 Charlotte material. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Back at Warrior on a day when the course was as packed as I've ever seen one outside of a tournament. I had a 3:20 tee time reserved online and we were not called to the tee box until after 4:00. They had tee times spaced only 8 minutes apart where other local courses have gone to 15 or 20 minute intervals. They had difficulty turning carts around fast enough for the afternoon tee times. That said, the pace of play was good once we started - 4 hours on a packed course is excellent. We did finish 18 in near darkness though. Contrary to the previous review, they were allowing 2 people to a cart - except for seniors. There weren't any extreme precautions I've seen at other courses - clubhouse was open, grill was open (no dining in of course), hole cups were normal. Conditions-wise, I wasn't overly impressed. I've played at two other courses recently (Monroe CC and Lincolnton CC) where the greens were immaculate and quick. Warrior's greens were fine, no issues, but they were not fast - I left putts short all day. And they still aren't very receptive as far as checking up approach shots. The fairways were fine, though conditions just off the fairways were not as good - weeds and thin grass. The tee boxes were very thin and some were more dirt than grass. So overall, conditions were just average. As for the layout, I forgot how much I dislike the front 9 -- especially #7 where they use a turf tee box that you cannot get a tee in, and this for a hole that requires a 175yd carry over a hazard for what is a layup tee shot due to another hazard reachable by a 200+ yard drive that hits right center of fairway. The back 9, really starting with hole #9, gets a lot better but there are still many holes where you can't hit driver or risk getting into trouble. There are several very pretty holes -- #15 and #17 in particular -- where Lake Wright comes into play. #17 is my favorite hole, a risk-reward par 5 that garnered me an eagle putt yesterday (I just missed). This course is a top 10 Charlotte public course with reasonable rates - it just may take some getting used to. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This review may be ever so slightly biased by the 2020 best 78 I shot, but the facts are that the greens were perfect. The Champion Bermuda grass is in great shape right now, rolling quick (but not crazy fast) and true. Tees, fairways and bunkers are all quickly getting into top season form. For the conditions and the price, this course can hardly be beat. I got my tee time online and called the pro shop when I arrived since it was closed -- paid thru a card slot in the door and off I went. There was a starter regulating groups and pace of play. The putting green and driving range (which I still have never actually seen) were both closed, but no big deal. They were using foam fillers in all of the cup holes to make it easier to retrieve your ball without touching the flagstick. This works pretty well, but some putts that obviously would have fallen in will sometimes dive in and pop out. You count those as good but make sure you have common sense playing partners. Personally, I like the courses that have turned the cups upside down the best (e.g. Springfield before it closed), but at least they haven't raised the cups (ala Ballantyne for one). This course is fairly easy once you get to know it. All of the par 5's are reachable -- #12 especially -- but several of the par 4's and almost all of the par 3's are challenging and can even out those birdie holes. I shot my career best score of 73 here a couple of years ago. The course added a short game practice area between holes 1 and 3. Looks like you can hit 100 yard shots and in. Nice addition to help PGA Master Instructor Nick Jacobi give lessons. While the course does lack some amenities of other top courses around Charlotte, the golf itself is top notch and very inexpensive. This one may well show up in my Top 10 list. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time back at Springfield in a while. I'm doing some scouting before updating my Charlotte Agenda Top 10 article in a few weeks. A quick COVID-19 update - I was able to pay over the phone so I just had to verbally check in at the pro shop, no touch required. The cups have all been turned upside down which makes them shallower and easier to pick out your ball without touching the flagstick. I was paired up with another group but allowed to have my own cart. There were no bunker rakes. As for the course itself, it was cart path only - though there were only a few spots on the whole course that were still wet. The greens were solid not spectacular -- quick, but not super smooth. It felt like the grain took over on shorter putts. Still good, but just not super nice like they will hopefully be soon. The fairways on the front 9 were a bit sparse with lots of poa annua patches. Oddly, the back 9 fairways were much greener and lush. The layout does feature some blind shots so hopefully you have a GPS or a veteran playing partner. Some of the tee shots are target golf plays rather than grip and rip. Lots of elevation changes and dropoffs. The course meanders through a very wooded neighborhood and there are a few small ponds and streams that come into play. Overall, it's a good test of golf. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 My first round here and I loved the course. Great layout and fantastic greens. They are Diamond Zoysia and were perfectly smooth and quick. The course gets an A for the greens alone. The original 9 holes is over 70 years old and has a great risk/reward mix, starting with the opening par 5, with an approach over water. Between the 1st and 2nd holes, there's some construction of condos going on and so it's walled off with black plastic. That's also made the 2nd hole a par 3 over water, as the construction is using that hole for runoff/retention ponds, where there was no hazard before. #7 is a great par 5 with a pond looming at the end of the fairway about 250 yds out and then an uphill climb to the green. Speaking of the greens, they are generally small. You can't have a putt over 60/80 feet on any green. With quick greens and some slopes, it can make putting and chips pretty tricky. This is a relatively short course with lots of scoring opportunities. The closing par 4 18th hole features a narrow landing area with a sharp dogleg right to the green which is perched on a hill next to the clubhouse. It was a fun round and I'll be back soon! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Greens were recently aerated and so fees were discounted to $25 for 18 with cart. Even with the aeration the greens were okay, though I'm sure the bumps cost me at least 3 strokes. With the discount, I'll call it a wash, but I would give it another 1-2 weeks. There were no special instructions or any changes to the flagstick / cup -- I've seen a few other courses either put a filler in the cup to discourage touching of the flagstick or raise the cup above ground so all you have to do is hit the cup to count it good (Ballantyne is doing this). The course was very wet even with what I think was just overnight rain and so it was cart path only. All in all the conditions were just average, but I'm sure that'll improve with the greens healing and perhaps some dry, warm weather. One course layout note -- they've opened a new tee location on the par 3 #4 hole that is about 50 yards left of the original tee. I like it. It's more visually appealing and gives you a better view and angle to the green, though it's a more direct carry over the water. Check out the picture I posted on Instagram to see it. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The bentgrass greens were in really good shape and rolling well. Fairways, tees and bunkers were fine, though of course it was very wet and cart path only. A few of the greenside collars had not been cut and stop a few balls from going off the green - however, that left an awkward putt where you couldn't get the club behind the ball. Overall it was as good as I expected it to be and a decent value for a weekday afternoon. Read The Review
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- "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. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 My first time back at Charles T for 18 holes since last year's switch over to Bermuda greens. Color me impressed. The greens were great -- slick, true and consistent across all 18 holes. The rest of the course was in good shape as well but if you have not played since the new greens went in you will only be talking about the greens after playing. I really liked them, although being so slick now, there are some pin positions that should be outlawed. The front pin on #10 was diabolical. I saw 3 people in my group (myself included) putt from above the hole off the front of the green. It was comical but also not cool. The back left pin on #17 was also impossible to get close to or stop a putt coming from the right side. So either they nix those pin positions on some slopes or they've got to slow the greens down. Outside of that complaint, I'm excited about Charles T again. I've been meaning to get back and check it out and now I will be back more often. I used to consider Charles T one of the best deals in Charlotte golf and that was with bent grass greens that were sometimes slow or chewed up. Now with these awesome Bermuda greens and the same value pricing and great practice facilities, it's back in the conversation. Well done, Del Ratcliffe and team! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Love the layout but the bent grass greens were soft and hairy. Could not get enough of a consistent roll to make any significant putts. I've gotten so spoiled by all the Bermuda grass courses around town that coming back to Emerald Lake was a bit disappointing. Several of the greens had issues with old ball marks or thin dirt spots, but they didn't necessarily affect putting as much as the slow speed and natural bumpiness of the bent grass. Fairways, rough, bunkers and tees were all just fine. The rate was good for a weekday afternoon but $5 for a Stella was pretty steep. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time back at Warrior since they redid the greens (Bermuda) last summer. They did not disappoint. They rolled great and were in excellent shape. The course is a little more open now as they also removed tons of trees last year. It is a fun layout and has some beautiful holes on the back 9. The rate was great for a holiday weekend afternoon. If you live anywhere near this course, it should be in your regular rotation. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Got invited to see the new Skybrook -- it just reopened last week after closing for renovations for 2 months. The new Bermuda greens are awesome -- I was very impressed with how they rolled and how receptive they were. With so many Charlotte courses going Bermuda, I've gotten used to the nuances of the grass and these were excellent. They were surprisingly quick too for new greens. They are still growing in the collar Bermuda which will be slightly different than the greens. It should be a nice touch. With 2 months to grow in the new greens, the staff also resodded and fixed some fairway issues. Holes #1 and #6 were typically cart path only but are now good to go. No changes to the layout or the contours of the greens. So it's still the same course, which I've always liked. The clubhouse renovations included a redo of the restaurant with all new big screen TV's and also outdoor patio seating. These changes should make it a great place to hang out after your round. Skybrook is well on its way back to the Top 10 public courses in Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Greens were great as always, no issues. Tee boxes were not great, however. Not a huge deal, but noticeable -- either bare thin, weeds or flufy bermuda almost like rough. And around several fairways or just off, even just off the greens, there were lots of weeds. It wasn't a big problem, but enough to make some lies worse than they should have been and of course diminish the aesthetics. The layout is still great and the price is always really good. So still a great course, just not as nice as I've seen it. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Had a good experience Sunday afternoon at the #7 course in my recent Top 10 list (Charlotte Agenda link on my Insta profile). One of my playing partners is friends with the PGA Director of Golf (Ryan Brickley) so we received great service -- he even rode with us a few holes. Fairways and greens were in fantastic shape. Only issue we encountered were several washed out or water-filled bunkers due to the recent heavy rains over the holiday weekend. We played lift, rake and replace in the bunkers because of this, but I did lose one ball in a sand bunker "water hazard" that led to a double bogey even after a rake/replace. I also think the course could be improved by cutting down the brush just off the cart paths so it's easier to find shots that are only mildly out of play. Despite that and the 95+ degree heat, my group had a fun round. The carts have GPS which was helpful for measuring targets to different portions of the greens and for layups. The amenities -- clubhouse, pro shop, bar, driving range, etc -- combined with the course conditions and layout will keep Rocky River in my Top 10 and possibly moving up this year. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I just played the front 9 as the back 9 was closed due to a wedding and I only had 2 hours of daylight. I wanted to post this review though to say that Emerald Lake's bent grass greens are just okay. The course gets so much play from folks who you don't fix pitch marks that the greens are extremely pock marked. Most of the time, you can fix the marks in the line of your putt and it's okay, but this is going to take its toll. It's only the first of June. Emerald Lake is one of the last public courses remaining with bent grass greens (along with nearby Olde Sycamore which tends to suffer similarly in the summer). I'm not sure how much longer they'll go before converting to Bermuda. The rest of the course was fine as far as conditions. I've played a lot of golf here (I was member for two seasons several years ago) and so I really know and love the layout (especially the back 9). If you play here this summer, post a review and let me know how it holds up. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Verdict Ridge lived up to my own hype (I ranked it #1 for Charlotte's public courses in a recent article for Charlotte Agenda). Course was in immaculate shape tee to green. The greens in particular were quick and true, just about perfect. While the heat took a nice break on Saturday, they had a well stocked beverage tent set up on the crossing between 6 & 14, which was perfectly situated in the middle of both 9's. The only notable negative was the ground under repair on #7 at the end of the fairway -- my playing partner's ball rolled under the black plastic fence and he got a free drop. Not sure what the plan is for that area right in front of the hazard. The staff was super friendly and I should also mention the practice area has free range balls before your round -- not many public courses offer that. Needless to say, I'll be back many more times this year. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
My first time back since they re-opened with new Bermuda greens. I liked them. Could not make a single mark all day on them, even with wedges, but they held shots just fine. They are not cut fast right now, but they rolled pretty true. There were a few that still had issues on the collar with bare dirt. I think once they grow in and can be cut faster, they'll be really nice. The rest of the course was not as good. Fairways were not cut, which was strange. They were lush but they would qualify as first cut rough at nicer courses. The tee boxes were also not cut and many were not in great shape. Rough was also thick and difficult. It's like they haven't mowed in a week. Assuming they cut the grass this week, the course is worth playing, especially at these prices. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Eagle Chase never disappoints me. While they did have some winterkill damage to repair over the past 2 months on a few greens, the problems are pretty much resolved. They resodded and mended a few (notably #9 and #17). Greens were a little slower than usual but still rolled true. Tees, fairways and bunkers were all fine. The rates and the views here are some of the best around. If the course were closer, I'd get a membership. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I came back again for the 3rd time in 2 months. The course is now in just about perfect shape. The greens were nearly immaculate and rolling very fast! Tees, fairways and bunkers were all in good shape. The bermuda rough was the only knock. Seemed like it had not been cut or they are keeping it high. The ball tends to sink down in it so you can't find it unless you walk right over the ball. This makes it very easy to lose a golf ball that's just a few yards off the fairway. So definitely keep a couple pairs of eyes on your ball if it is headed for the thick stuff. I played with a member so perhaps I got a guest rate. I paid $82 in July - so this was much better. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Been meaning to get back out here and finally made it late Sunday afternoon. I really enjoy this course because it's straightforward and a place where you can post a good score (like I did today!). It's a bit of a drive since it's situated in the middle of Union County halfway between Monroe, Indian Trail and Waxhaw. They've really picked up the construction on the neighborhood now. So the landscape has changed, especially behind the par 3 third and to the right of number 4. Right now, the trees have been cleared and so it's just dirt piles. Besides that, they are working on the tee boxes everywhere but especially the front 9. They've chopped down lots of trees on the front 9 too. Hole #5 needs some love. I think they intend to sod around the areas where they cleared trees but right now it's rocks and dirt all along the left side of the hole and up to the green. If you stay on the fairway around this layout, you'll love the conditions. If you get off the fairway though, you will have some difficult lies on dirt and rocks. The greens and bunkers seemed to be in good shape. The bent grass greens have held up well and they were not too many unrepaired ballmarks. I thought the speeds were average but putts were rolling true. All in all, very good conditions for late summer. I will complain a bit about the rate though. $54 for a Sunday 4:30 tee time? My partner said he asked for a twilight rate and got $29. Why was I charged $25 more?? I'll be sending the course a note. Assuming the price is right, I'll be back here again soon. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
The good - greens were in good shape and rolled pretty well, though they were not as fast and smooth as usual for Ballantyne. Plenty of beverage access before, during and at the turn. The starter and cart crew were courteous and helpful. The bad - the price (!) -- this round was a terrible value compared to other local courses given... the bunkers, plain terrible. The majority had standing water but even those that didn't played like dried up river beds. Every one my group landed in had to be played as ground under repair and it was difficult to find a playable spot. This really looked like negligent maintenance, like they hadn't been touched in weeks. I was also not happy that it was cart path only even though the fairways were fine (I noticed the next morning that the cart rule was 90*). The tee boxes were also very bad -- many were very thin and muddy. Overall, these were course conditions I'd expect to see at a $40 course at best, not one that charges $82 for an afternoon round. I will not be back to play at those rates. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 My first time at Crowders and I loved it. Great fun and great views and a great price. I had low expectations for course conditions because of the price and the lack of amenities, but the key was that the bent grass greens were in good shape. A few collars had issues but the greens themselves rolled well and didn't have any issues - save one. Apparently a vandal took a 3-wheeler to the 17th green creating some nasty tire track damage. However, the green was big enough to put the pin away from the damage. Fairways were cut high so they were slow -- which helped on a few holes with sidehill slopes. The tee boxes were not manicured at all either -- a few were even cut in random spots that didn't look like a tee box (#6 and #11). That was kinda what I expected for the price and the rural location. Those course condition gripes aside, this was a ton of fun to play. It plays much shorter than the yardage on the card and many of the greens are flat and easy to read. The elevation changes provide much of the challenge. Almost every hole offers views of the namesake mountain. It's a very picturesque layout. My first meeting with "Young's Revenge" - the fabled "hardest par 5 in the world" - resulted in a double bogey, even though I was only about 15 yards off the green in 3. It is predictably overhyped, but does require 3 really good shots to get to the green. I look forward to getting my revenge the next time I play it. Take note that there is no driving range and the clubhouse doesn't sell beer. So bring your own cooler. I will be back again soon. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The course was in very good shape, but the greens were still slow (as the last review noted). Once you adjust to the speed, it's fine because there are no problems with the greens. Very few ball marks -- which compared to other bent grass courses like Emerald Lake is an accomplishment worthy of note. They had us start on the back 9 - no reason given, but whatever. There were no marshals on the course -- it was the 4th of July afterall -- and so we ran into a roadblock with slow play on our 10th hole. There was also no cart girl on a 90+ degree day. Again, it's a holiday so I assumed they were just under staffed. The GPS touchscreen in our cart was non-functional so we couldn't really use it to check distances. I also noted that while the scorecard had up to date ratings for the tee boxes, they have not been updated on GHIN. So I couldn't post my score with the right tee ratings. Those are all little things, granted, but they added up. So this course has the potential to be a 5 star gem around Charlotte. For now, I gave it 4. Happy 4th y'all! Read The Review
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- "Average"
The course is more playable than it was on my last visit (Labor Day last year). Conditions are still hit and miss. Greens were very soft -- likely aerated recently. Several on the front 9 had major problems with little or no grass in spots. These were mostly the shady greens that get little sunlight -- #3, #4, #7. This made putting very bumpy and unpredictable on those greens. The back 9 greens were better but I doubt they'll get the few (#12 was another rough one) greens I mentioned back this season. There were a few other head-scratching maintenance issues -- a giant patch of resodded fairway on #9 that was overgrown like rough but covered the left half of the fairway, unmown grass right next to the 16th green, and grass in the greenside bunker at #17. They are also doing work on #18 which has the cart path to the second fairway blocked -- which requires a long detour by the 1st green to get around the lake. All in all, the course is playable now and you might have a good round if you avoid those issues. They are clearly putting some work into the course. However, right now it's still overpriced. $34 for that late on a weekend afternoon was about $10 too high for those conditions. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Greens were just punched 10 days prior to our round and were mostly fine, just a little on the slow side still. No major issues and they will probably be in good shape with another week where they can cut 'em faster. Most of the tee boxes were spotty, but fairways and bunkers were in good shape. We played on the last day of the $25 aeration deal and it was a great value. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
One of my top 5 favorite public courses in the area is in pretty good shape. They just have a handful of greens with areas they had to aerify recently due to lingering winterkill issues but the greens are large enough that they were able to put pins in spots where it did not affect play. They had a note posted on each cart listing the holes affected and asking you to play them as ground under repair. The only one I really noticed was #9 but the others (#1, #8, #17 and #18) were not that bad. All the other greens were immaculate and rolling well. This is a great course with beautiful views and it's very reasonably priced. I need to play it once a month at least. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Disclaimer: Charles T Myers is redoing their greens and closing in July/August. Today the course was in really good shape - except maybe for the tee boxes, but that did not affect play really. The greens in particular were very good. Play the bentgrass greens while you can since they're being replaced next month with bermuda. The course held up well today even with two ten minute downpours during our back nine. We did have to play through some puddles but many courses would have been unplayable after that much rain in such a short time. I did wish the carts had a pull down rain cover though! I may try to get back out here before it closes in July. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Conditions were fine - especially compared to other public courses in Charlotte right now. However... Charlotte National is replacing their 20 year old bent grass greens with Bermuda in July. So they will be killing off the bent grass in June and going to a reduced rate as they die off and are replaced with Bermuda. Then they will offer temporary greens in July while the new greens grow in. So you've probably got another 2-3 weeks to play the course as is. If I get out there to practice in the next month, I'll post another update. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
The layout is still a favorite of mine, pretty much a mountain course with elevation changes on almost every hole. The course conditions were okay and certainly playable. However, most of the fairways have serious issues that remind me of the winterkill that Rocky River suffered a couple of years ago. The impacted fairways (I lost track but it's easily half) are basically bare dirt with no grass. In some cases, we gave ourselves a better lie on the few blades of grass we could find near our ball but that was a challenge. I didn't get a chance to chat with the pro shop about what was going on. Greens were good. Speed was good even though they were just a bit bumpy. I didn't notice any major problems so I'd expect the greens will be in good seasonal form very soon. The bunker issues of the past 2 years seem to be resolved. I didn't have a problem with any of the ones I visited. Tee boxes were mixed but no issues affected play. It's just those fairways -- they are an eyesore and you're better off being just off in the rough. Also, if anyone ever figures out how best to play the tee shot on #10, I'm all ears. I despise that hole! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I have to caveat this review with the fact that I shot my career best tying round (76) - lol. I actually told my dad during the round that if I shot my best score, I would take on an extra half star to my review. The other caveat is that Red Bridge has literally been my favorite public course in the area for the last several years. So I have high expectations around here. I have to say though that it is not in the best shape right now. The bermuda greens are blotched with poa annua - really badly on the front 9, not so much on the back. It does affect putting on about 1/3 of the holes. Talking to the staff, they acknowledged it would be a few weeks before the poa annua dies off as the bermuda wakes up and starts growing again. In addition to the greens, the tee boxes were badly torn up and many were bare dirt. The fairways were very thin and at least one (#8) was littered with weeds. So the course is showing some neglect in addition to the poa annua. That was disappointing to see -- this course is usually in tremendous shape. I got a very good deal online ($26 for a 2pm Saturday tee time) so the value was certainly there. Pace of play was slow but we were warned that a large outing had teed off about 45 minutes before we did. The issues I listed didn't significantly affect play (though we allowed everyone to move their ball on the green if there was poa annua in the immediate direct line). I just expected better. With the score I shot, I'll be back of course :-P, but I'll probably wait at least a month before I consider it. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time back at Charles T in a long while. I have great memories of playing here a bunch over 15 years ago when I had an annual membership. The course still feels and plays the same. I only got to play the back 9 today as I came out after work. There was not another soul on the back 9 though so it was a leisurely round - big thanks to the pro shop for telling me to play the back. Course conditions were pretty good. 90% of the green surfaces were nearly perfect, but several had some bumpy bare spots - I noticed it on 10, 11 and 17 the most. Everything else was just fine. I'll be back out soon to play the entire 18! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 My first time back at RP in several years. I do enjoy the uniqueness of the layout, with lots of elevation changes and hilly terrain, a few blind shots. It was very familiar even having not played here in so long. That said, the course is quirky. Lies will be hit or miss everywhere. Since so many holes are sloped and hilly even fairway lies will be iffy. The fairways were in good shape for the most part. The rough on many holes had not been mowed recently, so we nearly lost a few balls in it. The greens on the front 9 were really good and quick. The back 9 was like a completely different course and very disappointing. Most of the greens were nearly unputtable due to sandy bare spots. Count two putts and pick up your ball. That bad. Not sure why the front 9 and back 9 were like night and day. I will say that the pro shop attendant mentioned that they had aerated 2 weeks ago and gave us a coupon for $20 off our next round if we come back in the next 2 weeks. I won't have a chance to use it and the expiration was kinda short, but it was a nice gesture. I do enjoy the challenge of this course so it was fun being back, but I'd like to see the back 9 greens in better shape when I play next. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
I wanted to get a late afternoon round in on Labor Day and most courses were packed. This course is 5 minutes from my house so I took a chance, knowing conditions have not been good. Well somehow The Divide managed to not meet even my low expectations. The greens were atrocious. They *averaged* a 3 out of 10 -- meaning several were virtually unplayable due to long grass, sand and rough spots. Several bunkers were unplayable due to mud and dried riverbed condition. Fairways and rough were thick and not recently mowed. Tee boxes had also not been cut recently. The course looked very neglected. I fear for the future of this course, to be honest. We've seen Regent Park close a neighborhood course and turn it over to developers. The same could happen here if they don't spend money to get it back to playable condition. The best thing I can say about my round is that Kent in the pro shop was very nice and told me I could start on the back 9 so my pace of play would be good. That was very much appreciated! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I've been playing the Sifford course just about every week on Tuesdays as part of a small work golf league. Looking at the last review from November, I decided I should post an update. I've gotten accustomed to the course now and really appreciate it for what it is -- a friendly, inexpensive, fun place to play. The course itself is kept in good shape. The bermuda greens are pretty consistent -- they've been kept at normal speeds, maybe even a little on the slow side, but they could easily cut them a little lower and make them lightning quick. So it's a good idea to stroke some putts on the practice green before playing. The course is only 9 holes but offers a good mix of challenges. It plays to beginners as well as seasoned golfers. It can play short, even from the back tees, but makes up for that with doglegs, elevation changes and a few undulating, sloped greens. I managed to shoot even par for 9 holes in my round today. So I definitely think your scores and appreciation for the course will improve as you play it more. The pro shop is very friendly and accommodating -- the beer selection and prices are the best around the local golf courses. And the practice area is extensive, one of the best public facilities for practice and learning in the area. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
This was a tale of two nines. The front nine caters to members, walkers and families. So even teeing off at 4:15, it was a very slow front 9. The front 9 is also the more difficult nine with small tricky greens and elevation changes that can make it difficult to get a good lie. I breezed through the back 9 in about 75 minutes with almost no one playing the full 18. I came within inches of an eagle on #12. All in all I had a fun round and the course was just how I remember it and expected it to be. The greens will not make a mark so they are all in good shape and rolling quick. And man was it cheap for a Sunday afternoon! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time getting out to Mooresville to see the renovated layout and new amenities. The clubhouse is complete and open, though the snack area and restaurant were not fully functional yet. The practice facility is as advertised and very extensive. I made a tee time the night before and got a decent weekend afternoon rate. I loved the course! It's in great shape. The bermuda greens are very challenging but very consistent. With 5 par-5's and par-3's and a couple of short par 4's, scoring opportunities abound. It definitely helps to have some local knowledge to pick good targets, especially on approaches into these young greens -- which don't hold approaches very well. There are some picturesque holes and quirky ones (be careful with your approach into #4!). Conditions were pretty immaculate tee-to-green, but don't venture off the first cut of rough. I lost two balls in thick pampass grass/weeds just off the cart paths on two holes, which was very frustrating. The beverage cart was out on the course and we saw it frequently - which seems to be a lost art these days with other courses. All in all this is course that's worth the long drive for me (50+ min) and I will make the trip again soon! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
As with other bent grass greens around town, Charlotte National's are having some issues. Several had bumps and bare spots, while almost all suffered from unrepaired ball mark scars. While green speeds were still good, well stroked putts could bump offline and that was occasionally frustrating. The rest of the course was in good shape. This course remains one of the best golfing values around town and the pro shop guys are the nicest around. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I enjoyed my visit back to a layout I enjoy and that lends to good scores for me. Course conditions outside the greens were pretty good. The bent grass greens are struggling as the summer winds down though. The pro shop gave me the heads up that 4 of the greens needed to be punched -- 3 on the front, 1 on the back. So those will need some time to come back. The others were fine, though the green speeds were fairly slow, as I think they are reluctant to cut them low due to the heat stress. I'll probably give the course a break until the fall, but I'll be back. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time back at Skybrook in over a year. I use to play here more often (5-10 years ago) when it was one of my favorites. I just really like the layout. Outside of Verdict Ridge, no course plays more like a mountain course than this one with its dramatic elevation changes and rolling hills. I had a nice chat with the superintendent, Dino Psaroudis, before the round. He's been at Skybrook since last Fall and has helped bring the course back from the brink. Conditions today were good with a few notable exceptions. The bent grass greens rolled really well and despite lots of ball marks from frequent play there were no other issues on the putting surfaces. Tees and fairways were in good shape too. The further you get off the fairway, the more weeds and brush take over. So rough lies can be dicey. The biggest issue right now is the bunkers and as my father has noted in his previous reviews (aimtobreak80), they are working on that. We basically played bunkers as a free drop outside the bunker. At a minimum, play them as rake and place. Most were overwhelmed with water or were dried up riverbed quality. Bunkers aside, the course is still a great layout and once again I enjoyed the closing 4-hole stretch that I think is among the best. I'll be back soon. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This remains one of my favorite courses, especially the back 9 -- on which I broke par for the first time in my life. :-P The greens were immaculate. They simply don't mark up and roll really well. Tees, fairways and bunkers were all in fine shape. I know folks complain about the cart paths, but they let you in the fairway pretty early. So it's easy to avoid them for the most part. Late afternoon is a perfect time to play here when it's not very crowded. And $29 is a great deal. Can't recommend this course enough for when you can make the drive out there. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
First full round here in a while, though I practice here frequently. The new clubhouse and grill are now open too, making the course feel normal again. I really like the placement of the grill and patio overlooking the 2nd green, 9th green, 10th tee, 14th tee and 18th green. Great view of several holes. The course itself was in good shape. The greens were cut and rolled true and fairly quick. Most had lots of ball marks, but not such a crazy amount that they affected putts. I tried to fix several that were fresh on each hole. The 10th green had an odd blemish near the collar where there looked to be about 6 old cup holes filled in with sand. There were a few muddy and GUR spots, but nothing significant affecting play. All in all, tee to green, it's in really good shape. They've added these red, white and blue posts to most greens. I couldn't quite figure out the purpose - my partners seem to think it was to rest your clubs on. A few times they got in the way and we had to temporarily displace them. I would have been more concerned if I had hit an approach shot that ricocheted badly off of one. So golfer beware. Contrary to my experience at Rocky River the day before, the cart girl was seen early and often throughout our round. Pace of play was good and we had a great holiday round. I've played Emerald Lake more than any other course over the years since I had a membership for 2 seasons. So it's like an old friend to me and I'll come back often. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Tee to green the course was in good shape. The bermuda greens were immaculate and rolling well but not super slick. The carts have pretty accurate GPS touchscreens and they were helpful. While I generally like the layout and enjoy the challenge of this course, the wooded areas that frame each hole have now overgrown to the point where they are virtually unplayable if hit an errant shot. While I realize that you're not supposed to hit it there, I'm just pointing out that the course is not as forgiving as it once was in that respect and it can make the round very frustrating if you hit some loose shots. Because of that, I'd characterize this course as target golf, with fairway accuracy a must to score at all. My other beef with the course on this 90 degree Sunday was that there was no cart girl at all. When my partner purchased 2 beers to start the round we were told that all the coolers were out on the course and were not given any ice - so we didn't have a cold drink after that first beer on the front nine. I struggled to make it to the 8th tee where they had a water bucket. Overall, the course is worth playing with those caveats. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I only played the front 9 today but I wanted to post a more accurate review than the 2 recently posted. The Divide is very close to my house and I had to all but abandon it years ago when things went bad for the Carolina Trail. While it has come back to be in decent shape, it is nowhere near "perfect" as the previous 2 reviews noted. I found the greens okay, but noted that several were bumpy and had bare spots. In fact, #4 appears to have been vandalized or been the victim of a groundskeeper mistake. It had some track marks in the middle of the green that had been sanded but still affected play. Fairways were good, tee boxes, just okay though. Several had sparse amounts of turf to tee on. And while the bunkers have lots of nice fluffy sand, they were mostly moguls, like a black diamond ski slope. The ones I were in had not been raked at all - I'm guessing in several days. And those were just my observations of playing 9 holes. I can only rate The Divide as an average course around Charlotte and I still rank it last of the 4 closest courses to me -- Olde Sycamore, Charlotte National and Emerald Lake being the other better 3. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 My first time back at the Lark since they put in the new(ish) greens. This is such a quirky course. The most unique starting hole in all of Charlotte - I hit 8 iron, 9 iron on the short, uphill par 4. The greens can be maddening now for two reasons - they don't hold approach shots at all and they are silly fast. I saw 3 putts from within 15 feet go right off the green. Bounces everywhere are random and often penalizing - fairway, rough, green, everywhere. Tee boxes were not in great shape either. And the course was packed and play was slow. So overall, I'm not a huge fan of this course. For a short notice round on a Saturday morning though, the $34 price was a good value. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Played a Memorial Day late morning round with my Dad (also his birthday) and got paired with another twosome. The ranger was managing groups well and we had no problem with pace of play. $39 for a holiday morning tee time was great value. The course is in very good shape. The greens in particular were excellent, rolling very quick. It took me a few holes to adjust to their speed -- I've never seen them quicker at Eagle Chase. I was happy to see the bunkers raked since I was in several. They're not perfect around the edges, but the playing areas in the bunkers were very good. By the back 9, the sun came out and the views were spectacular (see my @charlottegolfer instagram for a pic). Eagle Chase is a beautiful course, especially the 11-14 hole stretch. The pro shop team is very friendly and helpful. I really enjoy playing here and will come back often this summer. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Charlotte National is a great value and so I keep coming back, especially days like today where it was a last minute round since the rain stayed away. I got off for $25 after 4pm and the gentleman in the pro shop -- who's been there as long as I've been playing CN -- let me go off 10 as a single to get around quicker. The course was just what I've come to expect from Charlotte National -- fairways, tees and bunkers mostly good with a few issues here and there and really good greens. They do a great job keeping the greens in nice condition -- not super fast but smooth with no issues. I got a comment on my Instagram post saying the majority owner bought out the minority owner to consolidate things, but I'm not sure what effect that will have on the course. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I went out to Emerald Lake as a single around 1:30 Sunday when everyone was out playing in the nice weather. The starter got me out within 20 minutes when the first group with an open spot teed off. Pace of play was decent for a packed course. Conditions-wise, the course is in good shape. It's by no means perfect as the previous reviewer claimed. The course is in a bit of transition, with construction of the new clubhouse finally kicking off. The biggest impact is on hole #2 with a trench recently built for irrigation lines leaving a wide dirt path across the middle of the middle of the fairway about 150-175 yards out from the blue tees. I'm surprised they haven't sodded over it. Tees were in average shape, as were the bunkers. One I hit out of on #7 was hard pan. I noticed several others were in need of some maintenance. The good news was that fairways and greens were in really good shape. The greens were rolling pretty quick. I enjoyed my round and will be back, especially to see the progress on the new clubhouse. It's supposed to be done this fall. Justin Morin, the GM, has been posting updates on the construction. There are renderings of what it will look like posted in the pro shop. I'm really rooting for Emerald Lake because I love the layout -- and the proximity to my house! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Olde Syc is one of my favorite tracks and it is in really good shape right now. Greens were very good and rolled true. Tees, fairways and bunkers were all in really good shape. Got a nice $55 deal for Saturday morning. The ranger was out on the course and keeping the speed of play on track. My only complaint was that a few of the pins were tucked very close to the edges of greens, like only a flagstick length (#6 and #11) -- that was a bit tough for us amateurs. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
My first time back at Springfield in many years. Still a challenging track. The course was very green and in good shape. I felt the greens were just okay. No major issues, but it seemed they were protecting the greens by not cutting them very low. So the speeds were average and uneven throughout the 18 holes. The slowness exaggerated the breaks and made putts from outside 5 feet difficult to hole. The other difficulty I had was not remembering the holes and getting surprised by hazards and fairways abruptly ending (#5 and #12). I hit a couple of really good shots only to lose my ball, which was very frustrating. You really have to know the course or play with someone who knows it to navigate the blind shots successfully. All in all, this is still a good course that I will come back to play again. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The front 9 was closed for greens aerification today and the back 9 will be tomorrow. So I played the back 9 twice, which made for a unique round. With aerification tomorrow as well as recent rains, the tees and fairways had not been mowed so they were little fluffier than normal. A few bunkers were also still in rough shape (especially the greenside bunker on 17), but should get fixed up tomorrow. The only other issue to note was that last week's flooding rains took out the bridge from the 18th tee to the fairway. So the detour from your tee shot to your second shot required a long ride alongside the 16th hole, down one street of the neighborhood and around the green at 18 back to the fairway. I told you it was a unique round of golf. GM Justin Morin says the bridge should be fixed this week and the greens will heal in about 2 weeks. He also said the course is set up nicely for the cooler Fall weather. I tend to agree. Despite the mostly hot, dry summer, the greens were still running well and there were no issues on the fairways or rough. Give Emerald Lake a couple of weeks and it should be in fine shape. Thanks to Tony and Shannon for letting me join them for these fun 18 holes today. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Finally got back to Highland Creek after many years. I had let it fall off my play list when the Carolina Trail went downhill and then came under new management. It definitely has come back and is in good playable shape. Still one of the toughest and well designed tracks around town. Tees, fairways and bunkers in fine shape. The rough is not only thick and tough on most holes, but a bit weedy and overgrown on some holes. There were maybe a handful of holes where even the fairways had some trouble and there were spots marked as ground under repair. The greens were pretty good. Similar to Emerald Lake, a few had some weed sprigs and bare spots, but they rolled just fine. So, overall, the course doesn't have any major issues and is very playable. I used to enjoy the challenge of this course and will play it again soon. A few things I wasn't as happy with. We had a 1:30 tee time as a twosome that was only a few holes behind several groups playing in an Inter Club championship. So once we caught them on about the 6th tee, we were stuck behind them for the next 3.5 hours - just brutally slow, waiting on them on every hole. We actually had chipping and putting contests on the greens to pass the time. Might have been better if the staff had spaced it out a little further or at least given us a heads up when we made the tee time. Also, there were no Gold tee boxes. We were playing the Blues, which were supposed to be the next one inside the tips. Since there were no Golds, the Blues were on the Gold box most holes (perhaps because of the Inter Club). At any rate, that made an already difficult course that much harder. One of the par 4's on the back played 430+. Anyway, still a great track and I'm glad it's playable once again. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I ventured out to Eagle Chase on a mid-Sunday afternoon for my first round here since last season. I really enjoy the layout and it's very reasonably priced ($24 this afternoon). I was surprised to see recent reviews complain about the greens. I literally could not find a bad spot on any of them. They are immaculate. They were very consistent and rolled true. Speed seemed fine to me. There are many sloped greens so the uphill putts are certainly slow, but those downhillers are quick. So it seemed about right to me. The bunkers I was in were in fine shape, though some players had not raked after playing them. The rough is definitely hazardously thick, but I didn't think it was unfair. My only frustration today was with pace of play. Even though my round was relatively fast overall and several groups let me play through, there was no marshal and really no guidance from the pro shop about who would tee off when. So the first 7 holes were very slow as we had to sort it out ourselves. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time back at Edgewater in a couple of years. It is quite a haul from my neck of the woods, tucked away about an hour's drive down in Lancaster, SC. We got a $30 twilight rate (starts everyday after 2pm) and played in a crisp 3.5 hours as a twosome. Overall great conditions. Tee boxes, fairways and greens all in good shape. The bentgrass greens are doing very well in the summer heat. They rolled really true with good speed. No issues at all. The layout is still a great mix of holes - doglegs right and left, downhill and uphill holes, nearly driveable par 4's and a couple of reachable par 5's. This continues to be a favorite of mine (only a little bias since I shot my career best score there a few years ago). The only thing I could nitpick is the bunkers. The sand in most of them is very thick and there seems to be no bottom - I could almost dig my heels in a foot deep. So they were tough to get used to. Still, with the cheap rate, the sparse play, the nice staff and -- big kudos here -- ice coolers full of complimentary water bottles about every 4 holes, this course is worth the drive. I've got to make more trips to play here. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I used my free Sunday afternoon to make the hour's drive out to Tillery Tradition and play it for the first time. I got there early and enjoyed a nice $15 Sunday brunch at Eagle's Nest. The driving range had multiple tiers and even tees off to the left side where you could practice shorter distances to the short target pins for wedge practice. The staff in the pro shop was friendly and helpful. There are plenty of water stations and restrooms conveniently located around the course, but I was disappointed there was no beverage cart on a brutal 95 degree Sunday afternoon. So how about the course. Well... it's a challenging layout with most holes including some kind of dogleg (unfortunately for my game most of them were dogleg rights) and significant slopes and hills to navigate. You will get many sidehill, downhill and uphill lies, even in the fairway. Tees were fine. Bunkers seemed fine. Alas, the greens. They are bentgrass and I'm sure they keep them a bit longer and slower during the summer to save them. So slow speeds were one issue. The bigger issue was that most greens (almost every one on the back side) had many bare spots with no grass at all. A handful of holes had several areas on the green where they would not be able to put a pin because of the damage. At least one of the pins today was near the problem area, but in most cases the staff did a good job of keeping the bad spots out of play. One green (#3) had significant weeds growing on it, which you had to putt through. Given the sporadic nature of the green issues, I wouldn't call it a huge problem, but I was disappointed to be sure. It was a long drive to get there, I paid $40 and was excited to finally play the course. I won't go back until I hear that the greens are in better shape. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time at Ballantyne this year. The course was in near perfect shape, as usual. This is a pricey round of golf, but you get private course conditions. The greens are among the fastest in the area -- definitely tops for any public course -- and they can be maddening. My partner and I just had to laugh at a few putts that took a break and rolled well past the hole more than a few times. If your chipping and putting is not on here, you will have a frustrating round. The greens are pretty much immaculate though -- it's just the crazy quickness, slopes and undulations. Tee to green, the course has no peer right now from a public play perspective. The rough is lush and thick -- be sure to watch your shots til they finish. You may way to walk right over your ball to find it in the rough. The only hole with some issues is #8. Always cart-path only, they are still having difficulty sodding the fairway near the green. I found myself in this area and while it was supposed to be fairway, it was thick like rough since it had not been mowed. They need to mark it as Ground Under Repair in my opinion. That was my only complaint (outside of my struggles on the greens). This course is a treat to play every once in a while. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Stonebridge is in really good shape, tee to green. The greens are just a little on the slow side as they protect them from the summer heat by keeping them a little longer. No issues to report, though. The water level is very low in the lakes and ponds -- we saw a hundred golf balls in the mud short of the par 3 17th. Couldn't believe no one had retrieved them yet. The staff was friendly and helpful -- my clubs were picked up at my car immediately. This course can be pricey even with a Clickit deal but it's being managed well. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I emailed the day before to get the okay to be first out as a single Thursday morning. That was no problem. There ending up being one twosome that got out ahead of me by a few minutes but I played thru them on the 4th hole. So smooth sailing. The staff has done a lot of tree and brush clearing between the driving range and #2 hole -- which I think will be good and bad. Good in the sense that it's more open and you'll have a better chance to escape if you are in the trees on the left. On the other hand, it will bring the driving range into play if you go left at all, along with all the practice balls. There weren't any other course changes that I noticed. I played really well so I didn't get to see much of the course off the fairway. I did play from a few fairway bunkers though and they were just okay -- hadn't been manicured by the staff like the greenside bunkers -- which were really good. Speaking of the staff, they were helpful and friendly, including the mowers and rakers I played through. The tees were in good shape as were the fairways. I would give the greens a B+/A-. A few did have some sand leftover from the small spikes they used a week or two ago -- I only noticed the spike holes on one hole (#14). Overall, the greens rolled true and had good speed. I made several putts and had no complaints, even with a few stray ballmarks I had to fix. Emerald Lake's in good shape right now so I'll be back soon. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Back at my favorite course for the first time in a while. This is the best conditioned public course I've played around town this year. The greens were immaculate, all of them rolling true and quick. The bermuda greens don't show too many marks but there were a few that needed to be tamped down as lazy golfers weren't fixing them. Tees were very good. Fairways were also very good, but there may have been one or two (#15 comes to mind) that still had some thinness or dead areas. Bunkers were raked and dry. I got out for a Clickit deal at $27 and the course was pretty empty at 5:30. I got around in under 3 hrs. I can always count on Red Bridge for a great round at a great price and this was no exception. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Played Tradition with some old friends on Saturday morning. We had two groups and played best ball in our groups. So I'll couch this review with the caveat that I probably did not get to sample conditions outside of the tees, fairways and greens. It seems like many of the reviews I've read on the site recently have remarked that tee boxes are torn up. I can't remember the last review or even the last round I've played where the tee boxes were any better than average with many in bad shape. Why is it so difficult to maintain grass tee boxes? The ones at Tradition were hit and miss but the majority were spotty, making it difficult to find a good tee spot. The fairways were the big problem, though. Many of them, I'd say more than half, were 50% dead grass -- like the course had "lost" them. So the lies were bare, like hitting off of dirt in many cases. It struck me as very odd. Weather has been pretty favorable recently, but it doesn't look like the fairways are coming back anytime soon. The greens, in contrast, were quite good. I didn't notice any significant issues and my team was able to make putts on just about every green (we birdied 14 of 18 holes!). Putts rolled true with good speed. Overall, I had a good time. The beverage cart made the rounds several times during our play. The pro shop, snack bar and rangers were all nice and helpful. I also like the layout here. The strange poor condition of the fairways and tees just puzzled me. Last comment -- I bought the Queen City Pass for $50 since the first round was free -- this was actually $5 cheaper than paying the $55 fee for a Saturday morning round! You get $10 rack rate and other discounts. So it's a good deal for the former Carolina Trail courses. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Stopped by Charlotte National late Tuesday (5pm) to get in a practice session but figured it would be empty enough to play 18. The pro shop guy only charged me the 9 hole rate thinking I might not be able to get 18 in. I breezed thru 18 in 2.5 hours. At Charlotte National, you get more than you pay for so it's good deal -- especially when you get this kind of super twilight rate. The greens are typically maintained fairly well so they will have good speed and generally roll true. That's still the case. No issues on the greens at all. The aesthetics of the course, however, are where this course is usually lacking and sometimes that spills into the category of poor maintenance. Perhaps the money spent on the new clubhouse (the old trailer clubhouse is gone now btw) took some funds away from keeping the fairways and green fringes weed-free and lush -- the fairway on #4 was pretty bare and splotchy, very little grass -- or keeping the bunkers clear of standing water -- the bunker on #12 had several inches of standing water, yet we've had at least 2 completely dry days recently. The issues affecting play are sparse but the overall feel of the course (pasture-like comes to mind) takes away from its appeal for me. As a comparison, Eagle Chase sometimes gives me this same vibe, but generally is kept in better overall shape. Still, I like the layout at Charlotte National, the course is 5 minutes from my house, it's inexpensive and the staff is friendly. So when I'm in more of a laid-back or practice round type of mood, I will play here. If I want a more refined experience or competitive round, I'd probably play Olde Sycamore or Red Bridge. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
For my first round of the new year, I went back to one of my top 5 courses in the area. Got a great price for a morning round on a holiday for some people, though I don't think it was holiday rates. Despite the nice weather, there was apparently still a 40 minute frost delay (9-9:40) and so our tee time was pushed back about 30-40 minutes - however, the pro shop was no help with that. And there was no starter. I mighta thought they would shotgun the start or at least double tee off the back to catch. Nope... Pace of play was brutally slow for 3/4 of the round and no rangers in sight. That's all the bad news. The good news is that the course is just as nice as I remember. Greens in fine shape and very fast (downhill). Tees and fairways were dormant of course and many of the tees were bare dirt in spots, but overall I felt the conditions were good. I just wish they had managed the pace of play better. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I had not been back to Stonebridge yet this year. So I was overdue. I enjoy this course -- it's kept in good shape from tee to green and is a relatively easy layout with plenty of scoring chances. It didn't disappoint today. The $28 after 3pm rate was nice too. One of the reasons I don't get here very often is the high fees on the weekends. Tees, fairways, rough and bunkers were all in great shape with no issues or complaints anywhere. The greens were in decent shape, really just ball marks to complain about on the bent grass surfaces. The pro shop and starter were both nice and helpful. The course is being aerated this week so you'll want to give it a few weeks to come back. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Finally got to play a round here after 2 rainouts in the last month or so. Tough course. Lots of difficult, blind landing area tee shots and many sidehill lies. The hilly terrain and elevation changes tee to green may give you fits. The course is in good shape right now. The fairways were excellent. The greens didn't all look pristine to the eye (some had brown strips here and there), but they all rolled well. No real complaints about conditions. On the 7th green, the ranger asked our group (which was slow) to take extra time at the turn to allow 2 faster groups to overtake us -- which was fine and handled well. I would play here more often if not for the long haul from my end of town. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 First time back in awhile. Great old school layout. Friendly staff with a starter and ranger late on a Sunday afternoon. Lots of juniors on and around the course, good to see. Course was in great shape overall. I do like the "new" greens (been a couple of years but hadn't played since they redid 'em). The ball rolled true and quick but alot of the diabolic slopes are gone, which is a good thing. The course still plays very challenging (the par 3's are all very healthy, 155-185 yds) but pretty fair. I will say that some of the bunkers had such fine-grained sand that I got about the worst buried lie in the face of a green-side bunker as I've ever had. I flew around the course as a single. About my only complaint would be on the price - $45 for a weekend twilight rate is a little on the steep side for Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Played in a FindaGolfer event with about 3 groups. It was a fun round, just a little frustrating for me on the greens. They had been punched about 3 weeks and you could hardly tell, yet they were bumpy. I burned and lipped about 6 or 7 edges of the cup all day. It was difficult for me to make a putt, but it was more me than the course I think. I still need to get used to the bermuda greens around town since so many courses have them now. I had the same trouble at Red Bridge for awhile. Outside of that, the course was in fine shape -- no issues with tees, fairways or bunkers that I noticed. The course did a great job of hosting us and I had a chance to meet Ryan Brickley, the PGA Director of Golf here. I nearly aced the 10th hole (see Instagram or Twitter for the pic) and our whole group had a good time. Be sure to check out their website which has a lot of great information about the course and amenities along with photos and a hole-by-hole tour. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time back at Skybrook in probably 5 years or more. Man, it was nice to be back. I used to love this course and it's great to see it come back into its glory. I was very happily surprised to see the greens in great shape. There were a few with a couple of bad spots, almost like washed out mud holes, but they were sparse enough and the greens big enough where it didn't come into play. A few bunkers could use some more sand (I saw fringes of the plastic lining showing through on some edges), but overall tees, fairways and bunkers were in good shape. We got a $35 twilight rate so that wasn't bad. I did look ahead and see weekend morning tee times in the $60+ range. It's not quite in that price territory yet, condition-wise (very few local courses are). So make sure you get a deal (Clickit gives you a $49 weekend rate). This is a great layout with lots of challenges. I still love the closing stretch of holes. I still despise the 9th and 10th holes (mostly because of my performance on them). This course is now back in my rotation. Go check it out. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
My first time back at Charles T in several years was like visiting an old friend. I practically learned to play golf here about 12 years ago. I was happily surprised to find it in very good shape. The greens were very good. Very few issues and no problems with ball marks really. It was a late afternoon / early evening round so the greens had gotten a little bumpy, but I wouldn't complain. They are likely faster and smoother for morning rounds. Fairways were lush and nice to play from. I had no problems with tees or bunkers. This course is a high value one - $20 weekday twilight with the Perks card - and it has its quirks. Uneven lies, a few rough tees (#17 has always been that way), and random bounces with weeds/rocks/ditches just off the fairway. The layout is a good mix of easy and tough holes and I've always enjoyed the challenges here. This remains a great, inexpensive place to learn the game, too. There's a 3-hole pitch and putt course here, just like at Renaissance Park. You can play the loop 3 times for about $5 or if you are the only one out there, do what you like. There's also the Impact Performance Golf Learning Center and the $99 Get Golf Ready deal. All in all, a complete golf facility that is helping grow the game of golf in Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Used one of my LivingSocial deal rounds - was $180 for 10 rounds where you only pay $20 cart fee. Great deal for this course. The conditions were very good. The greens are in fine shape, only a few ballmarks here and there. Tees, fairways and bunkers were all good and the course was near empty late in the day. Only one issue I noticed -- #12 green is damaged. Almost as if a runaway grass-killer spray cart got loose. There's a long winding random trail on the green that left bare tracks in its wake. They put the pin away from most of it, but my putt had to cross it and bumped off line. Other than that, just great conditions. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
The greens are just so-so now. So many ballmarks and bumpy spots. A little worried that summer heat may take its toll. The front bunker on #10 was filled with water and had not been touched by the maintenance staff. Everything else seemed fine. For now, though, I'd prefer this course's closest neighbors, Olde Sycamore or Charlotte National. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course was in good shape. Greens are still fine, though signs of ball marks and summer heat are starting to show -- esp. on green #1. Fairways were very good and freshly mown. Tees and bunkers good. For $25 mid-day when other courses were packed and charging holiday rates, this was a steal. The new clubhouse is nice too. Hot dog, chips and a drink still just $5. Also note the course finally has its own official website. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Today wasn't the best time to hit Carolina Lakes, but I hadn't been back in about 2 seasons. The course was still a little wet from yesterday's storms and so it was cart path only. The bunkers were a bit wet and there were a few puddles. The course was just in good not great shape. They aerated the bent grass greens about a month back and they are still rather slow, even though the punch marks have mostly faded. More recently, however, they had punched the fringe around the greens. So those areas were a little dicey in spots. I can't complain about the layout though -- it's still one I really like. The first several holes offer a pretty stern test right off the back, but then it evens out with some memorable holes on the back. The greens are all rather larger, which means hitting to the right spot is key. I like the challenge. The fairways are well marked with yardages, too. I'll be back, but I'd love to see the greens quicker. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Playing conditions were very good. I jumped on for a late Sunday afternoon tee time at $38. Not as much of a deal as it used to be, though I could have gotten $5 if I had bought a Clickit coupon ahead of my round. There were 3 groups stacked ahead of me on the tee box, but once I got through the initial foursome on the 3rd hole, I was clear til about the 6th green. Then it was slow going for the final 12 holes. Still only a 4 hour round, but a little frustrating. The greens are in good shape and nary a blemish, yet they are vexing to me -- difficult to read and so fast downhill that there are some impossible greenside shots and pin locations (ex. left of #2 green). Also, yardages are tough to come by on this course other than the 200/150/100 plates in the fairway and on the cart paths. With elevation changes on many holes, it can be tough to get a good number. Not helping me today was the greenskeeper who randomly colored the flags -- they are supposed to indicate front/middle/back, but at least 1/3 of the flags were colored wrong for today's pin location. Sloppy. Overall, this is a good value course but not one of my favorites. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My round started very strangely. Actually before it even started. I drove up about 2 minutes after a small plane crashed near hole #8 (see my pic on Twitter). A dozen or so emergency vehicles arrived within minutes. Apparently all 4 people in the plane made it okay (here's the article). The course asked us to skip #8 and play another hole twice since they had the area taped off and several police cars just off the fairway. I played 2 balls on #9 to cover it. Course conditions for Charlotte National were excellent. The greens were about as good as I've ever played here -- and they compare to the best around town. The fairways were just okay (several had brown patches, #2 and #4 in particular) and there were plenty of dandelions and weeds in the rough, but that's sorta what you get at Charlotte National. And I'm fine with that, especially paying $29 on a Sunday afternoon. Also, their new clubhouse opens on May 19th. I took a peek thru the windows -- going to be nice. Hardwood floors and lots of room for eating/drinking after your round. I will be back very soon to check it out. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first time back since they redid the greens in Diamond Zoysia last year. I like them. They seem to roll well, maybe just a tad bumpy, but pretty solid. A few of them have some thin spots, though. Hopefully that's not a sign of trouble. The course was in good shape and the $26 deal off their tee time web site (which I grabbed 2 hours before playing) was great for a Saturday afternoon -- can't beat that for a course like this. I do love the layout here and that hasn't changed. Neither have the rough cart paths near some greens. Ha. We ran into a bit of thunderstorm halfway thru (see my pic on Twitter), but it went thru and we went right back it after maybe 20 minutes. The course soaked it up like it hadn't rained in weeks. This course is worth the ride out to Marshville. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Beautiful day for golf, but just so-so conditions to speak of at Emerald Lake. The day started at the driving range where there is no grass to speak of, pretty much bare so you are hitting off dirt. On the course, the tee boxes were similar - bare and had recently been punched. Fairways are still mostly brown and also bare in many spots. The greens are a few weeks out from aeration and they had all been top-dressed with sand. They rolled mostly fine, but the sand slowed things down. On the bright side, they have done some work on a few holes, notably clearing out the brush between what are now holes 7 and 8 (used to be 16 and 17). This will take some of the danger out of the 8th tee shot as it was easy to lose your drive in the thick bushes amongst the trees. Also, they cut back the trees to the front right of the men's tee box on 12 -- which was a good idea. They would almost block the right side of the hole from the tee. All in all the course is just in average shape right now and needs a few more weeks to get in season shape. I was disappointed in the price. $59 rack rate. I had to use a Clickit coupon to get it down to $51 -- which was too much given the winter-like course conditions. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
My first round of the new year. Unfortunately conditions were very wet with the heavy rains Thursday and Friday last week. Cart path only and lots of mud puddles in the fairways. I had to take relief in several of the fairways (esp. #11) and in many of them it was difficult to find relief within 25 yards of your ball. None of that is really the course's fault, though it means I wouldn't necessarily choose this course next time after a big storm. The bunkers were also very wet, not necessarily with standing water, but enough where it was difficult to play from them. They had not been raked. One other spot that really bothered me was the tee box on 17 -- mostly mud, little grass. So the best part about the course during my round was the greens. They were in good shape for the season and the wet conditions. They were cut low and rolled pretty consistently throughout. I really like this course and the shape it's kept in. I just happened to hit after a very big rainstorm. The Clickit rate was $46 compared to a rack rate of $52 on the weekends right now. Read The Review
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- "Average"
I played in a scramble here on a Saturday morning. Despite this course being 2 minutes from my house, I rarely play here anymore due mostly to the typical Carolina Trail issues of poor maintenance, green conditions and price. So I went in with low expectations. About all I can say is that it met my expectations. The greens, while some had weeds or bare spots, were cut low and actually rolled fairly well. We only had a few putts disrupted by bad spots. Tees and fairways were okay, nothing terribly bad and nothing spectacular either. The worst part was the bunkers. Now, being in a scramble, we never actually played from a bunker, but the poor conditions were noticeable on every hole. None appeared to have been raked, which meant that many had that dried-up river bed look or actual standing water. On one hole, as we looked from the tee, we could see three different shades/varieties of sand in the fairway and greenside bunkers on the same hole. Needless to say, had I been playing my own ball and had to play from those bunkers, I would not have been happy. I've never particularly enjoyed the layout or aesthetics of this course and with Emerald Lake, Olde Sycamore and Charlotte National within 10 minutes of The Divide, I never have to settle for it. I can't recommend the Divide and would not pay more than $25 to play here. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I took a short game clinic with Fred Bond in the morning and then went out to play a round in the afternoon. Big thumbs up for both. Fred is a great teacher and I was able to put some of his teachings into practice right away with good results. The short game practice area at Stonebridge is great -- big green for putting/chipping practice and several smaller target greens for pitching. They also have a nice big sand bunker.
As for the course, it was in fabulous shape. Greens were just perfect. The whole experience was great -- pro shop is well stocked and the staff seemed genuinely interested in making sure everyone was having a good experience. The beverage cart made it around to us several times during the round. They also have a hole-in-one deal on #3 - $3 to have a shot at $10,000 for a hole-in-one, $20 if you get it within the flagstick and the consolation prize is that regardless of your shot, your ticket is good for a draft beer after the round. You can't lose on that deal. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This is the best round I've enjoyed here, not just from a score perspective but conditions and experience as well. I think the course has finally grown in -- the greens are more receptive, the tee and pin placements seem fairer, and the yardages are marked! All of those are previous complaints of mine. Today conditions were great. A few tee boxes were thin. The sand traps were just okay. Fairways and greens were great and that's what really counts in my eyes. All of the greens were consistently good, not running too slick. And as I said, the course now has yardage plates in the fairways and distances to hazards on the tee boxes. Pace of play was normal and the $39 Clickit coupon was a steal for a Saturday morning round at this course. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Got back to Ballantyne yesterday thanks to a vendor outing. Conditions were perfect. Best shape of any course I've played since last season. Greens were immaculate, rolling well but not ridiculously slick (like they sometimes can be here). The bunkers are some of the nicest in town, with fine, white sand. Tee boxes were about the only thing not perfect with some thin spots, but that's a nit-pick. Fairways were very good. The biggest difference now is that most of the construction around the course is complete. So there are no distractions, no hole re-routing and no ugly mounds of dirt affecting play anymore. Pace of play was great and the halfway house at #10 was well-stocked. Great to see the course whole again. It's pricey but at least back to feeling like a treat when you splurge. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Stonebridge was a busy place on Saturday morning, but pace of play was normal. And the course was in great shape. Everything was lush and well-manicured. While the greens were a bit thin in spots, the speed was very good (read: fast) and consistent. I was happy with the experience and it feels like a treat to play here -- nice clubhouse, good staff, beverage cart service, expansive practice area. With their frequent player's card, you'll always get a better deal than Clickit and never pay more than $47. The B-Woman bought me a voucher at $55 so I had to use or lose it. Otherwise, I woulda used my card. The course also does a deal where you pay $3 for a hole-in-one ticket and get your chance at $1000+ on one of the par 3's. If you get within the flagstick (about 8 feet), you get $20 and even if you don't get close or on the green, your ticket is worth a free drink at the end of the round. Nice deal. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Thought I would take a chance on Larkhaven since a recent review was kind. Bad choice. I was not impressed. There are some good holes here from a challenge and risk/reward perspective but the course conditions give you all sorts of bad lies, bad bounces and difficult putts. So you might shoot 80 and you might shoot 95, depending on your luck. The first hole is the quirkiest one in all of Charlotte -- you can either try your shot at driving the green (it's about 250) or you can hit wedge-wedge. As for conditions, most of the tee boxes were terrible. Fairways were fifty-fifty at best, some okay, some no different from the rough. I do like the bunkers -- nice fluffy sand. Most of the greens were fine -- though the speed is tough to get used to (super slow on anything uphill and average speed downhill). Some had several bare spots. In particular, I was most disappointed with #9. It's supposed to be this picturesque downhill, over water, long par 3, but the tee had no grass at all, just bare dirt. And the green was one of those with bare spots. There are so many quirky holes here -- like #4 with a severely sloped fairway and a perched green. Overall, I was not impressed and won't be back anytime soon. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I finally got back to Red Bridge after almost 2 years. Other than the routing changes on the front 9, not much has changed -- and that is good and bad. The good is that the course is still very well maintained. The mini-verde greens are in fine shape, as well as the fairways and most tee boxes. There were a few holes where the white tees were up or back (mostly up). I missed all the bunkers so I didn't notice any issues there. Also good was the new routing -- the 412 yard par 4 is a much more logical starting hole than the old one, the 129 yard par 3.
On the flip side, however... I was disappointed to see the course is still not well marked. All you get on most holes is the 50 yard markers. There are plenty of sprinklers but 90% of them don't have a yardage. There's also little information on the tees about carry and hazard distances. So if you don't play here often, you can get into trouble with what you think is a good shot (happened to me on #8). I would think by now they would have yardage markers, pictures of the hole on the cart or the tee boxes, some kind of help.
While the greens were immaculate in condition, I am not a big fan of the mini-verde grass. There is such a dramatic difference in speed and break on any kind of slope -- very slow uphill and almost unstoppable downhill. With several of the greens severely sloped, there are many unfair places to put the pins and I ran into a few today (front on #5, front on #10, and front on #16).
I was also not pleased with the pace of play. I was a single and took 3.5 hours (most places I get around in 2.5 to 3). When I called to check before coming (~3:00), the guy had me make a tee time (for 3:44), took my name and phone number (?), and told me they were clear for 30 minutes around my tee time. Shortly after I got there (3:30), though, not one, but two twosomes somehow get in front of me (never saw them check in). The first was gracious to let me tee off #1 ahead of them, no problem. I caught up to the second group on #3, said hello, but received no offer to play through. I was not in a big hurry so I took my time and played behind them the rest of the front 9. At #9, I hit the clubhouse for some water and when I get to #10 tee, another (!) twosome has jumped in front of me. Why would the clubhouse let them start on #10, with a single on #9? So I played the whole back 9 trailing these 2 twosomes in 95+ temps. Not fun.
Overall, I still enjoy the uniqueness of the layout and find it challenging yet rewarding. I just think it is still a little rough around the edges. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course is in great shape tee to green. I took off half a star for the bunkers -- they had some gray sand and were difficult to play from. They no longer have the nice fluffy white sand from years past. From one of my old reviews, I use to think they had the best bunkers in town. No longer. Also, I had a similar experience to what one of the previous reviewers mentioned -- no using stray range balls. We were warming up (this is at 7:00am) and a buddy was finishing his bucket. I noticed a few extra balls from a leftover bucket next to him and so I grabbed a club to hit a few. As I'm walking up, one of the rangers walks past me and scooped up the extra range balls before I got there (didn't say a single word to us). Crazy. Never seen that before at any other course I've ever played. Say what you will about no freebies, but we were talking about 6 or 8 range balls -- what is that about $1.50? It's not like I was up there to practice and sniping all the balls I could to avoid buying a token. I think it's safe to say that's no way to encourage return visits. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This is one of my favorites in the area. Unfortunately, it's quite a haul from my part of town (1 hour 15 min) so I don't get to play here much. The greens are in perfect shape and roll true. The amenities and staff are top-notch -- reasonable prices with water bottles and range balls *included* in your fee. The layout is a fun mix of reachable par 5's (even a reachable par 4 1st hole) and challenging par 4's and 3's. My only critiques are the thin fairways and few holes where good shots may not be rewarded. The course is now 3 years old, but the fairways -- esp. on the front 9 -- still have bare, hardpan lies in lots of places. The short par 4 #12 allows good tee shots in the fairway to roll into the woods out of play. Overall, though, I always enjoy playing here and will be back. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Finally, finally, finally made the trip to play Verdict Ridge. Glad I did. The course is a beaut with a couple of the prettiest and most unique holes in Charlotte. It plays like a mountain course with hills, valleys and side hill lies aplenty throughout the 18. The first handful of holes were okay but then things picked up. By the time we reached the scenic #9 (see my photo of it on Twitter @charlottegolfer), I was really digging the layout. 16 is another cool one with giant boulders near the green on the uphill par 5. So layout-wise I was impressed. Conditions-wise, I got the sense it was not as lush or perfect as it usually sounds in the reviews. The front 1/3 of the layout was less than lush, with some bare fairway and tee spots - not bad, just not pristine like I expected. The second 2/3 were better. The greens, while there was nothing wrong with them, seemed slower than I expected, probably about average for most courses. I consistently came up short on the course because the putting green was fast and I'd heard the greens were challenging. I imagine they are when they are running quicker. The staff was friendly and the clubhouse/grill is top notch. The round was pricey (rate is $59 on a Friday afternoon?). The guy gave us the discount card for $10 off when I asked about the rate. That's cool but for the long haul to get there (round trip gas for me was probably $20) and the time of day / conditions, not sure the value is there. I'll be back because I liked the layout and found it very unique to Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 My first time back at CGL in a while since my experiences and your reviews have varied widely over the last few years. Overall, the course is in good shape. The greens, especially, were solid and cut low and fast with no major issues on any holes. The changes they've made -- I assume to cut down on delays during play -- are not that aesthetically pleasing, since they removed trees and bushes and changed the views, and they've made the course easier. The effect is that about 1/2 of the holes are forgettable and not very challenging (#1, #10, #11, #13, #14, #15 especially). I was surprised the course was not very crowded after 3pm on a Friday and we were able to finish while taking our time. Another thumbs up for the beverage cart which made the rounds several times up til about 6:30pm. All in all, I had low expectations going in and they were exceeded. I won't go out of my way to play here, but it's just so darn convenient and at least now I know the conditions are decent. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I was invited to play here on media day and see the improvements they have made and the shape the new greens are in now. I must say I was impressed. My last experience here back in May was not great because they had just started the construction behind #2 tee and the renovation of #8. While the building construction is still in progress, the #2 tee has been moved closer to the 8th green and now makes the hole play as a more difficult dogleg right. For #8, they have built a new green in front of the creek, shortening the hole and softening the slope of the green. They are still filling in the old temporary green with sod in the middle of the new fairway. So that played as ground under repair. They said the sod should be finished within the week. Everywhere else the conditions were impeccable, especially the new Champion Ultra Dwarf greens. The course recently hosted an LPGA championship and the greens were cut extremely fast -- as fast as any I've ever played. That made the course play more difficult than usual. I realize it was media day and all, but I was treated extremely well by the entire staff and had a great experience. I look forward to going back soon. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
My first time here and overall I enjoyed it. The pro shop attendant was very nice and when I asked about the conditions he admitted the greens were in good shape but slower than normal since they can't cut them as low due to the heat. He was right. The greens were all immaculate, but they were slower than I would have liked. The rest of the course conditions were so-so, I thought. It's a little rough around the edges. A few of the tee boxes were bad - #7 stood out. A few fairways had some bad patches or were brown/thin. None of that really affected play much, but it took away from the aesthetics for sure. The layout is challenging but fair. The carts have nice hole layout guides with helpful tips. I would love to come back here when the greens are quicker and the course is more lush. I imagine it's awesome in the spring. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I try to play here when I can, but it's sometimes difficult to get tee times. They get quite a bit of member / local play and don't start tee times until 8am. I kinda feel like an outsider here since I'm not a regular. So I can't say the course / staff is overly welcoming. I did manage to be the first one off today and the lady let me go at 7:45, but several holes were still being watered, well after 8:00 too. So I had to dodge waterfalls on a few holes. The course is in really good shape, but I'm not a huge fan of the greens here. Only one had issues (#12 with bare spots being repaired) and the rest were nicely manicured. The problem is that the greens have a very pronounced grain where your uphill putts are extremely slow, downhill putts fast and almost every putt has alot of break. So it was difficult for me to make even 5-10 footers consistently. Tees, fairways and bunkers were all in good shape and I do enjoy the layout (which should play really easy, but there are some tricky holes and OB stakes). Fore warning -- they are aerating the greens over the next couple of weeks. So it may be late June before you want to come back if you don't get out there in the next week. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Not my favorite course, but it's the closest course to my house (<5 min) that I play it once or twice a year for variety's sake. So I guess it's just my luck that they aerated the greens last week. The greens were slow and had a top dressing of sand. So you had to nuke your putts to get it there. A few tee boxes were not in great shape and the fairways were just okay. Didn't seem like the rough or fringe around greens had been cut recently (even though we saw guys mowing). And then there's the bunkers. Half of them are fluffy white sand and half are orange dirt / clay. No consistency. Pace of play ended up 4.5 hrs, but it felt very slow. Backed up for all of the last 12 holes. No rangers. This kind of experience is why I don't play here much. Emerald Lake, Charlotte National and Olde Sycamore are within 10 minutes of here and they are miles better. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Compared to my recent play at Ballantyne and Emerald Lake, these greens were in the best shape. Very true on the roll and good speed (not slow at all but not crazy slick either). Tees and fairways were just average, but no issues to report. The greens and the price make this a good place to play anytime. Read The Review
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- "Average"
My first round here in almost 2 years. I was disappointed. I was surprised right away as we headed to the 2nd tee to see that #2 and #8 were being torn up and renovated. I'm on Ballantyne's golf e-mail list and I get messages about once a week. Nowhere in any of these messages has it mentioned any renovations. The work was going on while we were playing, including very loud equipment. #2 was not much affected, but #8 had been shortened to a 250yd par 4 with a temporary green. Not cool. Elsewhere on the course, conditions were very average. Several greens had bare spots covered with green sand. Several fairways had bad patches. The greens were extremely hard and slick. It was a difficult putting day. Overall, I was sorely disappointed since we paid $60 for an afternoon tee time. If I'd paid $30 or even $40, I might have let it go. But when I play a resort course, it should be immaculate. I can't recommend this course right now. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Played in a scramble here Friday morning and the conditions were great. They have their Club Championship this weekend and as you can imagine did everything they could to have the course in great shape. The greens, especially, were very good. Smooth and rolling true, quick but not fast. The few issues I could find were one hole with a large area of sand in the middle of the fairway (#13) and a few fairways that were downright shaggy (#8, #18 stood out), I guess because of the rain and wanted to hold off cutting for the club championship. Rough was fair. Overall, happy with the conditions and will be back to play my own scorecard when I can. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Emerald Lake is in great shape right now, with the greens especially rolling smooth and true. There are still a few with some sandy spots, but overall very good. Fairways are in great shape. A few tee boxes are thin, but most are fine. They are doing a great job with the course this summer and they still have a great membership special going for August. $1995 for 12 months incl. cart fees. It's an unbeatable deal and I took advantage of it 2 weeks ago. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I took advantage of their July membership special and joined up this week. So I played this morning with several other members and had a great round. Conditions overall are very good here. The Cato-Crenshaw greens are faring much better than other bentgrass courses. There are a few greens with a top-dressing of sand (6, 10, 12, 13, and 16 if I remember right) but other than a bit of speed difference, that didn't affect play. I'll probably be playing here a bunch now. So I'll post reviews/updates as conditions change. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course was in very good shape all around and stands up very well in comparison to courses around town. Greens were good speed and consistent -- only issues were lots of ball marks from recent play and one or two spots on a couple of greens (#16 was one) that did not come into play. Tees, fairways, bunkers were all good. I'm definitely warming up to this place as a regular spot in my rotation -- I'm even considering their July membership special of $1995 for 1 year with carts/range included since I live so close. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I was worried about conditions, given recent reports from other local courses, including a few of the Carolina Trail ones. I'm happy to report Golf Links is doing fine. The greens were in good shape. Just lots of ball marks and the 13th green had aeration holes and some sand. For whatever reason, they cannot keep the 13th green in good shape. It's always been an issue on this course. Tees and fairways were fine. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. We had a 6:51 start time, cart path only due to the floods Monday. After we let one twosome play through ours, we breezed through our round in just over 3 hours. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Played quickly as a single by starting on the back 9. A few greens on the back 9 had been lightly top-dressed with sand. A few others were pock-marked due to heavy traffic from lazy golfers not repairing pitch marks. I would say that 2/3 of the greens on the course were in very good shape, rolling quick and smooth. The course is holding up well in the early summer heat and better than other local courses. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I played in the Matt Clark charity tournament Saturday morning and the course was in perfect shape. No issues anywhere. Smooth, quick greens. Lushness all around. The rough is in mid-season form, which means it's thick and penalizing when you're in it. It's not past the point of fairness, but you will need to keep a close eye on any shots that are headed for it -- in some cases, you may have to walk right over a ball that has nestled down in the thick stuff. This is one of my favorite area courses mostly because it's kept in such great shape. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Eagle Chase is in real good shape, about the best you get here. Everything was real nice and I did not notice any problems. The greens were very smooth and consistent. They had good speed until a good shower hit us on the 11th hole. After that, they were obviously a little sluggish. The tees, fairways and rough were all lush. This course played just like I remembered it (I only get out here a few times a season), with one minor change on the 3rd hole par 3. The right greenside bunker -- which was always tough to keep dry and playable -- has been eliminated. So now it's just a grassy swale, an improvement in my book. This place is a great deal if you can make the trip - $39 max with the weekend voucher. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The course was in fine shape and there were no issues to report. The only thing was I thought the greens were just okay, speed and smoothness wise. This probably has more to do with me not making any significant putts than the actual conditions. So take it with a grain of salt. When it's perfect here, though, the greens roll fast and true. Today, I just didn't think they did that. Maybe it was the recent rains because I also thought the fairways were shaggier than usual. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
I don't give many perfect scores, but today I couldn't find anything but great things to say about Stonebridge. The pace was awesome. We were a twosome and after a few holes, we never caught the group in front. We finished in just under 4 hours. The greens were immaculate, the best I've played this season. Tees, fairways, rough and bunkers were all good, too. It's an easier course than others around town, with large, mostly flat greens and many holes where you can run the ball up to the hole. Maybe that's why I shoot good scores around here. In any case, I like it and will be back as soon as I'm able. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 After hearing great reviews lately, I tried Regent out. The greens did not disappoint. They were quick, rolled true and in great playing condition. There were no issues with tees, fairways, or rough. Overall, the course is a fun round with challenges and easier holes mixed well. A couple of holes can play very difficult, though, and so my scores always seem to balloon because of a few bad swings. In particular, #1 is a target tee shot where long will get you in trouble, then you have a tricky downhill approach to a green guarded by a creek and a big bunker -- where one of my shots plugged. They had us starting on #10, so this was our 10th hole, but otherwise that's a tough opening hole. #8 is a brutally long par 4 that can give you a blind 2nd shot, but it also penalizes long tee shots that are just a little left of center. #10 is a par 5 with a very narrow target area for your 2nd shot and anything left is dead and gone. And then #13 is a pretty scary long par 3. The tee shot requires almost the full hole distance's worth of carry to a sliver of a green. Perhaps I just don't play here often enough to shoot a good score. It seems like experience with the layout will help you quite a bit. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Enjoyed my round here today. The staff was friendly as always and we moved around the course at a good pace. Although the greens weren't pretty to look at (looks like they had to treat some areas and there were light splotches on many greens) and still a bit on the slow side (aerated last month), they rolled true and were consistent. The fairways and tees were in good shape and more lush than most courses this early in the season. A few of the bunkers needed to be raked, not just from earlier play, but because they were wet or muddy. Overall, this is a fun course, with many challenging holes but also some short par 4's and reachable par 5's where you can be aggressive. It also has a great short game practice area. If I lived closer, this would be a regular stop for me. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Played just the back 9, but it was enough to tell me the course is in good shape. The greens especially were consistent and good, with no bare spots like I've seen here sometimes. They rolled true. The only issue is that the greens here are generally slower than other area courses. I also still have trouble with the pin locations because the flag colors are all the same and there is no hole location info on the scorecard. Still, this is a nice value for the area. It was $14 for 9 holes walking this morning and $23 to ride 18 before 9am. That's a deal. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Course was in good shape overall but not quite what I'm used to. The greens were about as slow as they ever get around here, but that's still not as bad as lesser courses. I believe the greens were aerated a few weeks ago and they must be letting them grow in before mowing them short. The slower speeds made it difficult to hit a straight putt and the breaks were harder to gauge. Granted they were all solid with no problems, other than the speed. The tees and fairways are starting to green up as well. The price ($44) was one of the lower around the area for a Saturday morning start. So it was still a good day and hopefully just a couple of weeks before it's in great shape. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course is starting to round into spring shape. The fairways are just starting to turn green. The greens were aerated in the last few weeks and you can barely tell. They were pretty solid today. Fairly decent speed and mostly consistent. I had no problems with the greens. The rest of the course was OK. A few fairways had some muddy spots or some ground under repair. The bunkers are still some of the nicest around -- fluffy white sand. The rangers did a good job keeping the pace right around 4 hours. So no problems today, though it's still one of the pricier rounds in town ($55 twilight on a Sat). Read The Review
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