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- "Below average"
 Normally I love Carolina Lakes but yesterday left a bad taste in my mouth.
Course was water logged and fairways were littered with massive divots. Tee boxes were inconsistent. Some were green and long, some brown and muddy. Greens were just ok.
No starter out there and range was closed.
But they still charged full price even through the condition of the course was pretty terrible.
What ever happened to Winter rates to reflect the conditions. Not great value at all. I recommend staying away until spring unless you want to drop $70 to play in below average conditions Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Love playing Carolina Lakes as it is a great layout that is always in good condition. The bent grass greens were a little tired from the long hot summer with a few pock marks, but still rolled great and were very receptive. My only beef with this course is that the brakes on the carts are terrible and lock up every time you touch them. Just a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt in one of these carts on one of the many steep winding downhill paths. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 I love Charlotte National, but I don't love the new greens. I understand why they made the change but I still miss the old bent greens. Played a late 9 yesterday and everything was good. I just found the greens to be too furry for my liking. They don't roll near as nice as the old ones used to. Hopefully once we are in growing season though they can cut 'em and roll 'em and get them rolling nice and true. Still worth playing though. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
 After my last review I was not excited to come to Edgewater but I was signed up to play in a tournament. I had low expectations this time but was actually pleasantly surprised as I noticed a definite improvement over last time. They have done some work on some of the bunkers that were really bad my previous outing. They also have clearly been removing a lot of trees and vegetation to the betterment of the course. The greens were excellent. I take back what I said about not worth the drive from Charlotte, I am not giving up on this course yet and neither should you. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Was inevitable I guess, but this course is going backwards fast. Greens are still good, everything else is just ok to terrible. The range balls were in terrible condition, half the bunkers are red clay. They are taking out a lot of bunkers as well so what is left are massive holes that look terrible with signs that say "GUR". Some of the "cart path only" signs look like they were created by children. The starter said they use red, white and blue flags to show the pin positions but some of the flags had been stolen so he said it is a mix. They have no other way to tell where the pin is (no pin position map on the cards or anything). I feel bad for the course as it obviously doesn't make enough money from rounds to make ends meet. For those who live in Charlotte this course is no longer worth the drive to play. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Greens were in awesome shape, a little sandy but still great overall. Fairways and tee boxes in great shape (which is expected as remote and quiet as this course is). The best thing about this course is standing on the 3rd green we could not see or hear another human being. Very tranquil and enjoyable place to play. My only grip is some bunkers are orange and muddy, while others are completely filled with new white sand. The course does not rake the new white sand bunkers though so you can actually get a worse lie in them than the orange bunkers cos the sand is so fluffy. Minor issue though.
Overall though a great place to play, conditions always fantastic, pace of play is always great as it is so quiet. Definitely worth the haul from Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Bad, stay away"
 Giving them 1 star for pace of play. Course wasn't that busy, but they sent out a 4-ball and 3-ball of beginner golfers. By the time they finished they were 5 holes behind (and never caught up). No ranger in sight. In addition to slow play these guys were tearing the course up with massive divots, not raking bunkers (even taking practice swings in the sand). If there had been a ranger we could have told him/her to explain how golf works to these beginners (they don't know any better). The course was happy to take our money, and not care about customer service after that. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The only thing stopping me from giving a perfect rating is that the bunkers need sand and the carts have no sand bottles to fill divots with. Good news is that staff told me they are working on both. Apart from that the tees, fairways and greens were all perfect. Great staff in the pro shop as well. This course is in beautiful shape, it is well worth the drive from charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Bad, stay away"
 First time back at Divide in a while and I was not expecting much, but conditions were still lower than expectations. Course was packed, pace of play was brutal and there was no ranger in sight. Played the blue tees, which were basically at the same place the white tees were. The tee boxes for the regular blue tees were all in disastrous shape. On my first hole I took a massive divot, I wanted to fill it with sand only to find the sand bottles on the cart were completely empty. The practice green was really good but some greens on the course were really bad. This course needs a lot of work still, and it needs to try harder. No excuse for no ranger, no sand in the bottles, and the regular tees are so bad that the course plays ridiculously short compared to its rating. Rather go play somewhere else before you play here, there are plenty of other courses around that value their customers more. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
Best condition I have seen this course in for a long time. Greens were superb to putt on. Everything else (fairways, sand traps,etc.) great as well. They also have new carts with gps systems in them which was good to see. Will definitely be coming back soon. Read The Review
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- "Average"
Unfortunately, for now, Edgewater's best days seem to be behind it. Fuzzy Zoeller has pulled his name off the course, and they are under new ownership. There were tons of divots in the first fairway, and I took a massive one myself. I went to my cart to get sand to fill it, and guess what...no sand on the carts. Every fairway was filled with massive divots as a result, with no way to fix them. Bunkers were looking very orange, they are badly needing a top up of sand. The greens are ok, still roll well, but nowhere close to what they used to be. I fear that Edgwater will struggle to get enough play to support it, and as a result the decline has begun. But I hope I am proven wrong. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 The course itself was in good shape. The greens are beaten up from a long summer, but were still rolling well enough, just a tad slow and showing lots of wear and tear. Traps were great, fairways ok (lots of unfilled divots) but tee boxes were not very good. Fortunately we get to use tees, so who cares. No big problems with the course conditions.
What we did have a big problem with is the guy in the pro shop. We played on the sunday before labor day, we showed up to a course that was very quiet, my friend had the 4 for 3 clickitgolf coupon that is valid on weekends, and the guy in the pro shop told him he could not use it because "holiday rates" were in effect. Again, we played on sunday, before the holiday. Come on dude, the course was completely quiet, there were plenty of gaps on the tee sheet, yet this guy wanted to risk turning customers away because the course is being greedy, and wants to milk its customers when the course conditions are not even up to scratch to charge premium rates. To be fair though, in the end the manager was called, and he ok'ed it. But beware when using coupons on a "holiday weekend". Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 So they say the problem with golf these days is it is too long, too expensive and too hard. Ballantyne is a great example of a course that does it's best to promote all 3 of those. It is pricey, even the layout is not spectacular (it is a golf course fitted between an office park). But the kicker was the course set up. The greens roll perfect and lightning fast, so as a result you would expect the pins to be in flat spots, where the ball feeds towards them to make it fun for everyone... Not here. Standing in the first fairway we watched 2 guys 4 putt, 1 guy pick up after his 4th putt, and another guy 3 putt. We got to the green and could see why...the pin was on a ridge that falls away steeply. We all 3-putted and the highest handicap in our group was a 7. Naturally this makes the round long, as on almost every green people were putting and marking, putting and marking. Also the rough was diabolically thick just off the fairway in most places. Strange to see a resort course play so tough. Some of the pin positions were madness based on the greens being so hard and fast. They just need to add the clowns and windmills next time. Otherwise the conditions were perfect, staff were friendly, but it was a debilitating round of golf thanks to the setup. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Unfortunately the relentless heat and traffic the course has been suffering is slowly taking it's toll. On some greens it was a sea of unrepaired ball marks.
Due to the heat, it seems they keep the greens wet, and the softness means even chip shots leave dents in them. So I really wish people were more diligent about fixing their pitch marks and some others.
But the greens are still VERY GOOD and the course is in good shape overall.
The staff are always superb here, very friendly in the clubhouse, and the starters are awesome. Makes a really nice start to the round when you feel so welcomed at a course.
One disappointment was finding almost all the coolers on the course to be empty, on a near 100 degree day. Hopefully they can do a better job monitoring them and refilling as the day goes on.
Bottom line, course is suffering a bit from wear and tear but still great. Let's all do our part to keep it in the best condition possible. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
The course is in the best shape I have seen it in for years, with lots of work going into it' as well. There are a few temporary tee boxes but the tees under repair look phenomenal. Please please please FIX your ballmarks and divots to keep it looking great. The course staff get an A+ for customer service and effort here.
Try get out soon before the heat stresses out the course. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The greens were easily in the best condition I have ever seen them. It really was a treat to see Divide in such good condition. The course is still a work in progress and is only going to get better from here on out. They have some great deals on clickit, so I recommend cashing in now and giving it a second chance (for those who gave up on it from the Trail Days like I did). Great job Divide, keep it up!!! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Took advantage of the clickit deal and headed out to the Ballantyne resort. The conditions of the course are always great and it was no different this time. Greens were in great condition and rolling fast and true. Even a little softer than I remember them (but still firm). I wish they had more tee options. From the back tees it is around 6800 yards, then the next set up is around 6100 yards. Would be nice if they could a set at around 6500 yards like most courses have. But not a train smash. On a different note, normally myself and my buddies tend to have a problem with the attitude of a lot of the staff here. We have noticed that unless you are a 40+ rich old guy, they tend to get a bit..difficult...with you ( you meaning us younger guys 35 and below). We have all experienced it on different occasions, but in fairness they were pretty hospitable this time. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 First time back since Carolina Trail exited. I wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised by the course conditions. Tee boxes were good, fairways were ok, the greens were surprisingly good considering they are 1. bent grass in the middle of summer and 2.Tradition is a muni. They do have some other type of grass on them in some spots, so they can be a bit 2-paced, but they are mostly consistent, and roll well enough overall. No ranger out but we moved along at a good pace. The only disappointment was that there was no beer cart in sight, and it was a scorching summer afternoon with no threat of rain. So they definitely cost themselves some money there. But I recommend supporting this course again as I have always enjoyed the layout (hang on for your life for the first 4 holes...then it gets much easier after that). A good value at $40 or less Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
Hands down the best greens I have putted on in the last 5 years. Smoother than glass. The course was wet from all the rain, but the greens were absolutely, phenomenally, outstandingly perfect. It is definitely worth the drive from Charlotte in its current condition. (Ignore the pace of play as we were playing in a USGA rule tournament with 130+ players and it was cart path only) Read The Review
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- "Average"
2 years ago, after dealing with the same old shocking conditions, I swore never to play any Carolina Trail course again. Now that the IRI golf group cancer is out, I will try and support these courses again in the hope that they are restored to their former glory. First time back at the Divide, and I really didn't expect much. The greens were in rough shape, really really bumpy. I think they are supposed to be bent grass, but they look like they have 5 different types of grass on at the moment. They were also really bumpy in patches. They were not bad to the point of being unplayable, but they were not good. The bunkers were horrendous. Luck of the draw to land in one and find it dry/raked/filled with sand. The biggest disappointment to me is that it still appears there is a lack of effort. Case in point, the bunker on the right hand side of the 15th green. 2 years ago when I played Divide, there was NO sand in that bunker, just rocks and vegetables growing. Sadly it was the exact same again. The aggravating thing is that the course does not even go to the effort of at least marking it as GUR. Obviously it is going to take time for these courses to get better, but it starts with TLC from the course staff. Hope they can turn the courses around. For now, don't expect much from these courses for a while. Read The Review
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- "Average"
 I have been wanting to play here for a long time and finally got my chance. I loved the layout but the conditions were very disappointing. There were tractor tire marks all over the rough, so any ball not in the fairway would ultimately end up in a furrow left behind by the tractor. At that point it was usually 50/50 whether you could get the club cleanly onto the back of the ball or not. Also, I was very disappointed in the greens. They were very shaggy and slow and every green had a ton of old hole marks still visible that would also come into play. Putts bounced around all day long. Would love to come back here when conditions are better as I think it could be a gem of a course. However it clearly needs a bit of time for them to it back into shape, so I would avoid for a while. Once again though, it is a great classic layout, and I believe this course has the potential to be a star in the Charlotte area once conditions improve. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
 First time I have ever played this course and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fun, friendly layout, and the back 9 is quite scenic. The greens are hard, but the only time that really caused an issue was on #17 which is exceptionally hard. The rest of them were still pretty receptive to pro Vs coming in high. They were a little bumpy due to a recent aeration but I think they will be brilliant come spring/summer. The guy in the pro shop, Ryan I think, was very friendly and gave me a free yardage book when I told him it was first time playing RR. All round great experience. Wish it was closer to Charlotte but will be back. Read The Review
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- "Average"
Biggest issue with the course right now is that some of the greens have many silver dollar sized holes in them. I am guessing it was crab grass roots that they extracted. While the greens should be superb come spring/summer, they are just ok while they go through the healing process now. Might be worth staying away for a while until the greens recover from all those holes. Read The Review
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- "Average"
Pace of play was about 5 hours 15 mins. Busy saturday morning, but NO ranger out on the course anywhere to be seen. When you are charging $51 in the pro shop, this is inexcusable.
Greens and everything else good. If it wasn't for the slow pace of play and lack of a ranger I would have given them 3.5 stars for course conditions. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
 Very sad to see Birkdale in its current condition. The practice balls are so old most of them don't have dimples, the practice bunker was unplayable due to the lack of sand. The practice putting green, as well as every green on the course were saturated with leaves. The bunkers looked like they had not been raked in weeks. Course was packed, but no ranger and the shop at the turn was closed. Round took 5 hours. The disappointing thing is that it appears that little or NO effort is being put into this course. I mean come on, it doesn't take a lot to have someone blowing the leaves off the green. A buddy I played with said he played a muni course in Gastonia the day before and even there they had a guy blowing the leaves off the greens.
Apart from the lack of care, the greens were ok. Pace of play torturous with no ranger in sight. NOT coming back here for a long time. Just not worth it. Sad though as I have always loved this layout. Read The Review
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- "Bad, stay away"
 Been a long time (2 years) since I last played Skybrook so I was really excited as I remember this fun layout always being in great condition.
Unfortunately what I found this time round was shocking. A lot of the greens are having big problems with crabgrass everywhere, and on many greens, it makes them un-puttable.
I know the old story that the "Trail is struggling financially" yada yada yada, but this is atrocious.
The disappointing thing is that on the par 5 fourth, the crab grass has completely overtaken the front of the green only, but the middle and back of the green are fine. So where do you think they put the pin? yep, in the front of the green, in the middle of the crabgrass patch.
That is my disappointment with the Trail, it's one thing to be struggling for money but there's no excuse for just plain not making an effort.
The trail staff need to spend the day at Charlotte National to see how to squeeze the most out of a limited budget and how to truly CARE about a golf course and your customers.
DO NOT PAY MORE THAN $30 to play this course until they have sorted out their greens. Read The Review
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- "Best of the best"
Managed to play Ballantyne at 9am on Sunday for $40 thanks to the ClickIt deal. Best deal of the year in my opinion.
Love this course, hope they keep the deals coming. The course is always in near perfect condition. Tees, fairways, greens and bunkers were all great. A guy even came around with ice towels for everyone to help keep cool.
I wish the greens were bent grass though, I find that the greens here can be tricky because of the grain. But don't let their appearance fool you, they are still lightning fast.
However the only real issue (small one) I have with this course is that the greens are very hard. Bring your softest, highest spinning Pro V1s if you want to go flag hunting at the back pins. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I enjoy playing this course when it is in good condition as I really like the layout. Another plus is that out of all the Carolina Trail courses, I have always found pro shop staff here to be the most friendly.
The greens were all nice and green with decent grass coverage (considering the heat) but a little on the slow side. I have posted this before, but the greens have a mix of 2 different types of grass on them. Most of the greens are 60% bent grass and 40% some type of grainy grass. Unfortunately this can make them really 2-paced. If you have all bent between you and the hole they roll smoothly. But if you hit a grainy patch they slow up quick and bounce around. I found myself having a lot of 3-4 foot 2nd putts because of that fact.
The biggest minus about the Divide right now is that half of the traps are almost totally devoid of any sand and play like hard-pan. I was in the right greenside trap on 15 (the worst of the bunch), and literally had to play a pitch shot off my back foot as it was the only shot possible out of there.
Fairways and tee boxes were ok, I didn't expect them to be good because of the heat of late.
To summarize, a fun course, but I would not drop more than $35-$40 right now to play here. Read The Review
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- "Average"
I am not sure if their greens are supposed to be bent grass or bermuda, because there is an even covering of both types of grass on every green.
Seems like the Bermuda is taking over though so a lot of the greens are really bumpy in the areas where the 2 grasses meet. Had a lot of putts that got knocked off line in our foursome.
Having said that, they still roll pretty well if you have a highway of one grass type between you and the hole.
Fairways were ok and tee boxes also fine. I love the layout of the course, and had a fun round despite the bumpy greens. However, I would not pay more than $40 to play here. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Greens were pretty good considering some of the others I have seen lately. They weren't the best condition I've seen them in but still rolling pretty true.
Fairways and tee boxes were ok as well. Nothing to complain about there.
The only gripe I have with Emerald Lakes, as always, is that they charge $6 for a small handfull of range balls. Most of which are lacking dimples.
I also noticed a lot of divots on the course and when I reached for my sand bottle on my cart, both were completely empty. Not doing themselves any favors there!!! Read The Review
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