Golfing North Carolina: Fairway to heaven

Pinehurst No. 2 will host the PGA U.S. Open for the fourth time in 25 years when the national championship returns to Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in North Carolina in 2024.

As the only golf course to have hosted all five of the USGA’s most important events (U.S Open, U.S Women’s Open, U.S Amateur, U.S Women’s Amateur and U.S Senior Open), and one of the few golf courses that is available for amateurs, Pinehurst No. 2 is a must-play for any golf fan in North Carolina.

However, the quality of golf doesn’t stop there: here are some of our other top recommendations for golf spots across the state:

Pinehurst

It’s not just the No.2 course that provides golfers with challenges and enjoyment at Pinehurst Resort. Pinehurst No. 4 is a companion to No.2 and representative of classic Carolinas Sandhills golf with its slopes and green locations: No. 4 co-hosted the 2019 U.S Amateur Championship alongside the No. 2 course. Meanwhile, Pinehurst No. 8 course is the most walkable of the courses at the resort. Pinehurst No. 9 is the only Jack Nicklaus Signature course at the resort, with wide fairways, and undulating putting surfaces, while Pinehurst No. 7 might be the most dramatic course at the resort.

Rumbling Bald on Lake Lure

Rumbling Bald on Lake Lure features the epic Bald Mountain Golf Course. Rated one of the top courses in North Carolina, Bald Mountain was designed by George Cobb (architect of the par-3 course at Augusta National) protégé W.B. Lewis. Checking in at just over 6,300 yards, it is one of the only courses in the region featuring five par 3s and five par 5s. Film buffs can also surround themselves in the lore of the Lake, with the golfing scenes in Dirty Dancing taking place on the 16^th hole of the Bald Mountain course. The famous lake lift scene was also shot in Lake Lure itself.

Nags Head Golf Links

For the quintessential Outer Banks golfing experience, there’s nothing quite like the Nags Head Golf Links. This 19 hole course is both a Golf Digest 4.5 star award winner as well as a Golf Week top 50 pick, yet it still retains its Outer Banks character with a cluster of sand dunes. Because of its location along the sound in Nags Head, wind can be a factor and adds to the challenge of the 6,126-yard course. The series of holes that border the Roanoke Sound, featuring views that extend all the way to Manteo. Whilst exploring the Outer Banks, visitors can take a trip down the coastline to the spectacular Ocracoke and visit the recently designated Number 1 Beach in America for 2022 by respected beach expert, Dr. Beach.

Members of the Visit North Carolina team are visiting St. Andrews ahead of the Open Championship from July 14 – 17 2022.

They will be engaging with key travel trade and media partners across the events that week, along with promoting Visit North Carolina’s golfing excellence and involvement in hosting of the U.S Open at Pinehurst in 2024.