Canadian going to Raleigh in November

First time to the Carolinas to visit friends. I'll be spending about a week at the end of November in Raleigh near the airport.

Can anyone recommend a few nice courses (price doesn't matter) and a few decent courses (that won't break my bank, student loans are killer) that I can check out while I'm there??

I know Pinehurst is around but i don't think I'll be venturing that far. But we will see.

Also I know we get these all the time but I'm assuming weather will be somewhat playable (I usually play into November in Ontario anyway)

Thanks for the help!

November weather should be good. Play the university courses, all public. Duke, UNC Finley, NC State Lonnie Poole.

Also, The Neuse and River Ridge are fairly inexpensive.

Nice! Narrows it down for me alot. Thanks for the heads up.

Echoing BMC, Duke is one of my favorite courses anywhere! Lonnie Poole and Finley are also great. While you're there, hit up 42nd Street Oyster Bar, it's phenomenal!

You’ll be in shorts.

You won't be far from the hockey arena.

Are you a member of a course/club in Ontario? Some of the private courses probably wouldn't be that difficult to play given you're from Canada. Carolina (Webb Simpson's old home) probably would be out, but I bet **Raleigh Country Club** or **North Ridge** could be arranged. If you're ClubLink that'd probably open some doors as well.

Gotta echo the previous statements for the 3 University courses, The Neuse, and River Ridge. Although River Ridge and especially The Neuse are all pretty far from the airport. 45 minutes for Neuse, maybe 10 minutes less for RR. FYI, 50 minutes gets you to Tobacco Road and I'd play that over the Neuse 10 out of 10 times, not that The Neuse isn't good.

I was going to say that Lakeshore is the closest public course to the airport...but I see it's closed.

**Wil-Mar** is on the east side of Raleigh, it's hardly a stellar course, but it's a family owned place with a good vibe; the rates were always reasonable. I was a member there, very fun.

**Hillandale** in Durham is a lot of fun and has a pro shop that punches way above it's weight.

**Paschal** in Wake Forest is 100 years old and has the Arnold Palmer history with it; was his college course when he went to school there.

**Meadowbrook** in Garner has some history attached as well, it was the first African American country club in North Carolina when it was built. Better call them first, I can't get sure information whether they're still in business.

Then there's **Knight's Play**...27 holes of Par 3 golf. They're usually open until midnight.

Thank you everyone! Trip is coming up and now I'm just planning out the logistics!

Decide where your playing?

I'll be doing

-tobacco road for sure (4 seperate groups including you guys told me to go)

-one of the college courses (probably Lonnie pool),

-my buddies play a little course called Reedy Creek that will help offset the green fee of tobacco road.

-Might do the Neuse.

-A friend has a hookup at a course called Walnut Creek (don't know anything about it) but we are playing there as well.

Should have PLENTY of golf covered.

Dnash, Played Lonnie Poole yesterday and it was in nice shape. The greens were fast but had some granular fertilizer that did leave a slight white film on the putter and on the ball. This week's rain should take care of that nicely and dissapate the fertilizer into the greens. Pick the correct tees, bring your sand skills and have fun!

Hey one last question for anyone still paying attention.

I've never rented a car in the USA before. I'm 27 have a clean driving record. Trying to get something cheap as possible for 4 days.

Any recommendations for around the airport?

Also if anyone has rented through budget wth is the "mystery car" that's like 40$ cheaper a day.

Tia

> @dnash13 said:

> Hey one last question for anyone still paying attention.

>

> I've never rented a car in the USA before. I'm 27 have a clean driving record. Trying to get something cheap as possible for 4 days.

>

> Any recommendations for around the airport?

>

> Also if anyone has rented through budget wth is the "mystery car" that's like 40$ cheaper a day.

>

> Tia

Hertz! By far the best imo, hertz is in with a few others at RDU. Try to sign up for the one where the keys are already in the car and ready. You still have to talk to the attendant out in the garage if it's your first time. However their customer service is stellar. So you skip the first long line and go to the garage hertz attendant. They average $20 more, but are worth it if you don't want hassle and fees later.

I've basically wrecked 2 cars with them and never heard a peep. So they are the best. IMO

If you want cheap then do a Hotwire deal. But you may have to take a shuttle to get the car. And I may be remembering wrong about hertz at rdu anyhow. May not have any cars at the airport . So yeah Hotwire is really cheap.

I've done mystery cars before, either a normal size or a mini type. Raleigh is pretty spread out to get to courses. And at 5 our traffic is a nightmare. Take the 540 bypass if your gps tells you to.

P.s. Reedy creek is a lot of fun! Great value and they keep it nice.

Hertz it is haha sold. I'll call down before hand and get it all set up.

Walnut Creek is about an hour and a half away from the airport. Basically a home course for me, and easily the nicest course in the area this far east of Raleigh. Great course, not sure I would make the drive from the Raleigh area though with so many options around there, but hey, whatever works.

Yaaa a friend of mine has a practice down Goldsboro (I think) way.

> @Golfrnut said:

> Walnut Creek is about an hour and a half away from the airport. Basically a home course for me, and easily the nicest course in the area this far east of Raleigh. Great course, not sure I would make the drive from the Raleigh area though with so many options around there, but hey, whatever works.

I'll update everyone what I end up playing, other than tobacco I'm leaving it pretty loose

> @dnash13 said:

> Yaaa a friend of mine has a practice down Goldsboro (I think) way.

>

> > @Golfrnut said:

> > Walnut Creek is about an hour and a half away from the airport. Basically a home course for me, and easily the nicest course in the area this far east of Raleigh. Great course, not sure I would make the drive from the Raleigh area though with so many options around there, but hey, whatever works.

>

>

Yup, it’s just on the other side of town.

Hey man how was your trip? Hope you enjoyed all the Triangle has to offer...

Trip was great! Played Tobacco Road on Tuesday and got super lucky.

Starter named Larry radio'd me out to start on 9, ahead of the 4 groups of 50+ year old beauties out for a good time.

I was by myself the entire round (no one on the holes ahead or behind me) and Larry came around and acted as a caddy for most of the round.

Ventured the rest of the way down to Pinehurst but didn't have time (or funds) to play anything that day. Honestly just being there was enough for this trip.

Played another course called falls village near Durham on Thursday and then a small municipal course in Mt Olive on Friday then I was off to a wedding in Charlotte.

Thanks to everyone who pointed me in the right direction in this thread. I now have a hit list of course to play when I go back. The Tobacco Road experience was just what I needed this time around.

Below are a couple of pics from TR and Pinehurst

How was falls village out of curiosity?

It was weird honestly. Looks like a course that was unreal like 20 years ago but has been let go.

The range and clubhouse are rough, lacking management of any sort.

No sand in the bunkers. Poor turf management.

The only saving grace is the back 9 layout. It honestly felt like you were on a seperate course.

Price was right as well.

So strange since the website advertises it as being under the arny palmy umbrella...

If anyone has any back story on this course I'd love to hear it.

I mean I get it, golf has taken a huge hit popularity wise and with so many great courses around , some other will fall. This one looks like a victim.

I don’t know the complete back story, but apparently AP management just took it over recently. I heard it was in worse shape before. They are part of a 3 course semi private membership. It is by far the worst course of the 3. The preserve is nice and chapel ridge I’m trying to play this weekend. I asked because I’m thinking of joining

In the ten years we've been here Falls Village has gone from okay to bad to terrible. Hadn't played it since spring of 2018 as the conditions worsened and we said never again. But we heard they were putting in new greens over this past summer. Saw some positive reviews so tried it in late October and was mildly surprised. It may be making a comeback even though the course needs much more work to resemble anything nice. I am glad they have survived as it looked quite bleak not that long ago...if you play there knowing that it is not fancy and not a high-dollar place then perhaps you can have some fun and enjoy it for what it is.

Chapel Ridge and The Preserve are in another category completely.

Yup! That's exactly what we did. At the end of the day it was golf in November when London,ON was under 1 foot of snow. The greens were fun, I had a great time learning Bermuda putting and chipping at all courses (something I've never done before).