Public Golf @ Charlotte

[alaaro]

Afternoon, all. Ive perused some previous posts about Charlotte, but havent seen much focus on public golf. Im heading to town mid November with some buddies and looking to play a round. We don't know anyone in town, let alone golfers who belong to any clubs, so we are focused on public courses. Any recommendations? Whats the best public option in the area? Thanks! 

[Chilidog]

Are you staying North CLT, Downtown/South Park area, Southern CLT?

[alaaro]

 

2 hours ago, Chilidog said:

Are you staying North CLT, Downtown/South Park area, Southern CLT?

 

Staying near Panthers stadium for a ball game, but that doesnt matter - we are willing to travel within the nearby area for a better course. Thanks.

[Chilidog]

5 hours ago, alaaro said:

 

 

Staying near Panthers stadium for a ball game, but that doesnt matter - we are willing to travel within the nearby area for a better course. Thanks.

3 good options would be:

 

1) Verdict Ridge: About 25 minutes from downtown CLT. Really fun course with great greens. Ranked constantly as the best public option around CLT. 
 

2) The next two you will need your pro to call and get you on but shouldn’t be a problem: Peninsula Club. Best 3 finishing holes around CLT not named Quail Hollow. 
 

3) T-rump Charlotte: Always in good shape and a fun course. 
 

If you can’t get on the private options listed in the last 2, drive about 45 minutes north to Conover and play Rock Barn’s Jones Course where they use to play the Champions Tour’s Kia Classic. Has all the the things you want in a golf course, even a waterfall. 
 

You can also head south and play Springfield which is pretty secluded and you will probably see some wildlife while playing. 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Chilidog
Changing name of the course.

[chomesley]

Unless you are a member at a private course and have a pro to call the courses, you aren't getting on Peninsula or Trump National. Verdict Ridge is a very nice semi-private course about 40 mins north of Charlotte but they don't allow public play before noon on the weekends. The Jones course at Rock Barn is private so the Jackson course is your only option unless, again, you have a pro to call a make your tee time. My recommendations for public courses would be:

 

1. Mooresville Golf Club (30 mins north of Charlotte)

2. Rock Barn Golf Club Jackson Course (50 mins NW of Charlotte)

3. Springfield Golf Club (20 mins south of Charlotte)

4. Rock River Golf Club (20 mins north of Charlotte)

4. Waterford Golf Club (Owned by Tepper at about 25 south of Charlotte)

[alaaro]

3 hours ago, Chilidog said:

3 good options would be:

 

1) Verdict Ridge: About 25 minutes from downtown CLT. Really fun course with great greens. Ranked constantly as the best public option around CLT. 
 

2) The next two you will need your pro to call and get you on but shouldn’t be a problem: Peninsula Club. Best 3 finishing holes around CLT not named Quail Hollow. 
 

3) T-rump Charlotte: Always in good shape and a fun course. 
 

If you can’t get on the private options listed in the last 2, drive about 45 minutes north to Conover and play Rock Barn’s Jones Course where they use to play the Champions Tour’s Kia Classic. Has all the the things you want in a golf course, even a waterfall. 
 

You can also head south and play Springfield which is pretty secluded and you will probably see some wildlife while playing. 

 

Great info - thank you!

[alaaro]

2 hours ago, chomesley said:

Unless you are a member at a private course and have a pro to call the courses, you aren't getting on Peninsula or Trump National. Verdict Ridge is a very nice semi-private course about 40 mins north of Charlotte but they don't allow public play before noon on the weekends. The Jones course at Rock Barn is private so the Jackson course is your only option unless, again, you have a pro to call a make your tee time. My recommendations for public courses would be:

 

1. Mooresville Golf Club (30 mins north of Charlotte)

2. Rock Barn Golf Club Jackson Course (50 mins NW of Charlotte)

3. Springfield Golf Club (20 mins south of Charlotte)

4. Rock River Golf Club (20 mins north of Charlotte)

4. Waterford Golf Club (Owned by Tepper at about 25 south of Charlotte)

 

This is helpful, thanks. Going to send these and Verdict to my group to make a pick. Thanks all! 

[Drwoods2017]

14 hours ago, Chilidog said:

3 good options would be:

 

1) Verdict Ridge: About 25 minutes from downtown CLT. Really fun course with great greens. Ranked constantly as the best public option around CLT. 
 

2) The next two you will need your pro to call and get you on but shouldn’t be a problem: Peninsula Club. Best 3 finishing holes around CLT not named Quail Hollow. 
 

3) T-rump Charlotte: Always in good shape and a fun course. 
 

If you can’t get on the private options listed in the last 2, drive about 45 minutes north to Conover and play Rock Barn’s Jones Course where they use to play the Champions Tour’s Kia Classic. Has all the the things you want in a golf course, even a waterfall. 
 

You can also head south and play Springfield which is pretty secluded and you will probably see some wildlife while playing. 

Jones course is private now.  Jackson course is public at rock barn

[Chilidog]

34 minutes ago, Drwoods2017 said:

Jones course is private now.  Jackson course is public at rock barn

Jones course you can play. Just have to get your pro to call or I could call and set them up as well. 

[Drwoods2017]

7 minutes ago, Chilidog said:

Jones course you can play. Just have to get your pro to call or I could call and set them up as well. 

Correct but he was asking about public courses. 

[Chilidog]

4 minutes ago, Drwoods2017 said:

Correct but he was asking about public courses. 

I know. But I gave him options of both (Peninsula Club, Trump CLT, Rock Barn)/Verdict/Sedgefield because he can get on all of those. 

[bluehose]

Fort Mill and Monroe are nice as well.

[vandyfan]

Does public golf in Charlotte stink? It sounds like there are no nearby options at all. I remember that Ballantyne resort course that they closed this year was nice even though it went RIGHT through an office park. Shame that Charlotte is so private heavy. 

[bluehose]

Immediate CLT area is tough.  Some good values outside of 485 loop though for private and public options although COVID has obviously skewed a lot of figures from what they seemed to be prior, but that’s not unique to Charlotte.

[Chilidog]

44 minutes ago, blackbdmillsaps said:

Does public golf in Charlotte stink? It sounds like there are no nearby options at all. I remember that Ballantyne resort course that they closed this year was nice even though it went RIGHT through an office park. Shame that Charlotte is so private heavy. 

Succinctly, yes. CLT is not an area with great public options. If you go 30 min to an hour north or east and it gets a lot better. CLT seems to be the only city in the state without good public options. 

[alaaro]

Thanks all - very good info. 

[lefty1978]

There's plenty of good public options around Charlotte, maybe not in the city limits, but just outside.

[5 O'Clock Charlie]

Bumping this thread as there is some good info in here. Wife and I just moved here this week from Wisconsin and have had a chance to play a couple of rounds.

 

Most of my research was done ahead of time with CharlotteGolfers as well as this one from Axios. We plan on playing them all, plus any recommendations that we see from the experts around here. Here is a quick review of two of the courses we played. For reference we are living in Myers Park.

 

Eagle Chase GC - 40 minutes East from Myers Park

 

Eagle Chase has a nice layout and the conditions from tee to green were very nice. Great elevation changes, no houses on the course and a nice set of par 3's. The 4's are challenging and require good placement off the tee. Greens were in good shape, although a bit slow with a lot of grain (looks like they have Diamond Zoysia greens). We played Sunday at 1:30 and played in 4:20, so not too bad, but pace could have been better. I really enjoyed it and would go back again. Price was just under $50 with cart.

 

 

Tega Cay GC - 25 minutes South from Myers Park

 

Tega Cay has a very "busy" feel. I was expecting something very different than we actually experienced. and their website does a great job of only showing you what they want you to see. They have 3 nines, and we played the Carolina Pines / Grand View. The first tee basically sits on a busy road with lots of traffic and the entire front 9 is pinched in with houses. Some holes have more houses than others, and the layout is somewhat quirky. Greens were actually very nice! They lost some of the greens in places but did a decent job of working to repair them and not make it noticeable. Fairways were a bit rough in spots, but generally ok. The Grand View 9 was the better of the two and was a much better experience (vistas, layout and less noticeable housing on the holes). 15 - 18 was a good finish with good design and nice holes. Pace of play was fine for most of the round, then we hit a wall on 15 and it took way too long to finish. Staff was extremely nice and friendly, but we were less than impressed as this was the first and last time we will most likely play there. Price was $60 with cart.

 

Maybe we can keep this thread going and keep others up to date on other courses in the Charlotte area.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by 5 O'Clock Charlie

[vandyfan]

I am making my annual trip to Charlotte for christmas with the in-laws so if the weather permits I will be trying to fend for myself on the publics. In the past I have played Ballantyne but that has since been closed. I am intrigued by Charles T. Myers because, supposedly, it has been improved in the last few years and it looks to be wide open off the tee (which I love). As long as the greens are half decent I think that is where I will try to play. Would anyone strongly advise against that?

[5 O'Clock Charlie]

I have not played Charles T. Myers so I can't comment on that.

 

I have played Tradition GC, another Charlotte area public course just north of the city inside of the 485 loop about 2 weeks ago.

It was in decent shape tee to green, and they had re-done their greens last year to replace Bent with an UltraDwarf Bermuda. They were outstanding! 
Fastest greens I have played in this area since we moved here in September.

 

If you want to pair up when you are around, give me a holler! I think we'll be around the week after xmas barring a trip to checkout Knoxville, but that is still TBD.

Here's a few shots I got from that day

 

 

 

 

[5 O'Clock Charlie]

@vandyfan I played with a guy today who has played Charles T. Myers recently. I'll quote him since you were asking about it - 

"Off the tee it's like hitting into a soccer field"

"Conditions wise, on a scale of 1-10, it's like a 5 or 6."

Edited December 11, 2022 by 5 O'Clock Charlie

[vandyfan]

On 12/10/2022 at 7:34 PM, 5 O'Clock Charlie said:

Off the tee it's like hitting into a soccer field

To be honest I like the sound of that. I am a *bit* wild off the tee.

[spineshank]

On 12/6/2022 at 12:14 PM, vandyfan said:

I am making my annual trip to Charlotte for christmas with the in-laws so if the weather permits I will be trying to fend for myself on the publics. In the past I have played Ballantyne but that has since been closed. I am intrigued by Charles T. Myers because, supposedly, it has been improved in the last few years and it looks to be wide open off the tee (which I love). As long as the greens are half decent I think that is where I will try to play. Would anyone strongly advise against that?

 

I havent played CT since the spring but the course itself is usually in "ok" shape. Greens are good though. They put in mini verde a few years back. 

 

I also live 10 mins away so if youre looking for someone to play with hit me up.

Edited December 19, 2022 by spineshank

[vandyfan]

@spineshank Looks like weather is not going to cooperate so I am leaving the clubs in TN. Thanks for your offer!