Columbia vs. Charlotte?

[aminian.1]

Hi all,

 

My buddy and I will be driving down to the Masters this year from Columbus, OH, and we're looking for the best place to stay and play. We're only attending the tournament for one day, so proximity to Augusta isn't the biggest concern. Columbia and Charlotte are both equally convenient to drive into for us. So which has the better courses? Is there somewhere else we should be looking?

 

Thanks!

[K-Brown]

i can only speak for Charlotte since i live in the area. The top public courses in the Charlotte area are Olde Sycamore , Red Barn and Verdict Ridge IMO. Red Barn is looong so you better be knocking the cover off the ball if you play there. The only knock on Sycamore is that there is alot of dog legs so they limit you from stretching out with the driver. Verdict Ridge will remind you of mountain golf. The greens are very undulating and there are alot of elevation changes. I struggle with side hill lies so i struggle at that course. If you need any more info just shoot me a message and ill try to help out.

[BeachGolfer112]

Have you thought about coming down a little more south? I just got a place south of Myrtle Beach area, its gorgeous here, and the courses are amazing! Still has been spring like weather here as well. [quote name='aminian.1' timestamp='1326296410' post='4064767']
Hi all,

My buddy and I will be driving down to the Masters this year from Columbus, OH, and we're looking for the best place to stay and play. We're only attending the tournament for one day, so proximity to Augusta isn't the biggest concern. Columbia and Charlotte are both equally convenient to drive into for us. So which has the better courses? Is there somewhere else we should be looking?

Thanks!
[/quote]

[aminian.1]

[quote name='BeachGolfer112' timestamp='1326305446' post='4065829']
Have you thought about coming down a little more south? I just got a place south of Myrtle Beach area, its gorgeous here, and the courses are amazing! Still has been spring like weather here as well. [/quote]

I thought of that initially, but the 4 hours between Myrtle and Augusta is a pretty long hike.

[caller]

Stay in Columbia. just less than an hour to Masters.

[AltusBeliever]

Problem is that you will pay much higher prices in Columbia as it is Masters week. Problem with Charlotte is a lack of public golf worth playing and always has been that way IMO. THere is Verdict Ridge and Ballantyne and others but not really the quality you would expect. If you want good golf at reasonable prices that isn't out of your way (much) I say play in the Winston-Salem area. Lots of good public options that are not expensive-Oak Valley, Tanglewood (bunkers iffy), Meadowlands and more. 75 minutes to Charlotte. Augusta is another matter!
I guess if it is one or the other and money not a deciding factor, I would go with Columbia.

[rcubed3r]

I would deal with the drive and pick Pinehurst any day of the week. It's not that much further than Charlotte, and IMO well worth it.
You could also look at Charleston (Kiawah), or Hilton Head.

Ron

[aminian.1]

Thanks everyone! So, if we decide on Columbia, which are the best courses to hit?

Here are a couple of different packages that a broker proposed:

PACKAGE A ($815 w/ stay)
Cobblestone Park
Columbia Country Club
The Windermere Club
Spring Valley Country Club
Springfield Golf Club or Edgewater Golf Club

PACKAGE B ($692 w/ stay)
Woodlands Country Club
Spring Valley Country Club
Golf Club of SC at Crickentree
The Windermere Club
Oak Hills Golf Club

Thoughts?

[dntrs4]

[quote name='aminian.1' timestamp='1326390409' post='4071887']
Thanks everyone! So, if we decide on Columbia, which are the best courses to hit?

Here are a couple of different packages that a broker proposed:

PACKAGE A ($815 w/ stay)
Cobblestone Park
Columbia Country Club
The Windermere Club
Spring Valley Country Club
Springfield Golf Club or Edgewater Golf Club

PACKAGE B ($692 w/ stay)
Woodlands Country Club
Spring Valley Country Club
Golf Club of SC at Crickentree
The Windermere Club
Oak Hills Golf Club

Thoughts?
[/quote]



Hey! My friends and in the same situation.

We are looking travel to Charlotte, but like one poster said, public courses are lacking in Charlotte.

Right now, we have our eye on Tot Hill Farm in Asheboro. But I hear there's not much there.

Any recommendations to stay near Pinehurst?

[break80consistently]

I would agree with the above posters about going the extra 90 minutes to get to Pinehurst, instead of Charlotte (or anywhere else in the region for that matter). I made one trip down there in early December and liked it so much that I went back in January. The winter weather is actually pretty mild and the prices were very low. On the second trip, I did a package deal at the Mid Pines Inn and played at Mid Pines and Pine Needles. I would highly recommend those courses, although prices are going to be high in April. I would also recommend playing Southern Pines, which is a great Ross design that won't break the bank. I have never played any of the Pinehurst resort courses, but maybe next time I am down there.

As for where to stay, I would google search "Pinehurst golf packages" and a lot of options will show up. In December, I stayed at the Hampton Inn Laurinburg using hotel points, which is 30 minutes south of Pinehurst. In January, I stayed at the Mid Pines Inn. It is a very old hotel, but has a lot of character. I would definitely try to stay in Pinehurst or Southern Pines.

The drive is not too long from Columbus (about 8 hours), but the mountainous stretch of I-77 from the NC/VA border north to Charleston, WV is pretty brutal. I would not recommend driving through there at night. I make that mistake once and will never do it again. Very scenic drive during daylight hours, but white knuckle driving at night.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

So I'm not clear, are we talking about commuting from Pinehurst, NC to Augusta, GA each day to watch !The Masters? Or stopping off in Pinehurst for a golf vacation before resuming travel to Augusta for The Masters? I mean I'm all about playing at Pinehurst, I've had a blast every time I went there (love me some Tobacco Road!) but it's literally hundreds of miles from August National Golf Club, not even remotely in the same area. Why not a side trip to Disney World while we're at it?

[Sixcat]

[quote name='aminian.1' timestamp='1326390409' post='4071887']
Thanks everyone! So, if we decide on Columbia, which are the best courses to hit?

Here are a couple of different packages that a broker proposed:

PACKAGE A ($815 w/ stay)
Cobblestone Park
Columbia Country Club
The Windermere Club
Spring Valley Country Club
Springfield Golf Club or Edgewater Golf Club

PACKAGE B ($692 w/ stay)
Woodlands Country Club
Spring Valley Country Club
Golf Club of SC at Crickentree
The Windermere Club
Oak Hills Golf Club

Thoughts?
[/quote]


I can't speak for all of the clubs listed above but I have played a few. Of course this is all subjective as we all have different ideas of what we like and don't like.

I really like Crickentree and Oak Hills. Oak Hills is a Steve Melnyk/Davis Love III design and is my favorite in the Columbia area. Cobblestone Park has two great nines and a rather unremarkable nine. I believe it was the gold nine that I was not impressed with at all, the garnet and black nines were excellent.

[slappy78]

From a purely quality of golf standpoint: Pinehurst>>>>Charlotte>>>Columbia

Charlotte does actually have some good public courses: Springfield, Carolina Lakes, and Edgewater are all above average tracks.

If you go to Pinehurst, Tobacco Road Golf can do a package and get you on to the Dormie Club. You will not be disapointed.

[dntrs4]

aminian.1 -

Why not just do a stay and play at Pinehurst and go for No 2 and no 8 then head down to Columbia?

I think that sounds like a very nice trip.

[CUTigers2011]

[quote name='Fourmyle of Ceres' timestamp='1329761217' post='4332433']
So I'm not clear, are we talking about commuting from Pinehurst, NC to Augusta, GA each day to watch !The Masters? Or stopping off in Pinehurst for a golf vacation before resuming travel to Augusta for The Masters? I mean I'm all about playing at Pinehurst, I've had a blast every time I went there (love me some Tobacco Road!) but it's literally hundreds of miles from August National Golf Club, not even remotely in the same area. Why not a side trip to Disney World while we're at it?
[/quote]

My thoughts exactly. I live in Raleigh and frequently visit with couple friends who live in Aiken and Augusta and it's not even remotely close to this part of NC, or remotely close to any part of NC (ie: Charlotte) at all IMO. If the entire point of the trip is to go to the Masters then wouldn't you want to spend as much of your day there as you could? Doesn't make sense to me to drive all the way from Ohio for the Masters only to stay 3ish hours away in Charlotte (or a solid 4 from PInehurst) and still have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to drive to the tournament and not actually stay until the end and/or have to drive that 3ish+ hours again at the end of the day.

Just my .02. Completely different case if the point of the trip is for a golfing vacation and you're just going to the Masters as a side show.