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554 golf courses in North Carolina, 9,450 holes between them, 461 with published USGA tee ratings.

554
courses
9,450
holes
461
rated
7,588
longest (yds)
149
steepest slope

Every North Carolina course

Loading 554 courses…

Every figure here is a published one, gathered from the course and public records — nothing on this page is estimated.

North Carolina standouts

Toughest testpublished fact
Balsam Mountain Preserve

slope 149 · from 356 courses

The highest USGA slope rating published for any of the men’s tee sets. Slope measures difficulty for a bogey golfer relative to a scratch golfer — a rated figure, not an opinion. Men’s ratings only: a tee is rated separately for men and for women and the two scales do not compare, so mixing them would rank part of the field on one scale and the rest on another (see peakSlope in course-metrics.ts).

Longestpublished fact
Pinehurst No. 2

7,588 yds · from 541 courses

The longest published tee set, in yards from the tips.

North Carolina by the numbers

North Carolina courses ranked on the figures they publish themselves. Each list counts only the courses that publish that figure, so the totals differ. Slope and course rating measure difficulty, not quality — nothing here ranks how good a course is.

Longest

— the top 25 of 541 courses with a published scorecard
# Course Longest
1 Pinehurst No. 2 7,588 yds
2 Brights Creek Golf Club 7,450 yds
3 The Magnolia at Pinewild Country Club 7,446 yds
4 Trump National Golf Club Charlotte 7,425 yds
5 Harry L. Jones, Sr. Golf Course 7,360 yds
6 Charlotte Country Club 7,335 yds
7 River Run Country Club 7,317 yds
8 TPC Wakefield Plantation 7,305 yds
9 Wade Hampton Golf Club 7,302 yds
10 Country Club of North Carolina - Dogwood 7,301 yds
11 Greensboro Country Club Farm Course 7,296 yds
12 Cutter Creek Golf Club 7,280 yds
13 Lake at Carolina Trace Country Club 7,263 yds
14 Occano 7,262 yds
15 Eagle Point Golf Club 7,259 yds
16 Bryan Park Champions Course 7,255 yds
17 Charlotte National Golf Club 7,252 yds
18 Woodlake Country Club 7,249 yds
19 Farmstead Golf Links 7,242 yds
20 Crow Creek Golf 7,241 yds
21 Anderson Creek Club 7,240 yds
22 Compass Pointe Golf Course 7,228 yds
23 Pinehurst No. 4 7,227 yds
24 Unc Finley Golf Course 7,223 yds
25 Cape Fear National at Brunswick Forest 7,217 yds

The longest tee set the course publishes, in yards from the tips. Compared against every course that publishes a scorecard — length is a measurement, not a verdict on the golf.

Toughest test

— the top 25 of 356 courses with a USGA slope rating for its men’s tees
# Course Toughest test
1 Balsam Mountain Preserve slope 149
1 Rivers Edge Golf Club slope 149
1 Verdict Ridge Golf & Country Club slope 149
4 12 Oaks slope 148
4 Grandfather Golf & Country Club slope 148
4 The Cliffs at Walnut Cove slope 148
4 The Palisades Country Club slope 148
8 Cramer Mountain Club slope 147
8 Firethorne Country Club slope 147
8 Reserve Club at St James Plantation slope 147
8 Trump National Golf Club Charlotte slope 147
12 Charlotte Country Club slope 146
12 Laurel Ridge Country Club slope 146
12 Occano slope 146
12 Rock Barn Golf and Spa Jones Course slope 146
16 Brights Creek Golf Club slope 145
16 Tobacco Road Golf Club slope 145
16 Wade Hampton Golf Club slope 145
19 7 Lakes Golf Club slope 144
19 Apple Valley Golf Course at Rumbling Bald Resort on Lake Lure slope 144
19 Country Club of Landfall Nicklaus Course Ocean Marsh slope 144
19 Croasdaile Country Club slope 144
19 Forest Creek Golf Club North Course slope 144
19 Governors Club Lakes Course slope 144
19 Kilmarlic Golf Club slope 144

The highest USGA slope rating published for any of the men’s tee sets. Slope rates difficulty for a bogey golfer relative to a scratch golfer — a rated figure issued by the golf association, not an opinion about the course. Men’s ratings only, because a tee is rated separately for men and for women and the two scales do not compare; a course rated only for women is not in the running rather than converted.

Hardest from the tips

— the top 25 of 333 courses with a USGA course rating for its men’s tees
# Course Hardest from the tips
1 Occano rating 77.1
2 Pinehurst No. 2 rating 76.5
3 The Magnolia at Pinewild Country Club rating 76.4
4 Trump National Golf Club Charlotte rating 76.1
5 Lake at Carolina Trace Country Club rating 76.0
6 Brights Creek Golf Club rating 75.9
6 Charlotte Country Club rating 75.9
6 River Run Country Club rating 75.9
9 Farmstead Golf Links rating 75.6
10 Eagle Point Golf Club rating 75.5
10 Pinehurst Course No.7 rating 75.5
12 Bryan Park Champions Course rating 75.4
12 Greensboro Country Club Farm Course rating 75.4
12 Reserve Club at St James Plantation rating 75.4
15 Anderson Creek Club rating 75.2
15 Country Club of North Carolina - Cardinal rating 75.2
15 Old Chatham Golf Club rating 75.2
15 Rock Barn Golf and Spa Jones Course rating 75.2
15 Rocky River Golf Club rating 75.2
15 The Cliffs at Walnut Cove rating 75.2
21 12 Oaks rating 75.1
21 Country Club of Landfall Nicklaus Course Ocean Marsh rating 75.1
21 Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point rating 75.1
24 TPC Wakefield Plantation rating 75.0
24 Wade Hampton Golf Club rating 75.0

The highest USGA course rating published for any of the men’s tee sets — the score a scratch golfer is expected to shoot. Men’s ratings only, for the same reason as slope: the men’s and women’s ratings of one tee are different measurements. It measures difficulty and nothing else; it is not a quality score and never orders these pages by how good a course is.

Widest tee spread

— the top 25 of 528 courses with two or more tee sets of different lengths
# Course Widest tee spread
1 Longleaf Golf & Family Club 4,261 yds between tees
2 Verdict Ridge Golf & Country Club 3,751 yds between tees
3 Tanglewood Championship Course 3,697 yds between tees
4 Treyburn Country Club 3,571 yds between tees
5 Tanglewood Reynolds Course 3,411 yds between tees
6 Pinehurst Course No.7 3,383 yds between tees
7 Reserve Club at St James Plantation 3,349 yds between tees
8 Pinehurst Course No. 9 3,347 yds between tees
9 Anderson Creek Club 3,274 yds between tees
10 Players Club at St James Plantation 3,236 yds between tees
11 Jones at Sea Trail Golf Resort and Convention Center 3,199 yds between tees
12 Kenmure Country Club 3,149 yds between tees
13 Byrd at Sea Trail Golf Resort and Convention Center 3,105 yds between tees
14 King's Grant Golf and Country Club 3,098 yds between tees
15 Byrd at Sea Trail Golf Resort and Convention Center 3,059 yds between tees
16 Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point 3,053 yds between tees
17 Bentwinds Country Club 3,046 yds between tees
18 Cypress Landing Golf Course 3,042 yds between tees
19 TPC Wakefield Plantation 3,021 yds between tees
20 Founders Club at St James Plantation 2,977 yds between tees
21 Neuse Golf Club 2,960 yds between tees
22 Maple Chase Golf & Country Club 2,953 yds between tees
23 Country Club of North Carolina - Cardinal 2,934 yds between tees
24 Broadmoor Golf Links 2,929 yds between tees
25 Members Club at St James Plantation Irwin Course 2,915 yds between tees

Yards between the longest and shortest published tee sets — how far the course moves to fit a different player. Courses publishing a single tee set are not in the running, because one set is an unmeasured spread rather than a narrow one.

Oldest

— the top 25 of 395 courses with an opening year
# Course Oldest
1 Cape Fear Country Club Golf Course opened 1896
2 Pinehurst Course No.1 opened 1898
3 The Omni Grove Park Inn opened 1899
4 Pinehurst No. 2 opened 1901
5 Southern Pines Golf Club opened 1906
6 Carolina Country Club opened 1910
6 Charlotte Country Club opened 1910
8 Greensboro Country Club Irving Park Golf Course opened 1911
8 Hillandale Golf Course opened 1911
10 Forsyth Country Club opened 1913
11 Blowing Rock Country Club opened 1915
12 Paschal Golf Club opened 1917
13 Pinehurst No. 4 opened 1919
14 Mid Pines opened 1921
14 Myers Park Country Club opened 1921
16 Benvenue Country Club Course opened 1922
17 Emerywood Golf Course opened 1923
17 Marion Lake Golf Club opened 1923
19 Linville Golf Club opened 1924
20 Country Club of Salisbury opened 1925
20 Roaring Gap Club opened 1925
22 Hope Valley Country Club opened 1926
22 Wilmington Municipal Golf Course opened 1926
24 Lake Lure Municipal Golf Course opened 1927
25 Cleveland Country Club opened 1928

The year the course opened, as published. Ranked oldest first. An opening year is not a design credit and not a renovation date — a course that opened in 1921 and was rebuilt in 1998 still opened in 1921.

Highest above sea level

— the top 25 of 554 courses with a coordinate we could sample
# Course Highest above sea level
1 Linville Ridge 4,650 ft
2 Mountain Air Country Club 4,439 ft
3 Wildcat Cliffs Country Club 4,185 ft
4 Beech Mountain Club 4,162 ft
5 Wolf Laurel Country Club 4,094 ft
6 Cullasaja Club 4,092 ft
7 Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club 4,090 ft
8 Diamond Creek 4,038 ft
9 Old Edward's Club 3,948 ft
10 Sugar Mountain Golf Course 3,933 ft
11 Mountain Glen Golf Club 3,914 ft
12 Grandfather Golf & Country Club 3,881 ft
13 Trillium Links 3,867 ft
14 Golf Pro Shop at Trillium 3,809 ft
15 Highlands Falls Country Club 3,776 ft
16 Trillium Links and Lake Club 3,724 ft
17 Blowing Rock Country Club 3,694 ft
18 Linville Golf Club 3,681 ft
19 Highlands Country Club 3,654 ft
20 Linville Land Harbor Golf Club 3,653 ft
21 Wade Hampton Golf Club 3,481 ft
22 Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club 3,479 ft
23 High Hampton Golf Club 3,466 ft
24 Elk River Club 3,399 ft
25 Mountain Aire Golf Course 3,340 ft

Height above sea level at the course’s own published coordinate, sampled from the USGS 3DEP elevation model. THIS IS A FIGURE WE DERIVED, not one the course publishes — anybody can re-query the same public dataset at the same coordinate and get the same number, but no scorecard states it. Because every course carries a coordinate, this is the only board here whose field is nearly the whole database rather than the courses that publish a particular figure. Elevation changes how far a ball carries; it says nothing about whether a course is good.

The same boards nationwide, and by course type →
North Carolina's par-3 courses, ranked against each other →

North Carolina by metro area

The same rankings — hardest, longest, oldest — over the courses around each metro area touching North Carolina.

Every North Carolina course, by city 554 courses in 240 cities

Beech Mountain

Boiling Spring Lakes

Browns Summit

Caswell Beach

China Grove

Connellys Spring

Cornelius

Elizabethtown

Fuquay Varina

Hillsborough

Jackson Springs

Kenansville

Lockwoods Folly

Lumber Bridge

McLeansville

Merry Hill

North Wilkesboro

Pilot Mountain

Pine Knoll Shores

Seven Lakes

Southern Shores

Spring Lake

Stoney Creek

Walnut Cove

Weaverville

West Jefferson

Williamston

Winnabow

Yadkinville

Compare North Carolina courses side by side →