SOUTHERN PINES, NC (MARCH 31, 2022) – Pinehurst No. 2 has once again secured the top spot as the best golf course in the state as determined by the North Carolina Golf Panel. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, site for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open from June 2-5, moved up one spot to third. The Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed Dormie Club in West End made a significant move in the rankings from 33rd to 20th. Previously unranked Southern Pines Golf Club cracked the Top 100 in the 88th spot, clearly recognized for the recent renovation of the original Donald Ross design by noted golf course architect Kyle Franz.
The North Carolina Golf Panel was founded in 1995 and is recognized as the most authoritative statewide source of golf course rankings in a state that arguably boasts some of the nation’s best courses. The 135-member panel is composed of golf media, club professionals and general managers from many outstanding courses, accomplished amateur players and college golf coaches, and others who play an active role in promoting golf in North Carolina.
“Our destination is blessed with not just great golf courses, but also world-class ones and the rankings demonstrate once again why our area is the undisputable ‘Home of American Golf,’” said Phil Werz, president and CEO for the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Golfers from around the world annually make the pilgrimage to the Pinehurst area to play our courses and it is the driving force of our tourism economy.”
Among the 2022 rankings of the Top 100 Courses in North Carolina, a total of 16 are located in the Pinehurst Area. Those rankings include: Pinehurst No. 2 (#1); Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club (#3); The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood, #4); Pinehurst No. 4 (#8); Pinehurst No. 8 (#15); CCNC (Cardinal, #17); Dormie Club (#20); Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club (#21); Forest Creek (South, #28); Pinehurst No. 9 (#31); Forest Creek (North, #33); Mid South Club (#38); Pinehurst No. 7 (#50); Pinewild (Magnolia, #61); Talamore Resort (The New Course #81) and Southern Pines Golf Club (#88).
The panel also ranked the Top 50 Courses You Can Play and the Pinehurst area once again dominated the list with 15 locations, or 30 percent of the clubs, including the top six and eight of the top 11. The top six include Pinehurst No. 2, Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst No. 8, Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club and Pinehurst No. 9. Mid South Club moved up one spot to eighth and Pinehurst No. 7 eleventh. Other golf clubs among the Top 50 include The New Course at Talamore (#24), Southern Pines Golf Club (#28), Pinehurst No. 6 (#38), Legacy Golf Links (#39), Tobacco Road (#40), Longleaf Golf and Family Club (#42) and Hyland Golf Club (#49).
The Panel also created two additional categories for the top five Best Short(er) Courses and Best Resorts in North Carolina. Southern Pines Golf Club is ranked as the third best short(er) course and Pinehurst Resort and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club earned the top two spots for best resorts in the state.
“Most golfers in North Carolina, particularly if this is the only place you’ve lived, likely don’t appreciate how lucky they are to have the Sandhills region practically in their backyard,” said Kevin Brafford, executive director of the N.C. Golf Panel. “If it was only Pinehurst Resort, it’d be unique and special unto itself. But to have so many other tremendous courses within miles of each other is remarkable. There’s truly no other place like it in the world.”
Pinehurst area golf courses are no strangers to the national and global stage as well when it comes to major championships. This year, the U.S. Women’s Open returns to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in June. The U.S. Open will be back at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024, marking the fourth such major championship to be played at the historic club over the course of 25 years (1999, 2005, 2014 and 2024), the most to be played over the course of a quarter century than any other location in the country. Pinehurst No. 2 will host additional U.S. Open championships in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047. In 2029, Pinehurst No. 2 will once again host back-to-back men’s and women’s U.S. Open championships, a repeat of the only course in America to host that tandem of events in 2014.
For more information about all golf courses in the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen area, visit HomeofGolf.com. For the complete list of the Top 100 Courses for 2022, Top 50 Courses You Can Play and other rankings, visit NCGolfPanel.com.
Top 100 Courses for 2022 (second number is previous year’s ranking)
1. 1. Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst
2. 2. Grandfather Golf and Country Club, Linville
3. 4. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Southern Pines
4. 3. The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood), Pinehurst
5. 7. Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte
6. 5. Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club, Cashiers
7. 6. Elk River Club, Banner Elk
8. 8. Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst
9. 10. Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro
10. 9. Old North State Club, New London
11. 11. Cape Fear Country Club, Wilmington
12. 12. Old Town Club, Winston-Salem
13. 15. Wade Hampton Golf Club, Cashiers
14. 13. Charlotte Country Club, Charlotte
15. 14. Pinehurst No. 8, Pinehurst
16. 19. Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham
17. 16. The Country Club of North Carolina (Cardinal). Pinehurst
18. 17. Eagle Point Golf Club, Wilmington
19. 20. Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh
20. 33. Dormie Club, West End
21. 18. Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club, Southern Pines
22. 21. River Landing (River), Wallace
23. 22. MacGregor Downs Country Club, Cary
24. 25. Forsyth Country Club, Winston-Salem
25. 24. Biltmore Forest Country Club, Asheville
26. 23. Rock Barn Country Club (Jones), Conover
27. 26. Governor’s Club, Chapel Hill
28. 27. Forest Creek Golf Club (South), Pinehurst
29. 29. Country Club of Landfall (Dye), Wilmington
30. 28. Prestonwood Country Club (Highlands), Cary
31. 30. Pinehurst No. 9, Pinehurst
32. 31. Treyburn Country Club, Durham
33. 34. Forest Creek Golf Club (North), Pinehurst
34. 32. Country Club of Landfall (Nicklaus), Wilmington
35. 36. Linville Golf Club, Linville
36. 37. River Landing (Landing), Wallace
37. 46. Starmount Forest Country Club, Greensboro
38. 40. Mid South Club, Southern Pines
39. -- Champion Hills Club, Hendersonville
40. 38. Myers Park Country Club, Charlotte
41. 35. Trump National Golf Club, Mooresville
42. 39. High Point Country Club (Willow Creek), High Point
43. 41. The Hasentree Club, Wake Forest
44. 43. Greensboro Country Club (Farm), Greensboro
45. 45. Balsam Mountain Preserve, Sylva
46. -- The Club at Longview, Waxhaw
47. 42. Finley Golf Course, Chapel Hill
48. 44. Bald Head Island Club, Bald Head Island
49. 48. Country Club of Asheville, Asheville
50. 47. Pinehurst No. 7, Pinehurst
51. 53. Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center (Champions), Browns Summit
52. 54. Grandover (East), Greensboro
53. 49, Gaston Country Club, Gastonia
54. 50. Duke University Golf Club, Durham
55. 52. The Cardinal by Pete Dye, Greensboro
56. 55. Hope Valley Country Club, Durham
57. 58. Lonnie Poole Golf Course, Raleigh
58. 57. The Currituck Club, Corolla
59. 51. Scotch Hall Preserve, Merry Hill
60. 61. Hound Ears Club, Boone
61. 59, Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia), Pinehurst
62. 60. Prestonwood Country Club (Meadows), Pinehurst
63. 62. Ballantyne Country Club, Charlotte
64. 56. Leopard’s Chase, Sunset Beach
65. 90. Forest Oaks Country Club, Greensboro
66. 70. Mimosa Hills Golf Club, Morganton
67. -- Bright’s Creek Club, Mill Spring
68. 63. Jefferson Landing, Jefferson
69. 64. Alamance Country Club, Burlington
70. 67. Pinewood Country Club, Asheboro
71. 65. The Club at Irish Creek, Kannapolis
72. 78. Crow Creek Golf Club, Calabash
73. 68. River Run Country Club, Davidson
74. 66. Tiger’s Eye, Sunset Beach
75. 69. Carmel Country Club, Charlotte
76. 75. Porter’s Neck Country Club, Wilmington
77. 71. Croasdale Country Club, Durham
78. 72. Cedarwood Country Club, Charlotte
79. 74. Thistle Golf Club, Sunset Beach
80. 79. Providence Country Club, Charlotte
81. 80. The New Course at Talamore, Southern Pines
82. 73. The Peninsula Club, Cornelius
83. 82. Grandover (West), Greensboro
84. 85. Tanglewood Park (Championship), Clemmons
85. 77. Kilmarlic Golf Club, Powells Point
86. 81. The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation, Raleigh
87. 98. Blowing Rock Country Club, Blowing Rock
88. -- Southern Pines Golf Club, Southern Pines
89. 91. Mill Creek Golf Club, Mebane
90. 84. Linville Ridge, Linville
91. -- Crystal Coast Country Club, Pine Knoll Shores
92. 76. Lake Toxaway Country Club, Lake Toxaway
93. 86. Benvenue Country Club, Rocky Mount
94. 83. St. James Plantation (Reserve), Southport
95. 88. Bermuda Run Country Club (East), Bermuda Run
96. – Morehead Coty Country Club, Morehead City
97. 99. Stoney Creek Golf Club, Whitsett
98. 100. Brook Valley Country Club, Greenville
99. -- Rumbling Bald Resort (Apple Valley), Lake Lure
100. 92. Brier Creek Country Club, Raleigh
The Pinehurst Southern Pines Aberdeen Convention & Visitors BureauThe Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is the economic development agency responsible for travel and tourism promotion, product development, and visitor services for Moore County, NC. The CVB devises strategies to enhance the County’s tourism brand value and product to accommodate the next generation of visitors, thereby stimulating the local economy and enhancing the quality of life for residents and visitors alike. In 2020, Moore County ranked as the twelfth largest tourism economy in North Carolina, generating $369 million annually in visitor spending, which supports the second largest employment sector in the county.
Contact: Phil Werz, President & CEO, 910.692.3330 x-234
Email: pwerz@homeofgolf.com