Pinehurst No. 2 Still Ranked Best Course in NC

SOUTHERN PINES, NC (MARCH 31, 2023) – 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. Pinehurst Resort will host the 2024 U.S. Open at the venerable Donald Ross course for the fourth time, June 13-16, 2024. The Dogwood Course at The Country Club of North Carolina and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club flipped the third and fourth positions. Southern Pines Golf Club moved up 13 spots to the 75^th ranked course in the state as the recently renovated design by Kyle Franz continues to garner votes from panelists. Sixteen courses from the Sandhills area are listed in the Top 100 rankings with the lowest being Talamore Golf Club at #77.

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 185-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.

“North Carolina has some of the best golf courses in the country and the epicenter is right here in the Pinehurst area,” said Phil Werz, president and CEO for the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Golf is a major driver of our economy in Moore County and the demand for our product is higher than ever. This once again validates that we are the Home of American golf.”

Among the 2023 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); The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood, #3); Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club (#4); Pinehurst No. 4 (#12); CCNC (Cardinal, #13); Pinehurst No. 8 (#16); Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club (#22); Dormie Club (#24); Forest Creek Golf Club (South, #29); Pinehurst No. 9 (#30); Mid South Club (#37); Forest Creek Golf Club (North, #40); Pinehurst No. 7 (#51); Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia, #68); and Southern Pines Golf Club (#75) and Talamore Golf Club (#77).

The panel also ranked the Top 50 Courses You Can Play and the Pinehurst area once again dominated the list with 14 locations, or nearly 30 percent of the clubs, including the top seven and eight of the top 11. The top seven include Pinehurst No. 2, Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst No. 8, Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club, Pinehurst No. 9 and Mid South Club. Pinehurst No. 7 is eleventh. Other golf clubs among the Top 50 include Southern Pines Golf Club (#20); Talamore Golf Club (#21); Pinehurst No. 6 (#32); Tobacco Road Golf Club (#38); Legacy Golf Links (#40) and Longleaf Golf and Family Club (#41).

“The specialness of the Sandhills as the premier golf destination in perhaps the world, is reflected every year in our rankings. What sometimes get lost is how many outstanding course designers, following in the footsteps of Donald Ross, have worked in the region,” said Kevin Brafford, executive director of the N.C. Golf Panel. “Tom Fazio, Rees Jones, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus all have original designs. Then came the work of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw on Pinehurst No. 2, followed by Gil Hanse with No. 4. Tom Doak will be the next to leave his mark when the tenth course opens next year.”

Pinehurst area golf courses are no strangers to the national and global stage as well when it comes to major championships. The U.S. Open will be back at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024, marking the fourth such major championship to be played at the iconic 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 historic 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 2023, Top 50 Courses You Can Play and other rankings, visit NCGolfPanel.com. For more information about the Top 100 Courses in the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen area, click here.

Top 100 Courses for 2023 (second number is previous year’s ranking)

1.         1. Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst

2.         2. Grandfather Golf and Country Club, Linville

3.         4. The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood), Pinehurst

4.         3. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Southern Pines

5.         5. Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte

6.         6. Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club, Cashiers

7.         7. Elk River Club, Banner Elk

8.         12. Old Town Club, Winston-Salem

9.         9. Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro

10.       10. Old North State Club, New London

11.       11. Cape Fear Country Club, Wilmington

12.       8. Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst

13.       17. The Country Club of North Carolina (Cardinal), Pinehurst

14.       14. Charlotte Country Club, Charlotte

15.       13. Wade Hampton Golf Club, Cashiers

16.       15. Pinehurst No. 8, Pinehurst

17.       16. Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham

18.       18. Eagle Point Golf Club, Wilmington

19.       19. Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh

20.       23. MacGregor Downs Country Club, Cary

21.       22. River Landing (River), Wallace

22.       21. Mid Pines Lodge & Golf Club, Southern Pines

23.       24. Forsyth Country Club, Winston-Salem

24.       20. Dormie Club, West End

25.       26. Rock Barn Country Club (Jones), Conover

26.       27. Governors Club, Chapel Hill

27.       29. Country Club of Landfall (Dye), Wilmington

28.       25. Biltmore Forest Country Club, Asheville

29.       28. Forest Creek Golf Club (South), Pinehurst

30.       31. Pinehurst No. 9, Pinehurst

31.       34. Country Club of Landfall (Nicklaus), Wilmington

32.       30. Prestonwood Country Club (Highlands), Cary

33.       32. Treyburn Country Club, Durham

34.       37. Starmount Forest Country Club, Greensboro

35.       39. Champion Hills Club, Hendersonville

36.       36. River Landing (Landing), Wallace

37.       38. Mid South Club, Southern Pines

38.       35. Linville Golf Club, Linville

39.       46. The Club at Longview, Waxhaw

40.       33. Forest Creek Golf Club (North), Pinehurst

41.       40. Myers Park Country Club, Charlotte

42.       41. Trump National Golf Club, Mooresville

43.       45. Balsam Mountain Preserve, Sylva

44.       42. High Point Country Club (Willow Creek), High Point

45.       51. Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center (Champions), Browns Summit

46.       43. The Hasentree Club, Wake Forest

47.       44. Greensboro Country Club (Farm), Greensboro

48.       47. Finlay Golf Course, Chapel Hill

49.       52. Grandover (East), Greensboro

50.       49. Country Club of Asheville, Asheville

51.       50. Pinehurst No. 7, Pinehurst

52.       55. The Cardinal by Pete Dye, Greensboro

53.       60. Hound Ears Club, Boone

54.       57. Lonnie Poole Golf Course, Raleigh

55.       53. Gaston Country Club, Gastonia

56.       48. Bald Head Island Club, Bald Head Island

57.       54. Duke University Golf Club, Durham

58.       56. Hope Valley Country Club, Durham

59.       58. The Currituck Club, Corolla

60.       59. Occano, Merry Hill

61.       65. Forest Oaks Country Club, Greensboro

62.       66. Mimosa Hills Golf Club, Morganton

63.       63. Ballantyne Country Club, Charlotte

64.       75. Porters Neck Country Club, Wilmington

65.       62. Prestonwood Country Club (Meadows), Cary

66.       70. Pinewood Country Club, Asheboro

67.       64. Leopard’s Chase, Sunset Beach

68.       61. Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia), Pinehurst

69.       — Carolina Country Club, Raleigh

70.       78. Cedarwood Country Club, Charlotte

71.       72. Crow Creek Golf Club, Calabash

72.       69. Alamance Country Club, Burlington

73.       67. Bright’s Creek Club, Mill Spring

74.       68. Jefferson’s Landing, Jefferson

75.       88. Southern Pines Golf Club, Southern Pines

76.       71. The Club at Irish Creek, Kannapolis

77.       81. Talamore Golf Club, Southern Pines

78.       73. River Run Country Club, Davidson

79.       74. Tiger’s Eye, Sunset Beach

80.       75. Carmel Country Club (South), Charlotte

81.       80. Providence Country Club, Charlotte

82.       79. Thistle Golf Club, Sunset Beach

83.       83. Grandover (West), Greensboro

84.       77. Croasdaile Country Club, Durham

85.       84. Tanglewood park (Championship), Clemmons

86.       87. Blowing Rock Country Club, Blowing Rock

87.       89. Mill Creek Golf Club, Mebane

88.       85. Kilmarlic Golf Club, Powells Point

89.       86. The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation, Raleigh

90.       91. Crystal Coast Country Club, Pine Knoll Shores

91.       90. Linville Ridge, Linville

92.       82. The Peninsula Club, Cornelius

93.       92. Lake Toxaway Country Club, Lake Toxaway

94.       93. Benvenue Country Club, Rocky Mount

95.       96. Morehead City Country Club, Morehead City

96.       95. Bermuda Run Country Club (East), Bermuda Run

97.       97. Stoney Creek Golf Club, Whitsett

98.       94. St. James Plantation (Reserve), Southport

99.       98. Brook Valley Country Club, Greenville

100.     99. Rumbling Bald Resort (Apple Valley), Lake Lure

The Pinehurst Southern Pines Aberdeen Convention & Visitors Bureau
The 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 2021, Moore County ranked as the tenth largest tourism economy in North Carolina, generating $673 million annually in visitor spending, which supports the second largest employment sector in the county.