PINEHURST NO. 2 CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY IN 2024 NC GOLF PANEL RANKINGS By Brian Weis

PINEHURST NO. 2 CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY IN 2024 NC GOLF PANEL RANKINGS

Pinehurst Area Also Boasts The Top Seven Courses You Can Play

By Brian Weis

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. The Dogwood Course at The Country Club of North Carolina and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club remain in the third and fourth positions behind Grandfather Golf and Country Club in Linville. Sixteen courses from the Sandhills area are listed in the Top 100 rankings, including 13 among the Top 50.

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.

"There's a reason why we are known around the world as the Home of American Golf," said Phil Werz, president and CEO for the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Golf is what drives our diverse economy, it's the reason why the USGA moved here, and we cannot wait to witness yet another U.S. Open in June when it will be played on the number one golf course in North Carolina - Pinehurst No. 2."

Among the 2024 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 (#11); CCNC (Cardinal, #12); Pinehurst No. 8 (#13); Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club (#21); Dormie Club (#24); Forest Creek Golf Club (South, #32); Pinehurst No. 9 (#33); Mid South Club (#37); Forest Creek Golf Club (North, #39); Pinehurst No. 7 (#49); Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia, #67); and Southern Pines Golf Club (#69) 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 12. 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 12th. Other golf clubs among the Top 50 include Southern Pines Golf Club (#18); Talamore Golf Club (#21); Pinehurst No. 6 (#34); Tobacco Road Golf Club (#38); Legacy Golf Links (#39) and Longleaf Golf and Family Club (#40).

"The Pinehurst area is like a fantasyland if you play golf and have an appreciation for great courses," said Kevin Brafford, executive director of the N.C. Golf Panel. "It would be akin to a fan of ballparks being able to see Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium all in one city. That's how blessed we are."

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 2024, Top 50 Courses You Can Play and other rankings, visit NCGolfPanel.com. Or, for additional coverage, pick up the April issue of Business NC magazine.

Top 100 Courses for 2024 (second number is previous year's ranking)

1. Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst

2. Grandfather Golf and Country Club, Linville

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

3. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Southern Pines

5. Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte

7. Elk River Club, Banner Elk

6. Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club, Cashiers

8. Old Town Club, Winston-Salem

9. Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro

17. Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham

12. Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst

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

16. Pinehurst No. 8, Pinehurst

11. Cape Fear Country Club, Wilmington

10. Old North State Club, New London

14. Charlotte Country Club, Charlotte

19. Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh

18. Eagle Point Golf Club, Wilmington

20. MacGregor Downs Country Club, Cary

21. River Landing (River), Wallace

22. Mid Pines Lodge & Golf Club, Southern Pines

23. Forsyth Country Club, Winston-Salem

27. Country Club of Landfall (Dye), Wilmington

24. Dormie Club, West End

25. Rock Barn Country Club (Jones), Conover

26. Governors Club, Chapel Hill

31. Country Club of Landfall (Nicklaus), Wilmington

32. Prestonwood Country Club (Highlands), Cary

28. Biltmore Forest Country Club, Asheville

34. Starmount Forest Country Club, Greensboro

36. River Landing (Landing), Wallace

29. Forest Creek Country Club (South), Pinehurst

30. Pinehurst No. 9, Pinehurst

35. Champion Hills Club, Hendersonville

33. Treyburn Country Club, Durham

39. The Club at Longview, Waxhaw

37. Mid South Club, Southern Pines

38. Linville Golf Club, Linville

40. Forest Creek Golf Club (North)m Pinehurst

41. Myers Park Country Club, Charlotte

42. Trump National Golf Club, Mooresville

45. Bryan Park (Champions), Browns Summit

43. Balsam Mountain Preserve, Sylva

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

47. Greensboro Country Club (Farm), Greensboro

49. Grandover (East), Greensboro

48. Finley Golf Course, Chapel Hill

60. Occano, Merry Hill

51. Pinehurst No. 7, Pinehurst

53. Hound Ears Club, Boone

61. Forest Oaks Country Club, Greensboro

54. Lonnie Poole Golf Course, Raleigh

50. Country Club of Asheville, Asheville

46. The Hasentree Club, Wake Forest

52. The Cardinal by Pete Dye, Greensboro

57. Duke University Golf Club, Durham

56. Bald Head Island Club, Bald Head Island

62. Mimosa Hills Golf Club, Morganton

64. Porters Neck Country Club, Wilmington

55. Gaston Country Club, Gastonia

59. The Currituck Club, Corolla

63. Ballantyne Country Club, Charlotte

58. Hope Valley Country Club, Durham

66. Pinewood Country Club, Asheboro

69. Carolina Country Club, Raleigh

65. Prestonwood Country Club (Meadows), Cary

68. Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia), Pinehurst

70. Cedarwood Country Club, Charlotte

75. Southern Pines Golf Club, Southern Pines

-- High Meadows Country Club, High Meadows

83. Grandover (West), Greensboro

71. Crow Creek Golf Club, Calabash

86. Blowing Rock Country Club, Blowing Rock

84. Croasdaile Country Club, Durham

72. Alamance Country Club, Burlington

73. Bright's Creek Club, Mill Spring

77. Talamore Golf Club, Southern Pines

67. Leopard's Chase, Sunset Beach

74. Jefferson Landing, Jefferson

76. The Club at Irish Creek, Kannapolis

78. River Run Country Club, Davidson

81. Providence Country Club, Charlotte

79. Tiger's Eye, Sunset Beach

80. Carmel Country Club (South), Charlotte

87. Mill Creek Golf Club, Mebane

85. Tanglewood Park (Championship). Clemmons

82. Thistle Golf Club, Sunset Beach

80. Crystal Coast Country Club, Pine Knoll Shores

88. Kilmarlic Golf Club, Powells Point

91. Linville Ridge, Linville

89. The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation, Raleigh

99. Brook Valley Country Club, Greenville

92. The Peninsula Club, Cornelius

-- Deep Springs Country Club, Stoneville

93. Lake Toxawat Country Club, Lake Toxaway

94. Benevenue Country Club, Rocky Mount

95. Morehead City Country Club, Morehead City

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

97. Stoney Creek Golf Club, Whitsett

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

Revised: 05/13/2024 - Article Viewed 1,838 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.