Pinehurst No. 2, crowned green and wiregrass framed fairway in the North Carolina Sandhills
Ranked · 10 courses · updated 2026

The Best Golf Courses in North Carolina

No American state is more closely tied to one architect than North Carolina is to Donald Ross, and the sandy heart of it is the Pinehurst Sandhills. But the state runs from those crowned greens to the wild theatre of Tobacco Road and the cool mountain air of Cashiers and Linville. Here are the ten we rate most highly, ranked, with our verdict on each and how to play it.

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By the GolfForKings editorial desk · How we rank · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Pinehurst No. 2, via Google

How we chose them

A complete North Carolina top ten has to honour three very different golf landscapes. The Sandhills around Pinehurst and Southern Pines is the engine room, a sandy, free draining region where Donald Ross built more great courses than anywhere in America, led by the four time U.S. Open host Pinehurst No. 2. The Blue Ridge mountains add cool, scenic summer golf at Wade Hampton and Linville, and the Piedmont contributes the state's only regular PGA Tour stop at Sedgefield. We weighed design quality, conditioning, championship pedigree and the pleasure of the round, and we leaned toward courses a travelling golfer can realistically play.

Every fact here, from designers and opening years to host events and restorations, was checked at the time of writing. Where a course is a private members club we say so plainly, and we have favoured the many superb resort and public courses that make North Carolina such a rewarding trip. The verdicts and the order are ours, and reasonable people will reorder the top five. If you want any of these built into a costed Sandhills trip, that is exactly what our concierge does.

The ranking

01

Pinehurst No. 2

Donald Ross, 1907 · Coore and Crenshaw restoration 2011 · resort, public

The most important course in American golf below the Mason Dixon line and the heart of the Sandhills. Donald Ross opened it in 1907 and spent the rest of his life refining it, and the Coore and Crenshaw restoration of 2011 stripped away the rough to reveal his sandy, wiregrass framed original. The genius is in the greens, turtle back crowns that repel anything less than a perfect approach and turn the short game into the whole examination. It has staged the U.S. Open in 1999, 2005, 2014 and 2024, and it is owned by a resort, so you can play it. The first course any serious golfer should put on a North Carolina list.

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02

Pine Needles

Donald Ross, 1928 · Southern Pines · resort, public

Ross at his most playable and the host of four U.S. Women's Opens, most recently in 2022. Laid out across rolling Sandhills terrain a few miles from Pinehurst, Pine Needles has the same crowned greens and sandy character as No. 2 but a friendlier, more flowing rhythm, which is exactly why it makes such a satisfying round. The conditioning is immaculate, the lodge on site is comfortable and unpretentious, and the whole place feels like a Donald Ross course should. Pair it with its sister Mid Pines for one of the great value days in the Sandhills.

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03

Pinehurst No. 4

Gil Hanse redesign, reopened 2018 · resort, public

The modern counterpoint to No. 2 and proof that the resort keeps pushing. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner tore up the previous version and rebuilt No. 4 in 2018 as a rugged, sandy, native areas layout that plays firm and bold across the same Sandhills ground. It is wider and more dramatic than No. 2, with sprawling waste areas and big, bold greens that reward the aggressive line. As a resort course it is fully playable, and a round here alongside No. 2 is the easiest way to feel how Sandhills design has evolved over a century.

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04

Mid Pines

Donald Ross, 1921 · Southern Pines · resort, public

The sister course to Pine Needles across the road, and many a regular's quiet favourite. Ross routed it in 1921 over compact, rolling land, and a Kyle Franz restoration has brought back the sandy edges and the firm, fast turf. There is not a wasted yard on it, the green complexes are pure Ross, and the walk is intimate and old fashioned in the best way. It will not overpower you, but it will test every part of your game with charm and precision. Stay at the Mid Pines inn and play both sisters back to back.

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05

Tobacco Road

Mike Strantz, 1998 · near Sanford · public

The most divisive and most thrilling course in the state, and a genuine cult object. Mike Strantz carved it in 1998 from an old sand quarry, and the result is pure theatre: blind shots over towering dunes, fairways pinched between vast waste areas, and greens hidden behind ridges that demand faith as much as skill. You will either love it or argue about it, and either way you will remember every hole. It is fully public and within easy reach of the Sandhills, the perfect wild card to break up a week of Ross classics. Nothing else plays like it.

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06

Wade Hampton

Tom Fazio, 1987 · Cashiers · private

The finest course in the North Carolina mountains and one of Tom Fazio's enduring masterpieces. Built in 1987 in a high valley at Cashiers, ringed by the cliffs of the Blue Ridge, it was named Golf Digest's best new private course of its year and has ranked among the country's elite ever since. Fazio worked with the land rather than against it, and the cool mountain air, the streams and the towering backdrops make it as beautiful as it is testing. It is a private club, so access runs through a member, but on pure quality it earns a place near the top of any state list.

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07

Pinehurst No. 8

Tom Fazio, 1996 · resort, public

The Centennial course, built by Tom Fazio in 1996 to mark Pinehurst's hundredth anniversary, and the most natural feeling of the resort's modern eighteens. Set on a separate parcel of wetlands and old sand pits away from the main clubhouse, it has more elevation change and a wilder, more secluded character than the numbered courses around the village. The bunkering is bold, the routing varied, and as a resort course it slots easily into a Pinehurst stay. A strong, scenic complement to No. 2 and No. 4 when you want a third very different round.

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08

Forest Creek, South

Tom Fazio, 1997 · Pinehurst · private

A Fazio Sandhills course that flies under the radar because it sits behind the gates of a private community. Opened in 1997 to immediate acclaim, the South is the stronger of Forest Creek's two Fazio eighteens, routed over rolling sand ridges with generous, beautifully shaped fairways and the kind of polished conditioning that keeps it in the state's top tier. It is private, so a round comes through a member or a club introduction, but for those who can arrange it, this is one of the best modern courses in the Sandhills and a fine companion to the resort layouts nearby.

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09

Linville Golf Club

Donald Ross, 1924 · Linville · resort guests

Ross's great mountain course and one of the most charming rounds in the state. Laid out in 1924 in the cool highlands of the Blue Ridge, Linville winds along a trout stream beneath Grandfather Mountain, with the same crowned greens and clever bunkering that mark Ross's Sandhills work transplanted to spectacular mountain scenery. It is tied to the historic Eseeola Lodge, so guests of the lodge can play, which makes it the most accessible of the great North Carolina mountain courses. A summer round here, with the temperature dropping as you climb, is a North Carolina golf rite of passage.

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10

Sedgefield, Ross Course

Donald Ross, 1926 · Greensboro · private

The Piedmont's championship Ross and the long time home of the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship. Opened in 1926 and faithfully restored by Kris Spence, Sedgefield is a tree lined, classically routed parkland course that the professionals praise every August for its strategy and its true, subtle greens. It is the only regular PGA Tour stop in the state, which gives a round here a tournament charge the resort courses cannot match. A private members club in Greensboro, it rounds out a state top ten by showing Ross's range beyond the sand, from the Sandhills to the Piedmont to the mountains.

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Designers, opening years and host events verified June 2026. Wade Hampton, Forest Creek and Sedgefield are private members clubs; Linville is open to Eseeola Lodge guests. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm visitor access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Play the best of North Carolina

Tell us which of these are on your list, the Sandhills classics, the mountain courses or both, and roughly when. One concierge arranges the access, the tee times and the base, from the Pinehurst resort to the Eseeola Lodge, and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.

North Carolina golf questions

What is the best golf course in North Carolina?

Pinehurst No. 2, Donald Ross's 1907 masterpiece in the Sandhills, restored by Coore and Crenshaw in 2011 and a four time U.S. Open host, is the clear number one and one of the most important courses in American golf. Best of all, it is owned by a resort, so unlike many top ranked courses you can actually play it.

Can you play the best North Carolina courses as a visitor?

Many of the very best are resort or public courses you can book directly, including Pinehurst No. 2, No. 4 and No. 8, Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Tobacco Road. The mountain gem Wade Hampton, Forest Creek and Sedgefield are private and run through a member, while Linville is open to guests of the Eseeola Lodge. Always confirm access and fees directly before booking.

Where is the best golf in North Carolina?

The Sandhills around Pinehurst and Southern Pines is the heart of it, a sandy, pine framed region with Pinehurst No. 2, Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Tobacco Road and more within a short drive of each other. The Blue Ridge mountains around Cashiers and Linville add cool summer golf, and the Piedmont around Greensboro has the Tour host Sedgefield. The Sandhills is the natural base for a trip.

When is the best time to play golf in North Carolina?

Spring and autumn are the prime seasons in the Sandhills, with warm, settled weather and the courses at their firm, fast best, which is why April and October book up fast. Summers are hot and humid in the Sandhills but perfect in the mountains, where Wade Hampton and Linville are at their finest. Winters are mild and quiet with the best value. Always check the forecast for your dates.

Related

All best lists Pinehurst No. 2 Pinehurst No. 4 Tobacco Road Mid Pines Pine Needles Golf in the United States

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course designers, opening years and host events verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.