How to Get Tee Times in North Carolina
North Carolina is one of the great golf states, and the Sandhills around Pinehurst hold the densest collection of courses in America. Most of the best are bookable if you know the routes: a resort stay for Pinehurst No.2, direct public booking for Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Tobacco Road, and packages for the coast. Here is exactly how to get the tee times that matter, with the booking windows and indicative 2026 costs.
Photograph: Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, North Carolina, via Google
The short version
North Carolina golf splits cleanly into three routes to a tee time. The Pinehurst Resort courses, led by the Donald Ross masterpiece of No.2, are reserved for resort guests, so the way on is a stay and play package with a two night minimum. The surrounding public Sandhills courses, Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Tobacco Road and many more, are open to direct booking online or by phone, so you simply reserve them yourself. And the coast and the mountains offer resort and daily fee golf, usually through packages or straightforward online booking.
So a classic Carolina trip is often a hybrid: book a short Pinehurst Resort stay to play No.2 and the resort courses, then fill the rest of the week with the public Sandhills courses booked independently. Get the resort package and the marquee tee times locked first, and the rest falls into place. Below is how each route works and when to book.
How to book the courses that matter
Pinehurst Resort and No.2
Pinehurst No.2, the 1907 Donald Ross course remodeled by Coore and Crenshaw and the 2024 US Open venue, now a permanent anchor site for the championship, is reserved for guests of the Pinehurst Resort. Access means booking a stay and play package, which has a two night minimum, with the golf, rooms and meals usually bundled together. Within a package, playing No.2 typically carries a surcharge of around 250 dollars; a resort spokesperson has quoted a standalone figure of roughly 470 dollars for the round, with a second No.2 round around 595 dollars in peak, caddie not included. The resort's nine courses and the Cradle short course are part of the same booking. Reserve a few months ahead for spring and fall.
The public Sandhills: Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Tobacco Road
The best golf you can book directly sits just outside the resort. Pine Needles, a 1928 Donald Ross course that has hosted three US Women's Opens, and its sister Mid Pines, a 1921 Ross beautifully restored by Kyle Franz in 2013, are public resort courses open to direct booking, and both sit on the national lists of the best public courses in America. Nearby, Mike Strantz's wild and brilliant Tobacco Road, a 1998 public course, is bookable online with indicative 2026 fees around 130 to 150 dollars depending on season. These are the courses to reserve yourself, a few weeks to a couple of months ahead.
The coast and the mountains
Beyond the Sandhills, the coast around Wilmington, Brunswick County and the Outer Banks offers resort and daily fee golf well suited to a beach and golf package, with online booking widely available. The mountains around Asheville and Boone add cooler summer golf at a mix of resort and public courses. Both are more flexible to book than the Sandhills outside their own peak seasons, and both work as add ons to a Pinehurst trip or as a destination in their own right.
Booking routes and windows at a glance
| Course or area | How to book | When to book |
|---|---|---|
| Pinehurst No.2 and resort courses | Resort guests only, stay and play package, two night minimum; No.2 around a 250 dollar surcharge or roughly 470 standalone | A few months ahead for spring and fall |
| Pine Needles and Mid Pines | Public resort, direct booking online or by phone | A few weeks to two months ahead |
| Tobacco Road | Public, online booking; indicative 130 to 150 dollars | A few weeks ahead, earlier in spring and fall |
| The coast and Outer Banks | Resort packages or daily fee online booking | Flexible outside the summer peak |
| The mountains | Resort and public, online booking | Flexible; summer is the busy season |
Access routes and indicative fees verified June 2026 from resort and course sources. Pinehurst Resort courses favor resort guests; the wider Sandhills are open to public booking. Fees move with season and demand. We do not quote our own pricing, so always confirm directly before booking. Check tee time availability.
When to go and how we can help
Spring and fall, roughly March to May and September to November, are the prime Sandhills seasons, with warm comfortable days and the courses immaculate, which is also when the resort packages and the public tee sheets fill first. Summers are hot and humid, so early tee times help and the cooler mountains come into their own, while winters are quiet and mild with good value. The trick to a smooth Carolina trip is sequencing: lock the Pinehurst Resort package and the No.2 round first, then book the public courses around it. That is exactly the kind of multi route booking we handle every week.
Need a base near the golf? See our recommended North Carolina resorts and hotels across the Sandhills and the coast.
Plan your North Carolina golf trip
Tell us which courses you want, Pinehurst No.2, the public Sandhills or the coast, and roughly when. One concierge holds the resort package, books the public tee times around it and costs the whole trip to the head. Spring and fall fill fast, so the sooner we start the better. No obligation.
North Carolina tee time questions
How do you get a tee time at Pinehurst No.2?
Pinehurst No.2, the Donald Ross masterpiece and 2024 US Open venue, is reserved for guests of the Pinehurst Resort, with a two night minimum stay, so the route on is to book a stay and play package. Within a package, playing No.2 typically carries a surcharge of around 250 dollars, and a Pinehurst spokesperson has quoted a standalone figure of roughly 470 dollars for the round, with a second No.2 round around 595 dollars in peak season, caddie not included. Book the resort package well ahead, especially for spring and fall. Always confirm current rates and access directly before booking.
Can you play golf in the Pinehurst Sandhills without staying at the resort?
Yes. While the Pinehurst Resort courses favor resort guests, the wider Sandhills around Southern Pines have superb public golf you can book directly. Pine Needles and Mid Pines, two Donald Ross resorts, and the Mike Strantz designed Tobacco Road are all open to public booking, online or by phone, and are among the best courses you can play in the state. Many visitors split a trip between a Pinehurst Resort stay for No.2 and the surrounding public courses booked independently. Always confirm current rates and tee times directly before booking.
How far ahead should you book North Carolina tee times?
For the Pinehurst Resort, book the stay and play package a few months ahead for spring and fall, the prime and busiest seasons, and earlier still for a US Open anniversary or a long weekend. For the public Sandhills courses such as Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Tobacco Road, a few weeks to a couple of months is usually enough, with tee times released online. Coastal and mountain courses are more flexible outside their peak. Booking ahead always secures the best times and the marquee rounds. Always confirm current availability directly before booking.
What is the best golf trip base in North Carolina?
The Pinehurst and Southern Pines Sandhills is the classic base, a self contained golf village with the Pinehurst Resort courses, Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Tobacco Road and more within a short drive, the densest great golf in the state. The coast around Wilmington, Brunswick County and the Outer Banks offers resort and daily fee golf for a beach and golf trip, while the mountains around Asheville and Boone add cooler summer golf. For most visitors the Sandhills is the trip. Always confirm current rates and tee times directly before booking.
Related
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Tee time releases, course access changes and the booking windows that matter. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Access routes and indicative fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.