Triad golf stories to watch in 2026

Earlier, TriadGolf.com took a look back at the best of 2025. Now, here’s a short list of what Triad golfers should look forward to during the new year:

New and Improved Facilities:

Starmount Forest Country Club should enjoy its first spring since Kris Spence’s course redesign, a project that returned the Greensboro layout to the original type of challenges intended by Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek, with a few modern tweaks to account for modern technologies.

Major projects (yet to be announced) are coming to at least a few Triad public courses. Look for more high-tech simulators at public courses. The plans for money allocated for projects at Gillespie and Winston Lake should advance.

The six-hole Old Field par-3 course next to Colin Creek should open. It promises to be a great site for beginners and advanced players looking for a fun outing that can be completed in a tight time window.

Country Club Golf Center’s new location off Shallowford Road in Lewisville may be ready to open. With a spacious driving range, generous practice green and short-game area as well as a roomy, well-stocked pro shop, the new facility will be a groundbreaker in the area.

An Extension for Greensboro’s PGA Tour Event:

Nothing has been announced (TriadGolf.com has inquired to tournament officials) about an extension of Wyndham’s long-time title sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s annual event at Sedgefield Country Club, scheduled to conclude after the 2026 tournament.

There’s no reason to worry — not yet, anyway. The PGA Tour helped with the construction of the new short-game area just north of the clubhouse. Tour players rave about the course, a classic Donald Ross layout unique to Tour sites, each year.

If Wyndham opts out of an extension, influential businessman Bobby Long, instrumental in bringing the event to Sedgefield, and local leaders should be able to find another title sponsor to follow in the footsteps of Wyndham, Kmart and Chrysler.

Junior and College Championship Prospects:

Let’s start with the Wake Forest women, which have local products Macy Pate and Morgan Ketchum among a talented spring lineup.

In the high school and junior ranks, East Surry’s Pennson Badgett will wrap up an outstanding career before heading off to play at Tennessee. Badgett, a U.S. Amateur match-play qualifier, and Pate, a North-South runner-up, will have more changes to excel on the international amateur stage.

Big Events:

We’ve covered the Wyndham. Then there’s Wyndham’s AJGA event, also at Sedgefield.

So what else? Well, the North Carolina will be played at Bermuda Run, June 17-20; the Carolinas Junior Girls is July 1-3 at Jamestown Park; and Holly Ridge will play host to the N.C. Boys and Carolinas Girls Juniors on July 20-21.

More Improvements at Triad Golf Magazine and TriadGolf.com:

In 2025, we put a new emphasis on TriadGolf.com with several new stories and posts each week supported by professional digital marketing.

Plans for 2026 included continued growth and expansion of TriadGolf.com with more features and stories on local golf facilities, personalities and travel features. We’ll also increase the volume of Triad Golf Podcasts. We want you to make TriadGolf.com a daily destination for Triad golfers.

New to TriadGolf.com will be features on instruction and equipment. Have no fear, Triad Golf Magazine readers. We will continue to distribute free quarterly print issues.

We also plan to bring back opportunities to list local tournaments and publicize holes-in-one in the magazine and on the website. Look for updates on our new policy in the next few weeks.

There could be a few more surprises announced in the next few weeks.