Triad Golf Top 25
1. Old Town Club. 2. Old North State Club. 3. Sedgefield. 4. Greensboro CC Farm Course. 5. Alamance CC. 6. Forsyth CC. 7. Bryan Park Champions Course. 8. Bermuda Run CC East. 9. High Point CC Willow Creek Course. 10. The Cardinal by Pete Dye. 11. Tanglewood Park Championship Course. 12. Starmount Forest CC. 13. Forest Oaks CC. 14. Grandover Resort East Course. 15. Colonial CC. 16. Grandover Resort West. 17. Deep Springs CC. 18. Pinewood CC. 19. Bryan Park Players Course. 20. Mill Creek GC. 21. Maple Chase CC. 22. Greensboro CC Irving Park. 23. Oak Valley GC. 24. Greensboro National GC. 25. Holly Ridge GL.
The Piedmont Triad offers a wide assortment of outstanding golf courses.
So, how do they rank?
There’s nothing that grabs golfers’ attention more than course rankings. Best in the world, best in the nation, best in the state … best public, best private, best resort … best new course, best classic course, best value … best golf communities, best retirement golf, best golf resorts … The lists churned out by golf media outlets go on and on.
But Triad Golf Magazine couldn’t find any significant list of rankings specifically targeting courses in the Triad region.
So, we put together a panel of 18 respected golfers with knowledge of the entire region to vote on the Triad’s top courses. As a result, we provide lists of the top overall and top public-access courses in the 12-county region commonly defined as the Triad.
A supreme effort was made to recruit a diverse, knowledgeable and respected panel. The local group includes top amateurs in regional and national competition, college coaches and players, golf professionals and a longtime golf administrator.
We gave panel members a list of the more than 60 (we didn’t include any with fewer than 18 holes) or so courses in the region. Most of the panel members had played almost every course. If a panelist did not play a course, that course was not penalized.
No criteria for voting were given. Just rank the courses based on your perception. Why let a formula decide the voting? Then, the formula can be a cause of debate. Who’s to say what aspects of a golf course are most important?
Regardless, I think we’ve got a great list that should be a starting point for debate.
Let’s start with our No. 1 choice. Our panelists largely agreed on the best of the best, especially the top four, though not necessarily in the same order.
Old Town Club came out on top, followed by Old North State Club, Sedgefield Country Club and Greensboro Country Club Farm Course.
Old Town received a plurality of first-place votes with Old North State a strong second. That tight 1-2 finish at the top exemplifies the subjectiveness of rankings.
How can you compare the classic Maxwell design and the history at Old Town to the beautiful Fazio design at Old North State, including a finish on the banks of Badin Lake? But panelists did, and it was razor close.
Likewise, it was close for No. 3 between Sedgefield, the Ross design home to the PGA Tour Wyndham Championship, and Greensboro Farm, from Maples, and later Steel, whose work includes Primland as well as several top courses in Britain and Ireland.
Next, came Alamance Country Club and Forsyth Country Club, prestigious clubs with classic Ross designs. Bryan Park Champions, the top-ranked public-access course, followed by Bermuda Run East, High Point Willow Creek and The Cardinal rounded out the top 10.
Old Town’s spot at the top should come as no surprise. Adjacent to Wake Forest University and home to the Demon Deacons golf teams, Old Town is ranked among the nation’s top 100 courses by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine.
Old North State, Sedgefield and Greensboro Farm have made several other statewide lists and served as host for major events.
Old North State was the longtime home of the ACC Men’s Championship. Sedgefield is host of the PGA Tour’s annual Wyndham Championship. Greensboro Farm played host to the 2023 Carolinas Open.
Other area courses have hosted major national and international tournaments. Tanglewood Championship played host to the 1974 PGA Championship won by Lee Trevino. Forest Oaks was the longtime site of the PGA Tour’s Greater Greensboro Open. Bryan Park Championship was host of the 2010 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
Though private clubs fill eight of the top spots in the top 10, public-access courses occupy 13 of the final 15 of the top 25. Maples designed three of the top six courses. Maples courses had five in the top 25.