I’d also consider Umstead Pines. It’s going to be a bit dryer than Hillandale or RGA, it drains well. Good Bentgrass greens. Usually $30-35 on weekdays. If you ride, GPS in the carts.
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Let’s do it. The group we played with plays at Hyland most Sundays in the winter.
When I stay in RDU and have to kill time I go to knight golf but its probs too cold for that
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10 day forecast for next week looks good, hopefully gonna grab at least another 9 somewhere around around CLT metro area. Kids are great wolf on SBS, may try to slide out that afternoon too.
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Someone told me Umstead Pines is private, or went private. Is that not true? Asking for a friend who is moving to Durham.
It’s semi-private, and is likely to remain that way.
In short, it is quite simply my favorite golf course. I’ve never played anything else that is remotely as focused on the “architecture” part of golf course architecture, and it made walking 18 there really special.
I started on the back nine by myself, and didn’t see another person until I walked over to 1. Being out in the midst of something of that massive a scale with nothing but a yardage book and the clubs on my back was a deeply cool experience that I won’t forget (even though I got roughed up a bit on a couple of holes).
I played the front 9 with a group of college players from nearby Methodist U (s/o to the boys, drop me a message if you see this so I can send you details for the Charlotte event), and I played the best nine holes of golf in my life. I walked off the 9th green with a 37 after a par save made possible by the absolute best golf shot I will ever make—a one hop spinner to 3 ft from the sand below that massive hill.
I could really write probably an essay on any hole on that course, so “least favorite” is going to be a bit of a misnomer since it’d still probably crack my top 50 holes that I’ve played.
Least favorite is probably 12? I don’t think I played it right, and even though I walked away with a par it just didn’t feel like as engaging a hole as the rest of the back 9.
Favorite hole is almost a tougher question. 1, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 are all such good holes that I wanted to just walk back to the tee and play them a dozen more times. (I get what you’re saying about 16 being cruel—my second shot rolled back when I wasn’t watching and I almost picked it up on my hike up to the green—but I just loved the reveal of the tee shot so much that I still adore that hole.
I’ll probably have to pick 18 just for the drive. It’s too good of a look and really sums up the course; “this isn’t as hard as it looks, but you can still get in a lot of trouble with a good shot if you don’t know where you’re trying to go.” I love it. I described it on my instagram story as psychological warfare haha
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wow…heck of a way to cap off the 18!
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You should get a trophy for escaping the Grand Canyon of waste areas on 9, let alone making a par.
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After I made the putt, one of the guys I was playing with told me to put that ball in a case haha
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pretty impressive balling out like that in front of some strangers…especially considering the strength of methodists golf team
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Thanks! Years of tennis have taught me to play up to the level of my competition, and from a very limited sample size that seems to be true with golf, too.
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Google maps shows it as Willowhaven country club. Is there 2 different places, or is it the same place?
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Same. I think they changed to Umstead Pines when it went Semi-private.
Hey all, new to this forum, just wanted to introduce myself. Play in Raleigh wherever I can get on. Always looking for weekday rounds if anyone else has a flexible schedule
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It’s the same place. Used to be called Willowhaven at Umstead Pines or something like that.
That’s quite the name and bonus for the Joan Jett Avatar.
Welcome! There’s a few of us Raleigh-area folks on here.
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Semi-private is also semi-public!
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welcome @dixiethunder - I have a fairly flexible schedule some weeks that can help to squeeze in those weekday rounds as well.
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