My Favorite Golf Courses
By Bill F. Hensley

Bill Hensley a member of the Carolina's Golf Hall of Fame


As a veteran of sixty years in the golf industry, I am often asked about my favorite courses in North Carolina.

The answer is not an easy one, because the Tar Heel state, fortunately, is blessed with a plethora of outstanding courses from the mountains to the coast. There are around 600 courses in all and picking the top 100 each year as a member of the NC Golf Panel is not an easy task. And it gets harder each year as new courses appear.

I could name dozens of courses around the state that I thoroughly enjoy, but I do have favorites, courses that I have played often over the years and always look forward to. Anytime I feel a “tingle” just by thinking about a course, I know it’s a great one that has stood the test of time.

My top ten, in alphabetical order, are Biltmore Forest CC in Asheville; both courses (Dogwood and Cardinal) at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst; Charlotte CC in Charlotte; Elk River in Banner Elk;Hound Ears in Blowing Rock; the Linville Golf Club in Linville; and the Old North State Club in New London; Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst; and Pine Needles in Southern Pines.

They don’t get any better than these in my book.

These are courses that I enjoy playing every time I tee it up. Only one of my selections -–Hound Ears—is not capable of hosting a major tournament because it is too short. But it is the “fun” course of the group and was designed for member enjoyment and not for the US Open Championship.
The others have hosted numerous big events over the years and held up under fire.

Famed architect Donald Ross designed five of my favorites, which tells you something about my taste in courses. He created Pinehurst, Pine Needles, Charlotte CC, Biltmore Forest CC and Linville, the oldest course in the state, dating to 1895.

Tom Fazio (Old North State), Ellis Maples (CCNC Dogwood), Willard Byrd (CCNC Cardinal) Jack Nicklaus (Elk River) and George Cobb (Hound Ears) are credited with one each.

Six of my favorites are in the state’s top ten as selected by the NC golf panel, with Linville (11), Biltmore Forest (15), and CCNC’s Cardinal (19), in the second ten. Hound Ears (88) made the top 100, proving that other panelists agree with my choices.

Geographically, four courses are in the mountains, four in the Sandhills and two in the Piedmont. If I could have squeezed in a couple of more courses, they would have been Mid Pines in Southern Pines and Cape Fear CC in Wilmington, classic Ross creations.

I am aware that golf courses, like beauty, are in the eyes of the beholder. And beauty is the perfect adjective in describing a typical North Carolina layout.

The problem now is deciding which of the ten I want to play next, but believe me: I can’t go wrong with so many great courses around the state to choose from.

(Note: Bill Hensley of Charlotte began writing about golf in North Carolina in 1950 and has played nearly 300 courses in the Tar Heel state. He is in the Carolina's Golf Hall of Fame).