Outer Banks Albums

[Ronald Montesano]

Currituck is here:  http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/buffalogolfer/Currituck%20Club-August%202011/

Nags Head is currently uploading here:  http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/buffalogolfer/Nags%20Head-August%202011/

Duck Woods will have a link posted soon:  http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/buffalogolfer/Duck%20Woods-August%202011/

I'm saving the remaining four Bethpage courses and these Outer Banks courses for hole-by-hole threads after varsity golf season ends (mid-October.) That should get me through another balmy, western New York winter.

[David Cronheim]

I'll be heading to the Outer Banks in September. Do you you have any suggestions on what course(s) might be worth playing. I'll be way south (Rodanthe), so Nags Head looked like the logical choice since it's closest. Also, I've heard from friends that it's the best of the somewhat lackluster group of courses out that way. Is there a second course you'd recommend or one you would advise against?

[Mike Tanner]

Ronald,
Did you play the Currituck Club? If so, were your expectations about Rees Jones' design realized or were you wrong, and thus pleasantly surprised?

[David Federman]

Staying in Rodanthe, you'll want to tee it up at Nagshead. It is only a 40 minute drive or so. I stay in that area and play at Nagshead once a year. It is a fun, short lay-out with a number of holes along the sound. If the winds are up (and they usually are) it can be very tough. One thing they do is to send non-members off the back nine. Don't let them do this. The back nine starts off with a par 3 over water, followed by a daunting tee-shot on 11 and 12 is the toughest hole on the course. There is no rough to speak of - if your ball is not in the fairway, it is generally lost. Play early, as it gets stifling hot by noon. There are some good holes, mixed in with some downright ridiculous holes that would not qualify as "quirky" in a good way. For a course built on a very small sliver of land between the ocean and the bay, I recommend it. We used to play Duck Woods, but because it is another 45 minutes past Nagshead, we stopped going there. I remember it as a better course than Nagshead. Currituck is probably the best of them, but is ridiculously far from Rodanthe.

[Dale_McCallon]

If Nags Head is the only course you are considering, I would just leave my clubs at home. Other than a few nice views of the sound, I really can't think of anything good to say about this course. Tight doesn't begin to describe the place, and with the ever present winds of the OBX bring lots of balls.  From Nags Head to Currituck is probably an extra 30 minutes, but the course is much better than Navs Head.  If you decide to head that far north, you might want to check out Kilmarlic.  Of course when in the OBX there is nothing wrong with just watching the waves all day long.

[Ronald Montesano]

Duck Woods was decent, although it may have been the bloody marys that my mixologist neighbor brewed in his cauldron. Nags Head is easily the narrowest course I've seen (I paced one fairway at 6 yards wide...really?) I think that both DW and NH were shoehorned in to places that really didn't have the width available to create a viable course. Staff at both courses were remarkably courteous.

Currituck...I don't get the lack of love...this was a really neat place. Both nines are out and back halves and offered really interesting golf. There was not a boring hole on the course and there is much strategy in demand from the tee.

My thought process goes like this: there is little of the fairway rumple and crinkle that GCA guys love, so that's strike one. Strike two would be the appearance of water hazards but, hey, I don't know what the land looked like before, so I cannot speak to the necessity of having those water courses for irrigation versus aesthetics. That would be strike two, as GCA folks seem to believe water should be covert and one of two major oceans. Strike three for GCA brethren would be the lack of turbulence in the internal putting portions. I imagine that Rees was given a mandate by the developers. Certainly the faves of this forum were available, but the crew knew what it wanted and told Rees in so many words.

There are two huge gaps between holes on the back nine, which make walking the course a bit more challenging, albeit not insurmountable. I would guess that rates drop in the fall and early winter, making the course more viable. In fact, here they are:

Sep 26 – Oct 23    $125 $95    $95    $70
Oct 24 – Nov 27    $95    $70    $70    $60
Nov 28 – Dec 31    $65    $45    N/A    $45

Oddly, I hit 14 or 15 greens and made zero birdie putts...I think that I had 75 from the tips, a totally unexpected score. Easily my best ball striking round of the year.

I would say that Currituck is worth a play or six and would return there over the other two courses. I have heard so many good things about Kilmarlic that I would add it to my list. I realize that these are quite a hall from (nights in) Rodanthe, but it is a great drive and there is a Five Guys in the interim!!

As I promised, I will break them all down later this year in hole by hole threads.

[Carl Nichols]

Ron,
How many balls did you lose at Duck Woods? It's been many years, but I remember lots and lots of parallel water hazards.

[Scott Weersing]

I'll be heading to the Outer Banks in September. Do you you have any suggestions on what course(s) might be worth playing. I'll be way south (Rodanthe), so Nags Head looked like the logical choice since it's closest. Also, I've heard from friends that it's the best of the somewhat lackluster group of courses out that way. Is there a second course you'd recommend or one you would advise against?

If you can work it out on way to the Outer Banks, I would stop and play at the Carolina Club on route 168 in Grandy, NC. I just played it this weekend and the course was fun because the greens were very fast. The greens are often domed with the high point in the middle so greens slope to the front and to the back. There are also a punchbowl green on no. 18. There is an island green par 3 but there are some other good holes on the course.

http://www.thecarolinaclub.com/

If you want an easy course to play, then stop and play The Pointe Golf Club. It has a nice set of four finishing holes (15, 16, 17, 18) but the front nine is not very memorable.

[Ronald Montesano]

Carl,
I drove the ball unbelievably well at Duck Woods. In addition, the numbnuts in our group decided to play the white tees, which maxed out at 5800, so I was driving the ball into the a lot of necks fronting greens. If the neck was non-existent, I played iron off the tee. Sadly, I hit my wedges like manure, so I didn't score well (77 from 5800 yards is not scoring well.)

Shockingly, DW is a wide-open pasture, compared to Nags Head. Claustrophobic is the adjective best applied to it.

[Mike Tanner]

The OBX courses are in my backyard (SE Virginia) and with my wife's family living in Currituck Co. and on the beach—two of my brothers-in-law are avid golfers—I've played all but one of the courses (Duck Woods) there multiple times.

For my money, Sea Scape best captures the feel of playing golf on the Outer Banks. You've got dunes and maritime forest settings, and some genuine architectural interest. This despite the fact the original design has been monkeyed with at least a couple of times. The last hole is a real letdown, but the rest is a lot of fun.

The Currituck Club does have some intriguing holes. The third, sixth and ninth are fun and there's a nice stretch from 12-15. But the course just doesn't fire me up architecturally.

Of the courses across the sound, on the mainland, I'd rank them like this: Kilmarlic, Carolina Club, The Pointe.

[Carl Rogers]

I'll be heading to the Outer Banks in September. Do you you have any suggestions on what course(s) might be worth playing. I'll be way south (Rodanthe), so Nags Head looked like the logical choice since it's closest. Also, I've heard from friends that it's the best of the somewhat lackluster group of courses out that way. Is there a second course you'd recommend or one you would advise against?

If you can work it out on way to the Outer Banks, I would stop and play at the Carolina Club on route 168 in Grandy, NC. I just played it this weekend and the course was fun because the greens were very fast. The greens are often domed with the high point in the middle so greens slope to the front and to the back. There are also a punchbowl green on no. 18. There is an island green par 3 but there are some other good holes on the course.

http://www.thecarolinaclub.com/

If you want an easy course to play, then stop and play The Pointe Golf Club. It has a nice set of four finishing holes (15, 16, 17, 18) but the front nine is not very memorable.

My very good friend's Scott opinion of the Carolina Club is higher than mine.  The course has a couple of uninterestingly quirky (ie bad) holes and some photocopied xeroxed holes.  Little strategy off the tee unless you hit it over 290.  I wonder how many balls are lost on the par 5, 6th Hole (long tee shot carry over wetlands, bowling alley to green & dense unplayable vegetation 3 yards off the back of the green).

Mr. Cronheim, as you frequent this site, I assume you have had the opportunity to tee it up at some really really good courses.  You won't be adding to your list on the NC OBX.  Play at (a Doak) Riverfront in Suffolk, VA 90 minutes away.

[David Cronheim]

Unfortunately, that was my understanding as well. I'd settle for enjoyable for a day, which it sounds like most of these courses are, albeit overpriced for the experience you're getting...