I just came back from the Outer Banks (for the second time this year), and again I did not have the chance to golf. My 2.5 yo and 6wk old boys are the main reason why, but from what I've read I didn't miss too much. Not that the 3 main courses - Sea Scape, Nags Head, and Currituck are bad, but none of them seem to be anything close to world class from what I read. (There's a fourth course in the back of the banks, I think called Duck Woods, which I would have to assume is on sand but certainly does not look it, and a number of average courses over the bridge, which I assume is not on sand).
My question is, why is this the case?
You have a beautiful vacation-like area that draws both people who "summer" (and thus potential world-class private members) and loads of vacationers (and thus potential customers for a super-high-end club for a day). The land beneath is natural sand. Shouldn't architects and golf-business-types be drooling over this land? Yes, the land is expensive, and maybe that's the answer. But there are already 3 or 4 courses built on sand, all of which are doing fine, and you would think that "fine" wouldn't be enough given the potential and the value of the land.
So why does the OBX not have a single world-class golf course? Is it the expense of the land? The proximity to the Sandhills? The fact that mediocre is enough to make a profit, making "exceptional" not a sufficient priority?
PS - I am not claiming the courses there don't have their merits, and would prefer this thread not devolve into a debate over the quality of the local courses. Unless you think that the courses of the OBX are world-class, or at least rival the best that other high-end golf-beach vacation destinations, most of which lack the OBX's abundance of sand, have to offer, please try to stick to my question, which is why the OBX isn't a better destination than it is now.
PPS - Although why there are not *more* courses on the OBX is part of the answer, and relevant to this thread, I want to make clear that it isn't the only question. So even if zoning and environmental regulations leave the OBX with only 4 courses as a matter of law, why are they not better courses?