Kilmarlic Golf Club Receives Rave Reviews at ODU/OBX Collegiate Invitational

(OUTER BANKS, N.C.) — Two-time national champion Georgia head coach Chris Haack has taken his Bulldogs to play some of the nation’s most storied courses and traveled to various exotic locales in his 16 years leading the SEC stalwart.

But Haack and members of his 16th ranked squad had never been to the Outer Banks. Per a ringing recommendation from (former Georgia All-American) Nick Cassini who had worked at nearby Scotch Hall Preserve, the five-time SEC Coach of the Year brought his young team to play in the 32nd edition of the ODU/OBX Collegiate Invitational.

“It was a nice change of pace and we really enjoyed ourselves,” Haack said.  “What I especially liked was the laid back and less stressful atmosphere.  Instead of beating balls after each round, we spent that time checking out the Outer Banks, its beaches and famous sites. The one thing that we didn’t do was eat seafood since we ate at the same popular Mexican spot each night.”

Haack’s perspective was further brightened when his Dawgs delivered a four-shot victory over Liberty with a 30-under 834 tournament tally. Georgia notched a trio of top-10 individual finishes from medalist T.J. Mitchell, third-place Keith Mitchell and reigning British Amateur Champion Bryden Macpherson.

“Kilmarlic Golf Club is a tremendous tournament course with a little bit of everything,” Haack said.  “It gets really exciting and rather stressful for a coach on the back nine with three par-5s, a drivable par-4 and trouble left and right on most every hole. Anything could happen with birdies and bogeys lurking on every swing.”  

Long-time Old Dominion head coach Murray Rudisill, who has led the Monarchs golf program for 36 years, echoed those sentiments.

Rudisill relayed that Kilmarlic – a Tom Steele design that played host to the prestigious North Carolina Open in 2004 and 2009 – proved the perfect venue for the country’s top collegiate players for the second straight year. “It has just tremendous par-5s and par-3s,” Rudisill said. “That’s the beauty of the course – great risk-reward. They’ve had two North Carolina Opens (at Kilmarlic) so it challenges the college guys. It’s not a seaside, links-type of course. It’s more of a traditional course. The facilities are beautiful and it’s always in pristine condition.”

To learn more about Kilmarlic Golf Club and the Ultimate Coastal Golf Destination, visit PlayOBXGolf.com or call 800-916-6244.

Contact: AmericanGolferBlog@gmail.com