Out is In: Five Outer Banks Courses Reap Rankings Recognitions

(OUTER BANKS, N.C.) — The iconic Outer Banks of North Carolina further cements its reputation as a top-shelf golf destination with a popular fivesome of area courses reaping rankings recognitions.

Along with its storied Lighthouses, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, famed Wild Mustangs of Corolla and scores of watering holes overflowing with fresh seafood and spirits, North Carolina’s No. 3 Golf Destination according to GolfAdvisor received additional accolades from that renowned ratings resource and the acclaimed North Carolina Golf Panel.

Three layouts landed in GolfAdvisor’s Top 25 Courses in North Carolina. The No. 9 Currituck Club, which was also recognized for its top off-course amenities, rolls across diverse coastal terrain with sound-side views distinctly its own on the northern end of the barrier island. Routed by Rees Jones, the grandest design along the coast is also the area’s most demanding, especially when the wind kicks up.

The OBX golf experience is further enhanced by two other courses on the mainland but certainly worth leaving the island to go play. The No. 10 Carolina Club and The No. 15 Pointe Golf Club are two of the most immaculately manicured and impeccably conditioned golf courses around. After all, the sister layouts are owned and operated by a man who also runs one of the region’s major turf grass companies, and both courses were built on what had previously been fertile farm land. The Pointe was also bestowed the state’s friendliest staff honor.

GolfAdvisor is the leading source of golf course ratings and reviews by golfers, for golfers. Everyday, its active community of golfers shares first-hand experiences at thousands of courses worldwide to help golfers decide where to play their next round. To date, golfers have submitted more than 500,000 reviews of golf courses all over the world.

Meanwhile, The Currituck Club, Kilmarlic Golf Club and Nags Head Golf Links are again recognized in the 2017 North Carolina Golf Panel rankings of the finest courses in one of the country’s best golf states.

Currituck remained No. 20 in the second-ever Top 50 You Can Play rankings.

Located on the mainland and five minutes from the Wright Brothers Bridge, No. 24 Kilmarlic is a popular Tom Steele design nestled along the marshland of the Albemarle Sound and host course for both the 2004 and 2009 North Carolina Opens. For the past seven years during the autumn months, Kilmarlic also hosted the Old Dominion/Outer Banks collegiate championship.

No. 38 Nags Head, crafted by Bob Moore and voted the Coast’s No. 5 Most Fun Course, plays hard along the inner waterway on the southern end. The front and back nine closing holes along the sound are particularly spectacular. Nags Head’s bar and restaurant, not surprisingly, is also home to the most dramatic sunsets in town, with views not only across the immediate Roanoke Sound, but towards three other sounds (Albemarle, Croatan and Pamlico) that flow into it from the north, west and south as well.

Among North Carolina’s Top 100 ranking of courses both private and public, the OBX was represented by No. 66 Currituck and No. 81 Kilmarlic.

The Top 100 courses and Top 50 courses you can play are determined by a scoring system where panelists are asked to consider among these factors: conditioning, routing, design, strategy, memorability, fairness, variety and aesthetics. The panel’s rankings are published annually in the April issue of Business North Carolina magazine, and are detailed on the panel’s Web site (www.NCGolfPanel.com).

Learn more about these courses, the OBX golf experience and special package prices at www.PlayOBXGolf.com or 800-916-6244.