A Pre-Project Look at Charlotte CC

Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

I swung by Carolina Golf Manufacturing last weekend for a new putter grip. As I waited for the new grip (which has irrevocably cured my putting), I noticed an old Acushnet Bullseye putter leaning against the wall. Ended up taking it home for $15 to get cut down and give to my son for his birthday - not sure if he’s left or right handed yet, so thought it made sense to give him options.

Charlotte Country Club is the first and only agenda item in his week’s newsletter. The course is closing soon for a significant project, so we thought it wise to document some takes on the course ahead of the coming changes. For those wondering how to get a tee time, the process is relatively straightforward. Move to Charlotte, wait 7 years, then start a local golf newsletter - invite should come shortly thereafter. Enjoy the read and have a great weekend!

COURSE REVIEW

Charlotte Country Club: The Best Course In Charlotte?

I recently had the opportunity to play Charlotte Country Club for the first time with a couple friends and a fantastic member host. The course has been near the top of my target list since 2018 when the club hosted the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, which regrettably no longer gets the TV airtime it once did.

As Andrew Green prepares to break ground on a major renovation project this fall, here are a few takeaways from my first trip around what many consider to be Charlotte’s best golf course.

The land: Charlotte Country Club is blessed with an awesome property. The broad slopes, meandering creeks, attractive native areas, and 100-year-old oaks provide visual appeal, while the sloping fairways, elevation changes, and raised greens give the course plenty of challenge. You won’t see many approach shots played from a perfectly level lie at CCC.

The course is generally quite open, with long views across adjacent holes available from most sections of the property. The main exception is holes 1-4, which occupy their own corner and feel a bit more isolated, but the scale of the property becomes immediately apparent as you exit the 4th green.

Donald Ross’s routing at Charlotte maximizes the naturally features of the course, exploring the land’s highs and lows in a style typical of the Scot and draping fairways directly over significant slopes. Tees typically sit in close proximity to the preceding green, allowing the round to flow naturally from one hole to the next.

The layout: The course is made up of 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s and only 2 par 5s - a unique combination for a par 71. There are very few obvious birdie holes on the course, an attribute that, coupled with the lack of level lies mentioned above, mandates precise iron play for those that want to score.

Charlotte is an extremely fun driving course if you’re hitting it well off the tee. The fairways offer ample width, and while there are certainly hazards present on select holes, most offer a chance for recovery from an errant tee shot.

My favorite section of the course was holes 4-6, a stretch of 3 consecutive par 4s covering some of the most interesting terrain on the property. Routing constraints often lead architects to creative solutions, and Ross found a diverse string of holes to get himself out of the corner visited by holes 1-3. The trio won’t jump out on the scorecard, but offered a great variety of strategies and were simply a blast to play.

The conditions: I expected the course to be in great shape and was not disappointed, but I was blown away by the bent grass greens. We played in late June during an unseasonably hot early summer stretch of 90+ degree weather, but the turf showed no signs of stress. I haven’t been everywhere or played every golf course, but I’m not sure I’ve seen bent greens roll that well during a heatwave of that magnitude. The speed and firmness, coupled with typical Ross humps and bumps, made the surfaces a joy to putt.

Standout holes:

#4 - 488/438 Par 4

The 4th is the kind of hole that doesn’t present well on an aerial - a top-down view shows a relatively straight, mid-length par 4 with bunkers left and right. This, however, is an example of where Google Maps lets you down, as the overhead view washes away all contour.

The challenge presented at is simple, but not easy, as a the left-to-right sloping fairway asks players to hit an iron shot from an uneven lie to an elevated target. Mix in some staggered fairway bunkering, forcing players to pick both a line and distance from the tee, and you have a classic, thought-provoking golf hole.

#5 - 372/347 Par 4

Tee shots at the 5th must clear Briar Creek and avoid the cluster of bunkers guarding the corner of the dogleg left. There is plenty of room to bail right, but those choosing to defer risk will face a longer approach to a tiered green. Framed by fescue and a couple prominent oaks, this is one of the most visually striking holes on the property.

#6 - 419/383 Par 4

Some of the best holes in golf are those where the ideal strategy is tough to decipher even after repeat play. Despite only having one crack at the 6th, I’m convinced it’s a hole where I would frequently change my approach off the tee, with recency bias driving wild swings in my decision making process.

A creek cuts in from the right, but doesn’t fully cross the fairway, making the decision to lay up short or try to skirt the trouble a bit less clear-cut. Longer hitters are tempted to blast it over the hazard and fairway bunker, but need to fit a driver into a narrowing and severely sloped landing area intent on kicking balls down and right.

The future: I’ll be honest - I didn’t walk off the 18th thinking the course was in need of a large-scale project. Ron Pritchard’s work in the early 2000s already recaptured many of the original Ross features, and the course isn’t suffering from green shrinkage, tree encroachment, or any other obvious ailments. It has been almost 20 years since the Pritchard restoration, however, so the initial impetus was likely upgrades to course infrastructure rather than a need for design changes.

Despite this, I’m excited to see what Green does with the place. He’s one of the best going when it comes to Ross, and it sounds like he has some common-sense changes in mind to make the course more playable for the average member. Some minor proposed routing changes for the 14-17 stretch should also make for a more exciting finish.

The main question top of mind for me - will the project result in CCC reclaiming a spot in the U.S. Top 100 just in time to host another slate of USGA championships? I’m excited to find out.

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