Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

We’re well and truly in the offseason now! Not a lot of great golf opportunities in the 10-day forecast. The 2DP agenda is starting to reflect the weather as well - less tournament updates, more general news, course takes, and anticipation for the 2026 season.

Busy and diverse newsletter this week - we have a Carolinas perspective on the new World Top 100 list from Golf.com, a Day Trips profile contributed by friend and subscriber David Edwards, plus our typical news round-up. Let’s get to it.

THIS WEEK’S HEADLINE

Another year, another rankings bump for Perry Maxwell’s North Carolina masterpiece, this time in Golf.com’s latest World Top 100. Moving up 4 spots on the latest list, Old Town Club has been consistently climbing the rankings since the course’s 2013 restoration project led by Coore & Crenshaw. At 80th in the world and 32nd in the U.S (per Golf.com), OTC finds itself pressing ever higher in to the upper echelons of world golf - fun to see little old Winston-Salem on the list sandwiched between Te Arai, New Zealand and Wassenaar, Netherlands!

Among the names falling off the list was Charleston’s Yeamans Hall Club, the highly regarded 1925 Seth Raynor design that has been a mainstay on recent top 100 lists. YHC’s exclusion comes as a surprise given modern raters’ propensity to give an edge to classic designs, but the sheer volume of high quality golf development happening globally means someone has to get bumped to make room for new entrants.

Rounding out the Carolinas contingent were Pinehurst No. 2 and the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which clocked in at 20th and 71st, respectively, though both only moved 1 spot in either direction (Pinehurst up, Kiawah down). Old Barnwell and Wade Hampton joined Yeamans Hall on the “Next 50” list.

Pinch of salt: Compulsory disclaimer that ranking golf courses is a silly and subjective endeavor, but it is a lot of fun! Quibble about the specific numbers, but it’s a great conversation piece and a helpful tool to reference when crafting your bucket list.

Mind blown: I’m still reeling from Andy Johnson’s ranking thoughts on a recent Fried Egg Golf Podcast. He critiqued modern rankings for only rewarding a few types of courses - high-end privates, resorts, and destinations clubs - that present a “premium” product and cost a lot to play. He likened this to only awarding Michelin stars to fine dining establishments - excluding other types of restaurants that serve different cuisine or have lower price points. I can’t do the take justice but I’m still chewing on it - go listen yourself starting at 7:30.

DAY TRIPS

If I asked you what you know about Pete Dye, you’d likely mention TPC Sawgrass, pot bunkers and railroad ties, or start cursing his courses’ difficulty, but you might not know he designed a public course in High Point, NC that at peak will run you $45 (with a cart).

Located 90 miles northeast of Charlotte along the shoreline of Oak Hollow Lake, Oak Hollow Golf Course is a municipal facility that hides its genius behind modest fairways and small-town charm. Measuring just over 6,500 yards, the course isn’t long or loud, but that’s precisely the point - length is irrelevant here. The course opened in 1972, a time when Dye was changing the direction of golf course architecture (listen to Bill Coore tell the story at 6:00) with his short, quirky courses emphasizing strategy and finesse (like Harbour Town). Like Dye’s adopted home state (he attended the Asheville School), the course has a diverse landscape, with hilly land near the clubhouse and flatter holes along the water.

Oak Hollow plays with your head. Fairways pinch and twist at unexpected angles, and greens tilt just enough to make a 5-footer feel like a 10-footer. Deep pot bunkers, bulkheads, and visual deception - the signatures we love (or hate) from big-name Dye courses like the Ocean Course and Whistling Straits are all evidenced on public soil in the heart of North Carolina.

The 5th (par 5, 481 yards) and 6th (par 4, 420 yards) are classic examples of the risk/reward tension Dye is known to create. The lake flanks the entire left side, the fairway cants toward the hazard, and the green dares you to flirt with the edge for a better angle. The hole is a riddle with no single answer - just shades of gray and a simple question - can you hit that shot? The course challenges your ability to assess risk and make good choices from start to finish, like at the par 4 11th, where a centerline tree forces you in to a decision. A similar dynamic exists at the driveable 17th, where greenside bunkers right and a difficult recovery left make laying up a serious consideration despite the number on the card.

There’s something poetic about a world-class design living as a public course in a working-class town. Locals might not speak in architectural terms, but they feel what Dye intended - a golf course that demands imagination, not muscle. You’ll feel that too at Oak Hollow as you think your way around the course, knowing Dye is ready to punish lack of execution or commitment at any moment.

The influence of Pete Dye and his wife Alice stretched far beyond championship venues. Their work inspired a generation of architects to think differently about what golf could be - how design could challenge and charm all at once. Though a bit fuzzy and covered by municipal turf, it’s all on display at Oak Hollow.

After your round, you can settle your bets at Brown Truck Brewery, only 10 minutes down the road, where you’ll find a similar community feel and cheap beer (especially for us Charlotteans!). If you find a Saturday with some free time and a desire to escape the Charlotte golf scene, snag a tee time and take the 90-minute drive to High Point. It’s well worth the visit.

STORIES TO TRACK

Clubhouse Demolition Begins at Carolina Golf Club: CGC finally broke ground on its protracted $23 million clubhouse and course renovation project, which has seen numerous delays driven by higher-than-expected costs and member backlash. The new facility, which will be 2 stories vs. the previous 1, is designed to be about 40% larger than the old clubhouse, with added space for underground cart storage, expanded member bar/dining options, and more.

New Holland Golf Club the Latest Addition to Booming Aiken Golf Scene: The course, which is described as being “across the street” from The Tree Farm, will be designed by Brian Schneider, who gained national acclaim for his work at nearby Old Barnwell. The development team promises an “old school” environment and a course that honors the natural terrain. Apparently the math is still penciling out: cheap land + sandy soil + year-round golf + Masters tourism dollars = build more golf!

The Tree Farm to Host Elite Mid-Am Tournament in 2026: First reported by the folks at MidAmGolfHQ (great follow and monthly newsletter!), the inaugural Tree Farm Invitational will be 36 holes of Stableford and will take place January 25-27, 2026. We’ve showered Broomsedge with praise for the club’s willingness to host, so the same credit is due here. The club hosted the Carolinas PGA Professional Championship in September and will again open its doors to outside play during Masters Week.

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