Pinehurst No. 2 continues to lead the way in '22 N.C. Golf Panel rankings

March 31, 2022

Pinehurst No. 2 has once again secured the top spot as the best golf course in the state as determined by the North Carolina Golf Panel. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, site for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open from June 2-5, moved up one spot to third. The Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed Dormie Club in West End made a significant move in the rankings from 33^rd to 20^th. Previously unranked Southern Pines Golf Club cracked the Top 100 in the 88^th spot, clearly recognized for the recent renovation of the original Donald Ross design by noted golf course architect Kyle Franz.

The North Carolina Golf Panel was founded in 1995 and is recognized as the most authoritative statewide source of golf course rankings in a state that arguably boasts some of the nation’s best courses. The 135-member panel is composed of golf media, club professionals and general managers from many outstanding courses, accomplished amateur players and college golf coaches, and others who play an active role in promoting golf in North Carolina.

“Our destination is blessed with not just great golf courses, but also world-class ones and the rankings demonstrate once again why our area is the undisputable ‘Home of American Golf,’” said Phil Werz, president and CEO for the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Golfers from around the world annually make the pilgrimage to the Pinehurst area to play our courses and it is the driving force of our tourism economy.”

Among the 2022 rankings of the Top 100 Courses in North Carolina, a total of 16 are located in the Pinehurst Area. Those rankings include: Pinehurst No. 2 (#1); Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club (#3); The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood, #4); Pinehurst No. 4 (#8); Pinehurst No. 8 (#15); CCNC (Cardinal, #17); Dormie Club (#20); Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club (#21); Forest Creek (South, #28); Pinehurst No. 9 (#31); Forest Creek (North, #33); Mid South Club (#38); Pinehurst No. 7 (#50); Pinewild (Magnolia, #61); Talamore Resort (The New Course #81) and Southern Pines Golf Club (#88).

The panel also ranked the Top 50 Courses You Can Play and the Pinehurst area once again dominated the list with 15 locations, or 30 percent of the clubs, including the top six and eight of the top 11. The top six include Pinehurst No. 2, Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Pinehurst No. 4, Pinehurst No. 8, Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club and Pinehurst No. 9. Mid South Club moved up one spot to eighth and Pinehurst No. 7 eleventh. Other golf clubs among the Top 50 include The New Course at Talamore (#24), Southern Pines Golf Club (#28), Pinehurst No. 6 (#38), Legacy Golf Links (#39), Tobacco Road (#40), Longleaf Golf and Family Club (#42) and Hyland Golf Club (#49).

The Panel also created two additional categories for the top five Best Short(er) Courses and Best Resorts in North Carolina. Southern Pines Golf Club is ranked as the third best short(er) course and Pinehurst Resort and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club earned the top two spots for best resorts in the state.

“Most golfers in North Carolina, particularly if this is the only place you’ve lived, likely don’t appreciate how lucky they are to have the Sandhills region practically in their backyard,” said Kevin Brafford, executive director of the N.C. Golf Panel. “If it was only Pinehurst Resort, it’d be unique and special unto itself. But to have so many other tremendous courses within miles of each other is remarkable. There’s truly no other place like it in the world.”

Pinehurst area golf courses are no strangers to the national and global stage as well when it comes to major championships. This year, the U.S. Women’s Open returns to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in June. The U.S. Open will be back at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024, marking the fourth such major championship to be played at the historic club over the course of 25 years (1999, 2005, 2014 and 2024), the most to be played over the course of a quarter century than any other location in the country. Pinehurst No. 2 will host additional U.S. Open championships in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047. In 2029, Pinehurst No. 2 will once again host back-to-back men’s and women’s U.S. Open championships, a repeat of the only course in America to host that tandem of events in 2014.

For more information about all golf courses in the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen area, visit HomeofGolf.com. For the complete list of the Top 100 Courses for 2022, Top 50 Courses You Can Play and other rankings, visit NCGolfPanel.com.

Top 100 Courses for 2022 (second number is previous year’s ranking)