Best golf courses near Winston-salem, NC

Created by architect Perry Maxwell on the heels of his work at No. 23 Prairie Dunes and No. 28 Southern Hills, Old Town Club was surprisingly unique, and included perhaps Maxwell’s only surviving double green. When Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were hired to address the bunkering at Old Town, they opted not to reproduce the original bunkers (some of which were enormous) but rather emulate their gnarly shapes, edges and vegetation in places where bunkers naturally fit. Lots of trees had already been removed, but the architects convinced the club to get rid of even more. Now, a single swath of fairway connects the seventh, eighth, ninth, 17th and 18th holes. Very unique. The course has jumped 45 places in the rankings since it debuted in 2019.

Originally opened in 1958 and designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., Tanglewood Park’s Championship course has hosted a PGA Championship, a U.S. Amateur Public Links and a PGA Tour Champions event. In the 1974 PGA Championship at Tanglewood Park, Lee Trevino edged Jack Nicklaus by a shot, while 62-year-old Sam Snead finished tied for third. A dozen years later, Billy Mayfair captured the 1986 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Tanglewood Park. More recently in 2018, Robert Trent Jones Jr. led a restoration of the Championship layout, repositioning bunkers and converting the greens to Bermuda grass.