Duck Woods Country Club, Southern Shores, NC

Nice course. Especially tough if you are having a rough day.

Played Duck Woods on a hot early May Friday. The course was in nice shape. The greens were smooth and in nice shape. Greens fees today included a cart and full use of the practice area, which consists of a grass tee range, a chipping area and a putting green. I got there about 90 minutes before my tee time and made some ample use of the practice facilities.

The course features quite a bit of water. Hits over water and water to the sides of fairways and greens. If you are a pretty good golfer who hits crisp golf shots, you can eat this course up. If you are a 20 handicapper like me that does not always hit the crispiest shots and relies on roll on mis-hits, you will struggle here, as I did on this day.

Duck Woods has 4 sets of tees. The furthest tees - the blacks - measure 6,600+ yards. The shortest tees - the reds - measure about 5,100 yards. The blues measure about 6,200 yards and the whites measure about 5,600 yards.

The course is semi-private. Their website implies that they are a private club, but if you call them up, they will allow the public to play. The members and the staff that I met were friendly and accommodating.

The price on Outer Banks golf courses vary greatly with the season. Simple supply and demand here. There are lots of tourists in the summer and not many golf courses. During the peak season, OBX courses get more than twice what they get for greens fees in the winter. The price for golf at Duck Woods was about average for courses in the area.

In summary, it looks like a fun course if you are playing well and quite frustrating if you are not. I will need to play it again to get it back for what it did to me on this day. If you are in the Outer Banks, give them a call and set up a time.