The Club At Irish Creek, Kannapolis, NC

A very nice course.

The Club at Irish Creek is a private course, but they let my wife and me, both New Yorkers, play on a nice September Friday, during a recent trip down to North Carolina under their member for a day special. We came across this course by searching Golflink for courses about halfway between Charlotte (where we watched the NY football Giants put a hurting on the Panthers) and Winston-Salem (where we watched Wake Forest beat Army). The member for a day special is really for people interested in trying out the course for potential membership, but the staff let us on knowing that we would not be joining and for that, we were very thankful for that accommodation.

The facilities are excellent. The locker rooms are first class. Their practice facility features a grass tee driving range, a large practice green and a practice bunker. Since we arrived about an hour before our tee time, we made ample use of the practice facilities.

The course itself is a hilly layout near a river (I would guess that the river is called Irish Creek, but I am not sure). The river comes into play on some holes. The 8th hole is a par 3 that requires a carry over some water with the river on your left hand side not far from the green and a nasty bunker just to the right of the green. A very nice, challenging hole.

The layout is a par 71 and the yardage measures about 7,100 from the tips (championship) and 5,100 from the ladies tees. There are two intermediate distance tees - the back tees at 6,500 yards and the whites at 5,900 yards. The whites were challenging enough for this 20 handicapper.

They charged us $45 each to play with a cart. I thought that was a very reasonable price.

In summary, a great course and a recommended play if you can get on it.