Bald Head Island

Bald Head Island Club, Bald Head Island, NC 29461

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The best golf experience along the Carolina coast you’ve likely never heard of is Bald Head Island. A trip to Bald Head requires a ferry ride, but the commitment to spending a day at the course on the exclusive island is absolutely worthwhile.

Architect Tim Cate redesigned the layout, breathing new life into a course that enjoys a stunning piece of real estate and plays along natural lagoons. Golfweek Magazine ranked Bald Head eighth on its list of the "Best Courses You Can Play” in North Carolina, a tribute to Cate’s creativity and the beauty of the property.

As part of his work, Cate transformed 35 acres of rough into waste areas with native grasses, adding significant visual contrast to a layout originally designed by George Cobb. The course has four sets of tees, ranging in length from 4,810 yards to 6,823 yards for the truly ambitious.

Most players play from the white tees (6,293 yards), and the challenge is as significant as the layout’s beauty.

Cate provides players the opportunity for a fast start with the 327-yard opening hole. There is water on both sides of the fairway but a smart tee shot will leave a short approach and hopefully an opening par. After that, though, the course quickly bares its teeth.

By the time players arrive on the 4th tee, they need to be prepared to embrace what is arguably the course’s hardest stretch. The 516-yard (all distances from the white tees) 4th hole is a doozy. The par 5 is a three-shot dogleg left that will test every facet of a player’s game, and it’s followed by a 386-yard par 4 that is framed by one of the layout’s narrowest corridors.

While Bald Head Island will test your game, the challenge is only part of the experience, which reaches a crescendo on the par-3 16th hole. An elevated tee box brings wind off the nearby Atlantic into play and golfers must carry the lagoon that fronts the green.

Bald Head Island isn’t just a round of golf, it’s a bucket list experience.