By The Triad is one of the most underrated golf destinations in North Carolina. Within a short drive of Greensboro you can play a Pete Dye municipal masterpiece, walk the fairways where Lee Trevino won a major, and tackle two resort courses built by a US Open champion, all without the crowds (or the green fees) of the mountains or the coast. Whether you live here and want a reliable weekend tee time or you are visiting and want to build a golf trip around it, here are the best courses in the Triad and exactly how to play them.
Bryan Park Golf & Conference Center (Greensboro)
If a local had to name one place to send a visiting golfer, it would probably be Bryan Park. This Greensboro-owned facility along Lake Townsend offers two full 18-hole championship courses and consistently ranks among the best public golf in the state.
The Champions Course is the showstopper: a 1990 Rees Jones design with 97 sand bunkers, rolling grass hollows, and seven holes that border the lake. It hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur Public Links and plays as a genuine tournament test from the back tees. The older Players Course opened in 1974 as a George Cobb design and was reworked by Rees Jones in 1988. It is friendlier off the tee and a smart choice if you want to score rather than survive.
Best of all, the value is excellent for the quality. Posted rates include green fee, cart, and tax, and Greensboro residents receive a discount, so this is a course locals can play often.
- Address: 6275 Bryan Park Road, Greensboro, NC 27214
- Phone: (336) 375-2200
- Rates (Champions): roughly $63 weekdays and $74 weekends, cart and tax included; senior, junior, and twilight discounts available. Players Course runs a few dollars less.
- Website: bryanpark.com
Tanglewood Park Golf (Clemmons)
Just west of Winston-Salem in Clemmons sits the most historically significant course in the region. Tanglewood Park is home to two Robert Trent Jones Sr. designs, and the Championship Course hosted the 1974 PGA Championship, where Lee Trevino edged Jack Nicklaus by a single stroke for the first of his two PGA titles. Playing it today, you walk the same heavily bunkered, rolling layout that tested the best players in the world, and it is regularly cited as one of the top public courses in North Carolina.
The second 18, the Reynolds Course, is the better value play: tree-lined, full of doglegs and elevation changes, and forgiving enough for a relaxed round. Both courses sit inside Tanglewood Park along the Yadkin River, so you can pair golf with the park’s trails, gardens, and seasonal Festival of Lights.
- Address: 100 Clubhouse Circle, Clemmons, NC 27012
- Phone: (336) 703-6420
- Hours: roughly 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily (seasonal daylight dependent)
- Rates: Championship from about $58 weekdays and $68 weekends; Reynolds from about $38 weekdays and $44 weekends
- Website: golf.tanglewoodpark.org
Oak Hollow Golf Course (High Point)
Here is the Triad’s best-kept secret: one of the very few Pete Dye-designed municipal courses in the country, and you can play it for around the price of a nice dinner. Oak Hollow opened in 1972 and carries all the Dye trademarks that make his courses famous and infuriating in equal measure: small, undulating greens, railroad ties, pot bunkers, peninsula greens, and even an island tee.
For visitors who want the Dye experience without a destination-resort price tag, and for Triad locals who want a genuinely strategic course in regular rotation, Oak Hollow is hard to beat. The clubhouse includes a pro shop and a grill room serving breakfast and lunch.
- Address: 3400 North Centennial Street, High Point, NC 27265
- Phone: (336) 883-3260
- Rates: around $30 weekdays (about $24 for seniors) and $34 on weekends and holidays
- Hours: seasonal, so call ahead before driving over
- Website: oakhollowgc.com
Grandover Resort (Greensboro)
For the closest thing the Triad has to a true golf resort, head to Grandover on the south side of Greensboro. At its heart are two 18-hole championship courses, East and West, designed by David Graham (a US Open and PGA Championship winner) and Gary Panks. The East Course opened in 1996 and stretches to roughly 7,250 yards from the tips; the West, which opened a year later, is slightly hillier, tighter, and carries a hint of links-style character. The pair has hosted multiple NCAA Division III national championships and an NCAA Division I regional.
Grandover joined the Wyndham Grand collection in 2022, so this is also the natural choice if you want to stay and play. The resort offers golf packages, a spa, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis, and on-site dining, all about 16 miles from Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO). It is an easy, Expedia-bookable base for a golf weekend that keeps non-golfing companions happy too.
- Address: 1000 Club Road, Greensboro, NC 27407
- Phone: (336) 294-1800
- Lodging: full-service resort with rooms, suites, golf packages, and a spa
- Website: Visit Greensboro: Grandover Golf Club
Gillespie Golf Course (Greensboro): History on the Fairway
No Triad golf guide is complete without Gillespie. Built in 1941 as a Works Progress Administration project and originally laid out by acclaimed architect Perry Maxwell, this east Greensboro course is one of the most historically important pieces of ground in American golf.
On December 7, 1955, six Black men led by Dr. George Simkins Jr. challenged the course’s whites-only policy by playing a peaceful round. Their arrest and the legal fight that followed helped force the desegregation of public golf courses across the South. The men became known as the Greensboro Six, and a historical marker on the grounds tells their story. Today Gillespie is a 9-hole course with dual tees for an 18-hole experience, plus a short course, driving range, pro shop, and grill, and it has become a leader in inclusive golf as North Carolina’s first PGA HOPE host site for veterans.
It is also one of the most affordable rounds in the city, which makes it a perfect introduction for new and casual players.
- Address: 306 E. Florida Street, Greensboro, NC 27406
- Rates: around $20 to $24 for 9 or 18 holes with a cart; a twilight walking special is typically about $11
- More info: City of Greensboro Golf Courses and the Greensboro Parks Foundation
How to Build a Triad Golf Trip
The beauty of golfing in the Triad is geography: Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, and Clemmons all sit within about 30 to 40 minutes of one another along the I-40 and I-85 corridors. That makes a multi-course weekend genuinely easy to schedule.
A sample two-day itinerary
- Day 1 morning: Bryan Park Champions Course in north Greensboro, then lunch.
- Day 1 afternoon or Day 2 morning: Oak Hollow in High Point for the Pete Dye challenge at a municipal price.
- Day 2: Drive west to Tanglewood Park in Clemmons to play the 1974 PGA Championship course.
- Anytime: Add a quick, meaningful round at Gillespie to connect with the region’s civil rights history.
Where to stay
For a stay-and-play base, Grandover Resort keeps you on a course property and within easy reach of all of the above. If you would rather be downtown near restaurants and breweries, Greensboro and Winston-Salem both offer a deep bench of Expedia-bookable hotels and inns, from full-service downtown properties to budget-friendly options near the interstates.
Seasons and booking
Piedmont golf runs essentially year-round, with peak conditions in spring (April and May) and fall (September and October). Summer plays hot and humid, so book early tee times or take advantage of twilight rates. Winter rounds are common on mild days but check ahead, since hours contract with daylight. For trip planning beyond golf, Visit Greensboro and Visit NC are useful starting points.
Planning tip: Always reserve tee times online or by phone, especially for weekend mornings at Bryan Park and Tanglewood, and ask whether the rate quoted already includes cart and tax (at Bryan Park and Tanglewood it generally does). Mention residency or senior status when you book, because several of these courses post meaningful local and twilight discounts that are easy to miss.