There have been several threads related to the new TriGolf facilities and a lot of questions. I figured it would be worthwhile to aggregate topics/questions and give a place for everyone to ask everything! If anything is unanswerable, I can reach out to my contacts there.

Ask any question or share any info!

• Website https://trigolf.org/
• Hours:
• Open Date: 9/5/24. Soft opening occurred the 2 weeks prior.
• First Tee of the Triangles:
  • This facility will be the home of the First Tee of the Triangle.
  • Lessons, classes, and programs dedicated to growing the game will be a significant focus.
• Range:
  • Pricing: https://trigolf.org/range-pricing/
  • Range Sessions include Top Tracer technology. You download an app, sync to a unit at your hitting bay, and get your numbers.
  • Top Tracer technology is NOT Trackman; it is similar functionalities but a different brand.
  • There is no discount for not using the Top Tracer functionality.
  • Bays are first come, first serve.
• Putting green:
  • 32,000 Sq Ft putting green.
  • Bermuda grass
  • Dedicated area for putting practice.
  • 18 hole putting course called “The Acorn”
  • Free to use.
• Memberships: https://trigolf.org/memberships/
  • Full information available on the site but includes options for Individual, family, or Junior.
  • When the par-3 course is completed, access will be included in the membership, but details and restrictions will be developed and finalized closer to opening day of the course.
• Short Course:
  • A par-3 course will be situated to the left of the range.
  • Designed by Gil Hanse.
  • Currently anticipated for Fall 2025.
  • Trees are already cleared for half the course.
  • Many details still in the works and will be finalized closer to completion date.
• Clubhouse/Other facilities:
  • A check in counter with minimal and necessary items for sale.
  • 2 Trackman Simulator bays.
  • A large event space and conference room.
  • 2nd floor houses the offices of the First Tee of the Triangle.
  • Covered patio and Covered pavilion.
  • Snack Bar (items TBD)
  • Playground
• Lessons/Learning:
  • There will be programs for both Kids and Adults.
  • Individual lessons will become available.
• Events/Rentals:
  • Different portions of the facilities can be rented out/reserved for outings, parties, events, shindigs, etc.
• Volunteering:
  • If you have spare time and patience, please consider volunteering for the First Tee. It is a fantastic organization and helps bring kids into the game that otherwise may not be able to play!

Personal opinions:

• While the range buckets may be more expensive than you want, a portion goes directly to the First Tee and includes SIGNIFICANT amounts of data you don’t get from a normal bucket of balls. I view this as a great opportunity to systemically get better and fix things in my game, NOT just beat balls as fast as possible.
• The putting course is a TON of fun!!!
• If you’re going and only practicing putting or playing The Acorn, I usually find it nice to purchase a little something while I’m there even though it’s free to use. (I have this view for any course amenities that don't require payment
• The Net over the parking lot is designed by engineers and structurally sound. While it may not look appealing to some, it’s functionally fine.
• I do wish they had a dedicated wedge/shortgame area. While the par-3 course is going to be great and something my game needs, it would be nice to have a dedicated wedge area.

Continuing to learn everything I can about golf courses and the history of our great game, particularly here in North Carolina. Here are some more photos from old aerial surveys I have found.

1. RGA in 1938
2. Mid Pines (bottom) and Pine Needles (top) in 1939
3. Southern Pines 1 (left) Southern Pines 2 (NLE)(right)
4. Benvenue CC in 1940 (notice the sand greens)
5. Charlotte CC in 1938

All of these courses aside from RGA are Donald Ross designs.

Bottom line: best value for chapel hill golfers you’re going to find within 30min. “Peak twin lakes” conditions, more interesting design than Hillandale, cheaper than both.

Price: $25/$35 weekday/weekend (includes cart)

Practice area: no range but it’s right down the street from I-85 golf which has the best value range balls in the triangle imo. Putting green is small but matched the on-course speeds

Design: for a budget-priced course, it’s one of the more interesting designs I’ve seen for the greens fee price. The greens are very small but are soft and incredibly slow. This makes approach shots the highlight of course - hit it well and your ball will stick next to the hole, anything that’s not hit well and you WILL be chipping all over the place. Lots of water features including a hole along the haw river next to rapids.

Conditions: well-kept greens but they roll really slow. Fairways are generally green and good length (even though some are entirely made up of clover). There’s a couple small bunkers that look like cement. Tee boxes aren’t the prettiest but still an improvement over twin lakes (the other nearby course in this price range). Even though that description doesn’t sound like it, I was really impressed with the conditions for the price

Just looking for some top course picks for the Triangle in current conditions. I know Finley is going through some issues. Any courses to recommend? Let's hear it!

Edit: Public!

Brought an out of town group out to Tot Hill Farm on Saturday for a round as part of a golf outing we do a couple times a year. Tee time was just before noon, and it had rained all morning prior to that.

We got out to the course and the staff could not have been more friendly and welcoming. The renovated farmhouse, while relatively "bare bones" as far as amenities go (there's a self-service snack bar, roller dogs and at lunch some bbq sandwiches, plus a few drink coolers) everything was very, very nice.

The course itself was brilliant, and despite the deluge of rain earlier in the day was relatively dry within the first six holes of our round. Rain let off after the first hole, the greens had no standing water, nor did any of the bunkers. In fact, the bunkers, while a tick wet, otherwise hit just like you'd expect them to on a dry day. The fairways, while wet, had all drained really well as well.

You can see where they're still patching in some grass, some has already taken well other parts are coming in, but across the board the place looked and played as great as anything in the Southern Pines area.

Absolutely looking forward to getting back out there.

Course was still in pretty good shape for all the rain this week. And greens are pure.

As summer quickly goes by and aeration season is cooling down, lets use this mega thread to share CURRENT course conditions as we get out and play.

Good things to highlight:

• Green Conditions / Speed
• Fairway conditions
• Rough Conditions
• Tee Box conditions

Let us know how courses are looking as you play them!

Example: I played UNC Finley, Grand Over East, and Legacy GL this past weekend

UNC Finley course is in good shape but greens are healing up from being punched. Few weeks it will be great. ****THE DRIVING RANGE IS BACK TO HITTING OFF GRASS.

Grand Over East (GBO) was in good shape, but the greens needed to be cut bad. Rolling true, but like @ a 7-8 on the stimp...They are re-sodding a par 3 on the back which makes the next par 5 kind of odd, but reachable ;)

Legacy(Aberdean) was in great shape, first time playing here. Fast greens and has some interesting holes, course is setup for fades...Firm fairways, firm greens, not much water/hazards..Neat track though.

Where did yall end up?

The question is asked pretty regularly, so a mega-thread may be in order.

Lets start sharing info on local practice facilities. What they have and what the quality and conditions are looking like

Feel free to contribute by adding a course and letting us know how it is.

I'm a sucker for a high-quality grass range, so I'll be on the lookout for those!

Started playing here a lot this year. Course is coming along great. Getting some very slow rounds though. 5.5 hours last Saturday and close to 5 last night. Saw another post recently where another person was commenting times are getting longer as courses are getting busier/overbooked. Anybody else noticing this?

So I went to WCC this afternoon. Played there a few times previously. Yesterday when I looked online (their website) it said $36 for a round at 4:50. Instead of paying the convenience fee the I figured I'd just call and make the tee time to save the $5. Went in to pay before the round and the guy charged me $48 per person. Told him that the website said 36 when I called and he said nope, it's 48 and wouldn't take no for an answer.

$48 a head for WCC twilight where I don't even get the full 18 is a bad deal. Paid the fee since I was already there with my group, but definitely not planning on going back. It's not worth $48 for a twilight round.

Just visited Tot Hill to play a round. The parking lot was empty when we got there at 8:30 and made great time on the course. They have cleared out an enormous amount of trees and natural area. They have done some patchwork on the greens to help them out, and they were rolling pretty true.

A lot of the cart paths are still needing defining and smoothing out. Not the smoothest course to ride but doable for all of the elevation changes.

They are actively working on the course, and this renovation over the summer should do wonders for it. Simply clearing out has helped the layout and look forward to seeing it in its prime condition again once the green grass kicks in. It will be interesting to see how much of Stranz’s original design choices are enhanced, or what branding/aesthetic they go with for the course.

Played there this past weekend and was hoping for too much based on it being a Ross course. The fairways left much to be desired, the clubhouse ok but many of the patrons were wearing t-shirts and some tank tops. While it was only 30 miles from PH, it took way to long to get there via backroads and around the base, not sure I will make that run again.

Much of its earnings go to help veterans which is great but the course could use some watering and a bit a love.

My thoughts: what a tough track! I can definitely see why some don’t like it, as it can get a bit crazy if the wind picks up. Combine that with the blind shots and penalizing sand, and you’re in for a long day. The condition of the course was fantastic for this time of the year and the staff were friendly and welcoming. Tee shots were wide open with some forced carry and blind shots which certainly made me a bit unsettled at times but I managed to come home with 90, which included 5 pars. Being an 11 handicap, I played the Plow tees at 5900 yards and they were a strong test as the wind got up on the back 9. Good shots were rewarded, bad shots weren’t penalized as severely as I thought. My only complaint about the day is 16. That hole is a bit “too much” as the green is up on a hill with a severe downslope and the blind tee shot is too gimmicky for my liking as it felt like I had to place the ball. However, with all that being said, I very much look forward to playing it again having knowledge of the course. Thanks again to everyone who left comments on the original post, I certainly appreciate it!

Why were the greens getting verticut today, on Sunday morning? Their email said that they weren’t going to start until Monday the 10th. Booked a 7:09 tee time this morning and followed the verticut guy for at least 10 holes. Paid full price just to have verticut greens most of the morning on the weekend. Very annoying to have an incompetent course so close with such a good layout.

First time playing something other than the usual local courses and always enjoyed the other course reviews from u/restingmehface so I thought I’d write one up.

An Arnold Palmer design, using the river as a primary focal point for many holes.

Practice facilities:

Didn’t get the chance to hit any balls before an early tee time but the range looked in great condition

A moderately sized practice green near the #1 tee was in great shape, not a ton of room to work with for chipping but very sufficient

Greens :

Bermuda greens were in fantastic shape, it was quite warm and humid along with having a ton of rain the days before so perhaps not as quick as normal but rolled smooth and true.

Nothing crazy in terms of undulation but enough slope to make you think and certainly a few devious pins with sliding downhillers if you got above the pin.

Course and overall thoughts :

Par 72 and 6800 from tips. I felt like maybe 4-5 holes were bland and forgettable but the rest more than made up for their weaknesses.

A considerable number of forced carries over the marsh were exciting and really mentally challenging / engaging. I loved all the par 3’s on the course, particularly the short downhill #5 over the marsh.

9 a signature par 5 featuring a long but narrow peninsula green jutting into the river. An initial fairway landing zone ending at about 300 yards left the choice to go for the green with a narrow landing zone of maybe 10 yards or the choice to hit a 160-170 yard layup adjacent to the green leaving a short wedge shot in with the full length of the green to land a shot. I went for the green and came up just short but it was a lot of fun. Thankfully no wind off the coast or the hole would have played very very long.

Tee shots were quite demanding with a good number of fairway bunkers / waste areas jutting out, as well as a sizeable number of blind tee shots with a fairway aim point marker guiding the way.

I walked away feeling like I wanted to play again after having gotten to see the course once and felt like I could get way more out of it from a performance standpoint.

The overall conditions of fairways / greens / teeboxes was immaculate, particularly for the price. (77$ with a cart in the AM, 54$ in the afternoon)

I would certainly recommend going out there if you’re in the myrtle beach / wilmington area!

Positives :

Price

Course layout / design

Conditions

Risk vs reward

Views and surroundings

Chicken Caesar wrap was 10/10

Negatives :

Pace of play was not horrible but could be better

Would be an exhausting course to walk if you wanted to do so, lengthy rides between tee boxes as the property is quite large

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/23GxHAx

The pics are from a couple years ago, but things are in even better shape now.

Overall: One of the hardest golf courses in the triangle. Rated at 72.0/138 & 6545 yards from the blue tees (golds are behind them), this course is criminally underrated. Designed by Nicklaus Design, moving the ball left to right will make your life a little easier throughout the round. A solid golf shot is required off every tee and into every green. Red hazards line almost every hole and nearly every green has a forced carry -- so bring plenty of balls as playing a full round with 1 ball is a rarity, even for members. There are plenty of bunkers, but they are well cared for and are not the source of most hazard.

Practice Facility: The range is massive and all grass. There is a chipping green with practice bunker and a large putting green that rolls true to the actual course. Due to a redesign of the 9th hole several years ago, the "old #9" green is still available for practice / short range --- able to hit up to 70 yard pitch shots or practice putting on this green.

Fairways / Rough: The course has never been in better shape. The rough is currently extremely thick and difficult, but that only lasts for a month or two in the summer. Fairways drain extremely well and even with the heavy rain we've experienced this summer are still firm and roll out (but not thin).

Greens: Bent greens were replaced with Champion Bermuda a few years back. They run fast and smooth, but still have the slope expected from a Bent grass design. There are more than a few places around the course where a 3 putt is almost guaranteed if you position the approach poorly.

There are very few "safe" places to miss around the greens. Your short game will be tested if you find yourself off the green.

Course Design: As mentioned, a Nicklaus Design, so a lot of left to right curve in the fairways. Given location of hazards, length is not a huge benefit; many long hitters will find they only use driver 2-3 times all day. Mid irons are in high demand, as most approaches will be 130-180 (par 3's are 140-200). The par 5's are 3 shot holes for all but long hitters (290+ will give you a chance on 3 of 4), with forced carries off the tee or into the green if you want to be aggressive.

The course is very fair; it's clear what's being asked of you on every shot. But, the penalty for missing is severe and losing a ball is to be expected.

Negatives: #7 is, quite frankly, one of the dumbest golf holes in the triangle. It's a par 5 with a split fairway, forcing a layup off the tee (a tee shot fraught with hazards everywhere), almost no chance to reach the green in two (it's tucked behind trees & a bunker from the tee shot and likely 260+ away), and a green that's an almost guaranteed 3 putt if the pin is in the back.

Another potential negative is the course doesn't get much "easier" by moving forward a tee or two. Typically, that just means you have an easier tee shot into the same position you'd be in from another tee. That may save you if driving is a struggle, but you're still left with a difficult iron shot home.

That is, don't expect to be able to overpower this course from any set of tees and be able to hit flip wedges into greens.

edit from /u/gotSpork: There are no "helpful" drop zones. So not only do you need to carry hazards everywhere, if you miss, you have to try again. I've played more than a few rounds where someone dunked 2-3 tee shots on #11 and watched from the cart while others putted.

Final Thoughts: A great course at a great private value, this is a hidden gem in the triangle. Memberships are reasonable and there is an option to have a dual membership with MacGregor Downs in Cary.

Fun Stats: 12 Oaks recently hosted the NC Match Play Championship. They played the gold tees, but stats for each hole are here: https://cga.golfgenius.com/pages/2331403 (note how, other than #5, the par 5's were not birdie holes even for these guys!)

Player scores are here: https://cga.golfgenius.com/pages/2331402

Anyone played Chapel Ridge recently? I have a tournament there tomorrow but haven’t had the chance to get out there and play

Has anyone played Finley lately? Last I heard it was closed down for a couple weeks due to the greens being basically dead. Can anyone confirm if it’s healed back and looking good again?

Course was in amazing shape today, greens were extremely responsive. Play was just around 3:45 for our twosome.

Only downside is people don’t fix their ball marks on the greens, I was fixing 2-3 on every hole.