Outer Banks Ranks as North Carolina's No. 2 Golf Getaway

The most authoritative statewide source of golf course rankings in a state that arguably has some of the nation's best courses has spoken ... the Outer Banks boasts the No. 2 golf getaway and top coastal excursion in North Carolina.

When 135 members of the esteemed North Carolina Golf Panel, founded in 1995, were asked: If you had to put together a three-day golf trip within the state - public and semi-private courses only - where would you play?

Following a trip to Pinehurst to play No. 2, No. 8 and Pine Needles, the panel selected a getaway to the Outer Banks to experience three courses all ranked among the Top 50 You Can Play in North Carolina, including No. 20 Currituck Club, No. 25 Kilmarlic Golf Club and No. 36 Nags Head Golf Links. In addition, Kilmarlic rated as the state's Most Fun Coastal Course to Play and Nags Head checked in at No. 4.

Golf around North Carolina's storied Outer Banks represents an outstanding selection of fun and affordable yet quality golf courses - along with eclectic accommodations and a plethora of off-course activities that have transformed the Outer Banks into a mini-Mecca sportsman's paradise.

A famous expression coined long ago at Cahoon's Grocery and Variety Store in Nags Head goes, "If we don't have it, you don't need it." This OBX motto could easily be applied to its golf. From true barrier island links courses to modern parkland marvels located inland, the region is so chock full of variety, golfers truly don't have to go anywhere else. The challenges at The Pointe Golf Club, The Carolina Club, Nags Head, Kilmarlic and Currituck Club are as spectacular as the coastal views they possess. There may be no better location for an affordable and memorable spring golf getaway than the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Every time golfers tackle historic Nags Head, they find themselves facing a different challenge. Crafted by Bob Moore, Nags Head plays hard along the inner waterway on the southern end of the Outer Banks, where capricious breezes off sound-side waters create a unique golfing experience each and every day. With its coastal winds, rugged shoreline, island holes, seaside vistas, and tees and greens are separated by rolling dunes and wild sea grass, Nags Head bears far more than a passing resemblance to the famed Scottish golf links.

Afternoon drives take on a whole new meaning along the coast just minutes north of Rees Jones's 18-hole gem known as The Currituck Club, No. 66 in North Carolina's Top 100 and the grandest design along the coast "sculpted on the type of land where golf began" among 600 acres of dunes, wetlands, maritime forests and sound seascapes.

Home to a dozen new golf cottages located near its entrance, Kilmarlic is a popular Tom Steele design nestled along the marshland of the Albemarle Sound. North Carolina's No. 83 course in the Top 100 is a wonderful mainland design amidst 605 beautiful acres of maritime forest providing a pure OBX layout with water and wetlands virtually in play at all times.

Located just across the Wright Memorial Bridge, The Pointe is the first in a sequence of championship golf courses - layouts close to the sounds and ocean but more parkland in settings. The course is also said to be the first in the country to have the A-1 bent grass - a dense, disease-resistant strain - installed across its corridors. Meanwhile, The Carolina Club's positioning as the first design heading into town from the north and last one on the way out makes it the ideal play on either side of your OBX golf getaway.

More Outer Banks golf package info found at www.PlayOBXGolf.com.