Hampton Heights Golf Course

This muni located in city limits has always been a convenient place to play a fast round or hit a bucket of balls. The tiny upside down bowl shaped bermuda greens were always in good shape and slow. NOT ANY MORE, the greens keeper as I was told sprayed 5 or 6 times the amount of weed killer on all the greens and succeeded in killing them down to the dirt. Not worth cart fee to play now. The only upside is the driving range is open, the club repair shop owner has 40 years experience working on clubs and is reasonable. Told they were going to resod greens and they better.

I’ve been playing this course since I first started playing 25 years ago. Very straightforward layout, no bunkers, but you can find trouble on some holes. Several overhanging tree limbs need to be cut, but it’s a very player-friendly course and I’ll always love it.

Front 9 is perfect for beginners. Back 9 slightly more challenging.

Staff is always friendly.

Greens are better than in the past.

This is not a course for the Country Club type.

Most of the time you do not have to have a tee time so it's perfect for last minute golfers.

Located in the city limits of Hickory this centrally located course has been around for a long time. A true muni with not a single bunker on the course it is bare bones simple layout with yard grass fairways and pitchers mound domed greens that drain well covered in bermuda grass that are always in good shape but slow. This course can be played in 3 hours if you are not held up by all the beginners and seniors who adore the front nine because you can roll your ball all the way to the greens with no water or bunkers. The back nine is a different story with forced carries and some water and no seniors. The convenience and driving range have made this course into a money making machine with weekend rates at 28 to ride 18 and 7 dollar buckets of balls with no tee time needed. They also have a club repair shop ran by a guy with a lot of experience who will fix anything you bring him. The land is worth a fortune being within walking distance to Lenoir Rhyne College so I know they are raking it in. For what it is, if your in a hurry or just want to hit a bucket here sits Hampton waiting on you.

Nothing stands out as spectacular, no really challenging holes, the greens are all the same dome, and they can be spotty on their maintenance depending on the day you could be playing on grass or leaves. That being said they have no huge problems either. It can feel a little grindy when you're on your fifth mostly straight par 4 as 17(admittedly a longer par five), 18, 1, 2, 9, and 8 all stack up side by side and share their ruffs. A mistake won't hurt you you to bad as par is still possible with a few good shot after taking a drop from the woods. It's a good course for consistency while still being pretty forgiving. It makes for good practice in a real game as you can see the same shot needed more than a few times through the course. Leave your putting eye at home though. All the greens are domed and the cups almost seem slightly lipped so the middle of the cup is a must. But you should get to chip and short put for par pretty easy if you didn't mess up badly on the way there.

All in all not a bad place to hang your hat, bring some friends over or just practice your consistency. Just don't expect greatness and you will have a good time.