Carolina Trace CC
Looking back from a green at Carolina Trace Country Club
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Rating Index Rating
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4.5
349 Reviews (349)
5 Stars
197
4 Stars
109
3 Stars
26
2 Stars
9
1 Stars
8
Conditions
4.3
Value
4.2
Layout
4.6
Friendliness
4.6
Pace
4.7
Amenities
4.1
86.7%
Recommend this course
313 out of 349 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.7
12 Reviews (12)
5 Stars
10
4 Stars
1
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
1
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.4
Value
4.2
Layout
4.6
Pace
4.5
Amenities
3.7
StaffFriendliness
4.6
91.7%
Recommend this course
11 out of 12 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.5
24 Reviews (24)
5 Stars
18
4 Stars
4
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
1
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.3
Value
4.1
Layout
4.6
Pace
4.7
Amenities
4.0
StaffFriendliness
4.8
87.5%
Recommend this course
21 out of 24 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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Course Highlights
The Lakes stands out for its creative layout featuring doglegs, elevation changes, and demanding par threes that require every club in your bag. Friendly staff, excellent pace of play, and well-maintained conditions make this one of the premier courses in the area.

About

Holes 18
Type Private
Par 72
Length 7263 yards
Slope 143
Rating 76.0
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Carolina Trace Country Club - Lake
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Course Details

Year Built 1971
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Mini Verde Bermunda Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr. (1971) David Whelchel (2015) Roger Rulewich (1971)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fee
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Metal Spikes Allowed No
Dress code Appropriate golf attire.

Accolades

  • Golf Advisor: Top 25 Courses for Pace of Play in the U.S. (2025 #2)
  • Golf Advisor: Top Courses in North Carolina (2021 #18)
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Reviews

4.5
349 Reviews (349)

What Golfers Are Saying

Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 8
Water Hazards 8
Elevation Changes 7
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 6
Locals 6
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 6

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Definitely a must play again course

Greens excellent shape as were fairways. Of course it is winter so the landscape reflected the season. Course is challenging, but too much that hack golfers would be frustrated. Staff super friendly. There are 2 courses, we played the Lake course. Many holes on the water. Course is walkable.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Course beautiful , sand traps out of this world. Could not beat the Golf Now deal...

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 18
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Quality in every way

Absolutely no complaints, course was in great condition, greens a hint slower than most courses in the area but rolled true and receptive. A little course knowledge goes a long way here.

Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Fun course

I enjoyed my round very much. Plenty of elevation changes to make clubbing interesting. Not the hardest driving course but accurate approach shots are required for scoring. Greens were in good shape and putted true. The range is a bit small and plays uphill so it's s bit tough dialing in your yardages. Overall worth the 45 minute drive.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Windy weather
Used cart

The Lake course at Carolina Trace is a Great course all around period!

The Lake course at Carolina Trace is a Great course all around period! The fairways and greens are in excellent conditions at all times and the setup is a FANTASTIC one! It's a challenge for any level golfers from the tips and not so bad for the high handicappers from the front tees but there's one thing you'll do for sure and that's: You'll enjoy playing it and will want to comeback and do it again.... Humble regards everyone.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once every three months
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Nice Course

Course was in great shape. Greens a little slower than I am used to but overall this is a great course and I will play again.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Default User Avatar
Anonymous
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Pick the right tee. They have many.

Bring your sky caddie (course is marked ok). You will need it for tee shots ( I drove it though a couple of dog legs), unless you can fade or draw on command you will need to leave the driver in the bag on some holes. There are a lot of fairway bunkers that come into play off the tee also. Water comes into play on both par 5's on the back nine off the tee. They do have many tee boxes to choose from. I also noticed a lot of "kids club" tee areas. I think I used every club in my bag except the 3 Iron ( but I'm not sure why it's in my bag, I only use it to punch out of the woods sometimes). Easy drive from Triangle area.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 14
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Beautiful championship caliber course.

What a beautiful and well maintained course! A bit far from cary but well worth the drive. The people in the clubhouse are friendly and the course was enjoyable with beautiful views. The greens are the same type you see in many pgatour tournaments. Practice on the putting green before your round to avoid overshooting the holes by 5 ft. A must play course for triangle golfers.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Great Central NC course

This course was a joy to play. It was in great shape and the weather was outstanding. The course was very scenic within the sandhills area. Definitely recommend playing if you're in the area.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 20
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing

Very nice

The course is very nice. The grass was solid, the greens were true and rolling quite quick. Tee boxes were ok, some patchy and some unlevel. The layout was pretty good, some interesting holes and plenty bland okay spots. The course is called the "lake" course, and there is a large beautiful lake but only maybe four holes are bordering it. That leaves fourteen that aren't. No biggie just seemed to catch us off guard that it took until like hole 15 to see the lake. My only true compliant is that every hole notifies you of whether carts are on path that hole or 90 degrees. We had to switch throughout the round and it wasn't wet. You pay to ride your sorry butt around and then have to walk the fairways. Little gripe.

The largest strike again this course is that Tobacco Road is right down the road and much better. The great thing is we got on here for 30 bucks, third or fourth the price of tobacco.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 10
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Grace..

High on Carolina Trace. Lake course. Great course and layout is spectacular. Course is in perfect condition. Pace was great till the very end.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
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Golf Packages

Talamore Golf Resort Stay & Play Package

FROM $137 (USD)
SOUTHERN PINES, NC | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at the Talamore Golf Resort and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Mid Pines Golf Course, Mid South Course, Tobacco Road Golf Course, and The New Course.

Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club Stay & Play Package

FROM $167 (USD)
SOUTHERN PINES, NC | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Mid Pines Golf Course, Pine Needles Golf Course, Tobacco Road Golf Course, and The New Course.

Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club Stay & Play Package

FROM $167 (USD)
SOUTHERN PINES, NC | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at the Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Mid Pines Golf Course, Pine Needles Golf Course, Tobacco Road Golf Course, and The New Course.

Charleston Golf Experience Stay & Play Package

FROM $239 (USD)
CHARLESTON, SC | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at the Francis Marion Hotel and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of RiverTowne Golf Course, Charleston National Golf Course, Wild Dunes – Harbor Course, Wild Dunes – Links Course, and Stono Ferry Golf Course.

Wild Dunes Resort Stay & Play Package

FROM $369 (USD)
CHARLESTON, SC | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at the Wild Dunes Resort and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Wild Dunes – Harbor Course, Wild Dunes – Links Course, RiverTowne Golf Course, and Charleston National Golf Course.
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