The Challenge Golf Club

The course was in very good shape. I have played this course every year for a decade. Six years ago it had major issues. Each year since it has been getting better. Today represents the first time I would review it. Please don't go because the course is in really great shape. I want to play it just with my foursome. Fairway bunkers have sand different from greenside bunkers but fair is fair. Fairway and green side bunkers had nice sand. Greens in great shape. Tee boxes in great shape. Fairways in great shape. Now go play your own course. The only problem is no driving range. I did warm up in the cage and that was good enough. There is a putting green.

Everything was great except for the course marshal asking us to speed up, we were a sunday morning foursome being pushed by twosomes, we let one play thru and stayed ahead of the other twosome and finished within the 4 hours but had him sitting on holes watching us and none of us cared for that. 2 of my foursome shot 81's and the other in the mid 90's and I was the only one having a bad day. we play ready golf and were by no means slow. I enjoy this course but may not go back if they will have twosomes push and ask the foursome to speed up. If they are not willing to put twosomes together on an early sunday morning this will continue to be an issue I think.

The Challenge is in the midst of a nice makeover, and you’ll see the benefits the next time you’re out. The fairways are in great shape and the greens are significantly better than 1-2 years ago. Unfortunately, i can report on their bunkers as well, which are as good as I’ve played in for less than $40. Staff is very kind and hospitable. Although they’re still adding bells and whistles, this course is definitely playable now. I look forward to their next steps.

Caught a hot deal on a Wed morning. Drove from Durham to play on the new greens. They are amazing (although you can see the recent dry spell taking a toll on tbem already), fast and hard. Fringes were redone before greens and they are in good shape overall. Fairways were solid, tee boxes ok. No driving range yet (warm up net) but putting green is expansive. Only drawback was it took nearly 4 hours, midweek for just my two some (that turned into a threesome) to play. Saw pro one time on 5th hole when oddly enough an older couple was letting us play through, then never saw another ranger again. For the conditions the $25 was a steal though. If you haven't been there in a while I would definitely go play there!

A number of interesting holes. Excellent pace of play and course conditions. Staff was very friendly. I will play here again very soon.

Course conditions were outstanding and the greens rolled a little on the slow side but true. Being that it was my first time playing this course it did take a little while to figure it out. There's some tight fairways and a couple of challenging par threes. The bunkers were in really good shape. I found one or two greenside bunker's but the sand was very consistent And that made it fair to hit out of .

Changes are good but the lack of effective marshaling is going to cause this course to lose customers. Pace of play has been very slow my last two visits.

I would give the course 4 or maybe 5 stars, but it really needs a marshall out there. Playing on a Saturday afternoon, we got stuck behind several terribly slow groups, to the point we were almost 4 hours in and had only reached the 14th tee, where there were 2 groups waiting to tee off. Ridiculous. We simply had to leave. While it is a challenging layout, it was not the course that was causing slow play. We watched people just standing around on the green talking instead of preparing to play, looking for lost balls deep in the woods, in the woods, and taking 5-6 practice swings and long drown out pre-shot routines. While I had cheaper rate through Golf Now, it was still X 3, as I brought my two boys with me. I'm working with G.N. to get a rain check to go back another time. The first lesson I ever gave my kids was on playing READY golf. Wish more people followed that credo. The game should never take more than 4 hours to play.

First time I have played since they reopened the course. The new greens are perfect. They hold a well hit shot and did not appear to mark up hardly at all.

Fairways were in good shape also. Round took about 4.5 hours, not bad for a Saturday afternoon.

Course is better than it was and it was great before. Andrew is great in the shop and very happy to see Todd there. Staff couldn't be better. Moved to Greensboro 3 years ago and I've been back 5 times since y'all have opened back up.

We ended up in Chapel Hill evacuating from Irma. Fortunately it wasn't raining yet so we looked for a place to play. Reading the other reviews, we settled on this course. We were told to give this course a try as they had worked hard to get it into good shape. We were so glad we listened to others advice. The course was in good shape and so much fun to play. The holes were challenging. There were elevation changes, side hill lies, you name it, they had it. Loved the par 3's. Had to place your ball in the right place or it could roll down the side hill slopes, land in well placed sand traps, or not carry the natural areas. We will play it again when in the area. Can't wait!

Course was in excellent condition and the greens are great! The course requires a lot of precision for long hitters. Overall, I would call it Very Good if you had that category.

We drove for 95 minutes to play this course. Thankfully it was worth the effort. Greens were in excellent condition, as were the fairways. The day before had seen two inches of rain, so they did invoke the 90 degree cart rule, but we agreed that this is one of the reasons the course was in such good condition. The greens still very firm, as could be heard when the ball landed on them. A very fair test, but what I would term a " real" course, as quite a stern test of driving ability due to width of fairways.

We would certainly play this course again.

I would love to give this course 5 stars, but its just not ready yet... Not having a range really brings me to want to throw a 3-3.5 stars right now. However knowing where this course was in the last 2 years They deserve a bump to a 4 -4.5 for the awesome work new management has done with the course !

Pros :

Greens - Absolutely needed Bermuda , the newly opened bermuda greens still have signs of needing some sand today and were a TOUCH long my liking, BUT 100% playable

Fairways - exceptional

Tee boxes - Few blemishes here and there, but nothing to 'complain about'

Layout - It is called the Challenge for a reason , there are some tough approach and drives here . GREAT layout overall though!

Staff - Super friendly !!!!

Cons :

Driving range - NONE :( (previous reviews state a new one is coming not sure how true that is)

Greens - Few 'quirky' humps and pin placements that one could argue unfair

Bunkers - THICK sand (almost like beach or heavy fill dirt) , consistency of feel and amount of sand in the bunkers varies (again i do believe there are plans to re-do the bunkers here soon

Overall this course is 100% springing back to life, worth the 45 minute drive from RTP... GO PLAY HERE , Support the course so they can continue to make it even better !!!!!!

I've played this course several times over the years and am glad to see that it's returning to being one-of the best courses around. The staff was super friendly and very helpful. The course was in great shape despite some heavy rain during the week. Will be going back soon.

I was able to get in 9 holes. The course was not crowded at all. Played 9 in less than 2 hours. Greens are fabulous. They hold approach shots, they are firm, and the speed is very good. Fairways and bunkers were in great condition. This course has come a long way in the last 2 years. It is 180 degrees from where it was 18 months ago. I definitely will be back there soon. If you have not been to The Challenge in a while you should. They have really stepped up and done a great job with the renovation. Well done folks!

This course has came a long way over the last few years. They have it looking really well again. Great but challenging layout. Guess it's called the "Challenge" for a reason ;-) if you haven't played it lately...you should try it again.