About
Northwoods Golf Club is one of the Columbia area's premier public courses. P.B. Dye, son of renowned course architect Pete Dye, designed the layout, incorporating some of his father's signature features. The golf course is player friendly enough to appeal to any skill level but there are some challenges in store as well. Mature trees line most of the fairways and there are a few strategically placed bunkers that come into play. You won't come across much water on this golf course and it's not terribly long either. It's gentle enough for beginners to approach with confidence. The golf course's signature hole is the par-4 14th, which features the famous Dye railroad ties bordering a lake that hugs the bunkered green. Northwoods G.C. also offers a practice facility with a lighted driving range and putting green.
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Top 25 Most Improved U.S. Golf Courses(2015 #10)
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Golfer Reviews
Decent course in Columbia
I played my round in the afternoon (12:20pm) after early rain in the morning (~4am) so the course was a bit damp and muddy in some areas. I purchased my round via GolfNow's Hot Deal so for the price, it was great. I think a regular round with cart would have been around 35ish for the weekend which is a bit too high for the condition of the course in my opinion.
For the start of the golf season, the fairways were pretty well maintained from the winter. The greens were a different story however. It may have been due to the rain in the early morning, but some of the greens were pretty bad. It was like the greens must have been all dirt because the majority of the mud my shoes accumulated were from walking on the greens. This was only for 3-4 of the holes though, the others did have some of these random mud patches, but the rest were pretty well maintained.
Challenge wise this course had a little bit of everything. A lot of nice elevation changes, challenging bunker placement, lakes and creeks to tend with, and interesting greens that requires you to take a second read.
This course has a lot of potential, some of the holes were pretty memorable for me, especially #14 in which you needed to clear a lake (~150-200yds) then pop it over a hill surrounded by sand traps on both sides; or it tempts you to bomb it ~250yds from tee to green across the lake. Just one of a few fun holes on the course.
Some random notes about the course. They do not accept card charges under $15. Also, my golf cart's brake was damaged or broken about 3 holes into the course. It seemed to only work about 10% of the time so I had to find flat areas to stop it and pray it didn't roll.
All in all, I'll definitely be coming back later this season, hopefully the course's conditions will be better with the nicer weather and golf season in full swing.
Some notes with my ratings, the pace of play was only that long due to a single ahead of me that was having a tough time; I declined to pass him though to enjoy the nice weather and work on my chipping while I waited. I was able to knock out the first 4 holes in about 40 minutes before I caught up with him so the pace of play could have been better. Also, I didn't have any of their food so I just marked it as average. There are no water coolers along the course though, so be sure to purchase some at the club house before going out.
Solid Course
Bermuda is still coming up - but the greens were as good as they've ever been.
fun, challenging course, friendly staff
First visit and I'll definitely return when I'm in the area. Practically nobody there since it was low 50s and threatening rain all day. Played solo in 3 hours. The course has some serious drainage issues and there were large puddles of standing water on about 6 holes. Aside from that it was a great day. Fun layout and challenging but fair. The staff was fantastic. Sent me out 30min early so I could go ahead of two foursomes and even got a lift to my car after my round so I wouldn't have to return the cart myself. Can't wait to play it again in dryer conditions. Great course and great value.
Not bad
I enjoyed playing, but the course conditions weren't great. There was mud on a few greens, and a good amount of bunkers had rock hard sand in them. My golf cart died about as far away from the clubhouse as it could, but started working after 5 minutes of messing around with it. There were a few beautiful holes which played very well. The course has great potential with some TLC.
Disappointing
Played here several years ago and enjoyed the course and the staff a lot. It wasn't in the best shape then and is in worse condition now. The greens are horrible and the tee boxes are shameful. I am saddened to have to write this honest review but we would not have played there if we knew of the condition. It has excellent potential and is a nice, challenging layout.
Needs to work on patrolling groups
Great layout that is fun even with the poor conditions. The greens are fast and roll true so they are a blast to play on.
However, both times I've played I have been a single or double and gotten stuck behind a foursome who just won't allow me to play through.
Winter Golf
Course fairways played well:
Winter Green where in ruff shape.
Summer will help. This can be a good course for me.
Easy to walk.
Thanks for a great day
Great layout
If you can see past the general aesthetics, you will have a good experience. In my first time at northwoods, I was amazed at how fast greens that looked this poor could run. Very interesting layout. The green complexes make it very difficult to be below the hole.
Will be returning next weekend. Great layout.
Terrible
This course was in worse shape than any other golf course I have ever played. I have played here multiple times through the years and this course progressively gotten worse. We played for 12 dollars and it was not even worth it. Some greens did not have grass, just dirt painted green. The bunkers had no sand and the tee boxes were incredibly shoddy.
Further, the staff was incredibly rude which is surprising considering the poor quality of their golf course. I would not play there again for free.
OK course for the price....
played the course a few times before a few of the greens are in need of repair... for the price its an OK course to play and close to I-77
This course needs a lot of improvement...
I have played Northwoods in the past several times. Mostly in the spring or summer during grass growing season. However, from time we arrived and was greeted by the Pro-shop attendant...very gruffly, I might add, he didn't acknowledge us, other than to say, "where's your confirmation of t-time?" I'd forgot, left it in the truck...he said, "I can't take everyone that comes in here word, and I'm not taking yours". When I produced it, it was like, "oh well, you can play". The fairways were rough (dormant)...the greens had little to no grass and had been painted. It wasn't worth even the reduced price we paid. I doubt, I'll ever go back, because of the unfriendly attitude of the attendant and the condition of the course.
The course was overall ok
The greens were kind of bad. The cart path needs major repares. The staff is very very friendly and makes you feel right at home, and the experience was very good.
cheap and worth the money
The course was in rough shape, but I only paid $16. It was worth the $16, so I cant complain
Northwoods golf outing
Great course for the money. I will be back to play.
Meh
Kind of a chewed up course. Granted this was in December. Some really interesting/bizarre holes. A 240 yard par four that had huge moguls hiding bunkers. Never seen anything like that. I would play it again with the golfnow deal except it's not worth the drive from Charlotte. The starter was friendly and helpful.
Excellent experience always
I always have a great time playing this course. The staff are all efficient, the carts are clean and powerful. The course is picturesque and the lakes are beautiful. The price is right.
This course has problems
I've played this course in the past and have run into the same issues. Our tee time put us behind 3 five-somes who were part of a "dog fight". Play was extremely slow. When the group ahead of us made the turn, my partner and I, seeing that they went to the clubhouse, went on ahead of them. The Ranger came and asked us to let them play through. We were upset and ended up playing the front 9 again. It was rather frustrating and spoiled our game.
Nice course
First time I played there. I enjoy playing new holes so I had fun. Decent distance from the white tees. Mostly in pretty good shape, but some greens have some brown. Some bunkers are DEEP so be careful. Staff and rangers were extremely nice to speak with.
Course in lousy shape, needs alot of attention.
Have to be some of the worst I've seen. Plenty of bare spots on all greens. Putting on dirt most of the time. Probably about a quarter of them had gouges or holes in them from being washed out from the rain. The 11th hole actually had part of its green gouged out by running water. Fairways were cut, but weren't plush at all. All in all they need to shut down and redo all the greens this winter. If you can play somewhere else. Can't believe they are charging what they are for this.