Kilmarlic Golf Club

Let me start off with a quick disclaimer; on principle alone I do not normally play $135 rounds. That aside this layout is magnificent, every hole is a vista tee to green. Would I play it again for $135, no, but if it was half that price I would play it every day of my two week vacation stay. Still conditions were somewhat disappointing, around the greens and on the collars but clearly they are working on it laying sod and digging stuff out.

Small greens, running fast and true, fair but narrow fairway landing zones, you can score on this baby by just staying in play, even from the back tees. Excellent friendly service from everybody I met.

Vacation in OBX with family and golf is a requirement. Found course when other course was determined to be too far away. The app allowed us to cancel at other course and pick up this one at close to the same time. Staff met us with carts and explained the nuances of the course. Check in was easy and all were friendly and welcoming. Course had a great layout for all levels.

I have played Kilmarlic in the past and loved it. This experience was different. The greens were really slow, which is a minor problem. Also, the staff member that comes to your car to load your clubs managed to lose my driver headcover. Also a small problem. But the outdoor staff and pro shop people were rude when I tried to find it. Bigger problem. We started on the back and played in two hours. When we made the turn, there were 3 groups on the tee. The second nine took 3 hours.

Summary:

- there are 1-2 foot rings around most greens that are in terrible shape. Bare of grass, weeds, etc.

- starters are erratic and inconsiderate. Forced my 3some to start early before our tee time and before we were ready, to play with a single they forced to wait 20+ minutes after his tee time. Then we waited on the second tee box and beyond.

- Greens were inconsistent. On one green, my ball went up the slope and rolled back down. On others, they stopped on a fairly steep downhill. They didn’t seem to be cut to the same height at the same time.

- $135 per round should get a MUCH higher quality golf experience.

Full story on the starter item:

We arrived 45 minutes before our 9:06am tee time. Made it to the range 25 minutes before tee time. Planned to hit balls for 15, putt for 8, be on the tee box at tee time. 10 minutes into hitting balls, staff member tells us head to tee box 10, need to start you early. I said I’m sorry but I’m not ready. I need to finish hitting the balls I bought, and then putt. He said we’re backed up and need to get you out early. I said I’m sorry, but my tee time is 9:06 and for $135 a round, I need to be ready. Walked over to the putting green. The starter was there and 3 mins later said get on the tee box now or go home. I explained to him as calmly as I could manage that this was unacceptable and unreasonable. He could ask me to go early but not force me. Nevertheless, we went. I didn’t get to get a read for the greens, and 3-putted 4 holes on the front 9. Shot 48 front 41 back.

What makes it worse is the group in front of us was still in the way when we got onto the tee box. And we waited on every tee box. Why the rush? Especially when we clearly weren’t ready to go BEFORE OUR TEE TIME? And why the disrespectful treatment? I won’t be back to this course.

I have never been to the Outter Banks. Ive been looking forward to playing this course since I found out about it. The layout of the course is awesome. There were some dead spots around the greens but the fairways were really nice. Sand was tough but nice to play out of. There is water on a lot of the hole, which I loved. Overall, I really enjoyed this course and would definitely come back and recommend it to anyone looking to play golf in OBX..

The staff was great. We were given a card with the course layout showing distances to bunkers and water hazards. I highly recommend looking before every hole. There are some hidden water hazards that arent visible from the tee box.

Thank you Kilmarlic for a great round.

Fun layout with enough challenge. Happy to only have played the front 9. Areas around most greens were just outright unacceptable to charge prime rates.

We’ve been coming to Kilmarlic for several years and it is very easy to say it’s our favorite course in OBX.

As usual the fairways and greens were in excellent condition, but we were very surprised by the conditions around the greens. Most if not all greens had large areas under repair around them.

Hope they can right the ship and return to the expected conditions.

Never submitted a bad review for a course before but this place is a disaster. They don’t water parts of this course at all. The greens and fairways are ok if your ball doesn’t go in a hole but if you don’t land on the green and are on the fringe, GOODLUCK. pace of play is a nightmare, waited about 5 min in between every shot. Would never play here again, plenty of other courses in the area.

Overall really enjoyed the course. All the fringes were completely dead and brown, not sure what happened to them. But greens and tee boxes were in great shape. Enjoyed the back 9 more than the front, but overall enjoyed the course

Layout is excellent with your choice of risk. Greens in great shape, fairways good but dry due to no rain versus maintenance. Some of the tee boxes a little rough. Loved the staff and amenities...

The staff was extremely friendly and informative. The course was in good shape and maintained well, I found it a little pricey for my budget and skill level. I am used to paying around 60-70 dollars for a round.