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North Carolina’s Sandhills area adds Mike Strantz layout

Located just an hour from the Raleigh-Durham area, the Sandhills area of North Carolina has developed quite a following with golf travelers. So has designer Mike Strantz.

With award-winning layouts like True Blue in Myrtle Beach and Royal New Kent and Stonehouse in Williamsburg, Strantz now has Tobacco Road in the Sandhills to attract golfers from near and far.

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Opened earlier this year, Tobacco Road is definitely in the running for top new course of 2000 (Strantz has one similar honors from various publications for his other designs).

Strantz has developed a reputation for doing things in a grand style and this course is no exception. Tobacco Road features wide fairways, large greens, and very deep bunkers.

Given these similarities, no two holes at Tobacco Road are remotely similar in views or playability. It’s also not an easy course to play for most duffers. Joe Gay, director of golf at the already-popular course, says, “Strantz is a master of deception. He surrounds you with intimidating views and forces you to think through every shot. Options are abundant and, if you can overcome your own mental obstacles, the course turns out to be extremely playable.”

A perfect example of this is the par four fifth hole. An accurate 250-yard drive over wasteland can put a golfer on the green in one. A shorter drive and wedge shot in is available to those who don’t want to gamble or hit from questionable lies.

The course is open to the public and, because there is similarly great golf throughout the area, accommodations options are abundant.