Old Town

The course was immediately heralded as one of the top ten courses in the USA.

The landscape features large, sloping fairways, meandering creeks, and those renowned green contours with their signature ‘Maxwell rolls’. But it's the side-sloping fairways that provide its unmatched variety and fascination, with swaying stances and hanging lies the norm.

Classic design features include large double greens, shared teeing areas, merging fairways and "valley-of-sin” greenside depressions – all of which are no big surprise considering Maxwell’s love of The Old Course in St Andrew’s.

In 2012, the club hired Coore & Crenshaw to restore Maxwell’s bunker style to its original rugged aesthetic. Bill Coore, who attended nearby Wake Forest University, considers Old Town as a cornerstone for his early understanding of compelling golf architecture.

Bill Coore continues to tweak the greens and bunkers. In 2023, the plan is to convert tee boxes to teeing areas.

Note

Old Town was originally nominated by Sean as a gem but this venerable course subsequently moved into our Best In State rankings and then into the US Top 100. Sean's original comments follow:

Perry Maxwell built Old Town just before WWII at the tail end of the Golden Age of Architecture. The property is fairly hilly yet, like many classic courses, one never gets the impression that the walk is severe. With one exception, tees are located close to greens.

Maxwell took advantage of the hills to create a brilliant set of undulating greens with steep swales and strong contours. It would be a mistake, however, to think the greens are the sole interest of the course.

The slopes and up and down nature of the fairways place a strict demand controlling ball flight especially when the course is keen. Many of the approaches are uphill or have slightly raised greens which may encourage the player to carry the greens and risk what is often a dire position in being long.

The feeling of being on a course of grand scale is further enhanced by the recent (and continuing) felling of many trees which afford lovely interior views. If you plan to be anywhere near Winston-Salem it is worth a bit of grovelling to play Old Town. Even Tom Doak thought so.