Birkdale Golf Club – Golf Course Review

Birkdale Golf Club is the only daily-fee Arnold Palmer designed golf course in the Charlotte area, with the other Arnold Palmer courses in the area being Quail Hollow and TPC Piper Glen. Birkdale is located on 200 acres of rolling terrain that features some elevation changes and strategically placed water hazards that make it challenging for golfers of all playing ability. The course is made up of Bermuda fairways and Crenshaw Bent greens.

There has been a lot of talk about the conditions of Birkdale over the years. New management took over a number of years ago and has been making solid improvements on the course. We really enjoy Arnold Palmer designed courses, and we were excited to try out Birkdale.

We were pleasantly surprised at the course and think it has potential to be a very good course in the area for years to come. The course has a great layout, with a mix of driveable par 4s, doglegs, and other risk/reward opportunities throughout the course. Water comes into play on many holes and bunkers are strategically placed guarding a lot of the greens.

The fairways and tee boxes were in great shape. You can tell that they have made drastic improvements throughout the course, but there is still some work to be done. Unfortunately, the greens were not in the best shape. They were slow and had some weeds along with some other cosmetic issues on the green. Despite the greens, it still exceeded our expectations on the course. If they can get the greens in better shape, it can be a very good course with the current layout.  We would definitely play again and are interested to see how the conditions are within the next few months.

The course has a very good practice facility, with 10 acres that has lighting, and two big practice greens. Unfortunately, this is set to go away with some redevelopment slated to occur in Birkdale. They also offer some very affordable memberships options, which give you reciprocals at all the other golf courses managed by Pinnacle Golf Properties.

If you haven’t played the course in a long time, it might be worth checking out. Let us know how the current conditions are, but it isn’t the same course it was back in the day.

#5 Par 5, 520yds, Handicap 3 – This is a very challenging par 5 with a lot of trouble by the green. The approach shot is must carry water to a long, narrow green, with bunkers behind. Club selection is critical to hit the green. A good drive can give you the chance to go for it in 2, but most will likely play this a 3 shot hole.

#18 Par 4, 400yds, Handicap 6 – This is a tough finishing hole with a long carry over water to a protected sloping green with water and bunkers surrounding it. Water can come into play on the drive, so make sure to take the right club off the tee, which might be less than driver. Par is a good score here.