It was the eve of my good friends’ visit to my hometown, and I was a bit nervous.
You see, they’d hosted me twice at their breathtakingly magnificent Three Rivers Country Club (https://www.riverruncc.com/) in Davidson, N.C. They’d be consummate hosts, picking up the tabs, hosting mini-parties for me to meet their friends and, of course, making me feel so at home at their amazing club.
I didn’t need an etiquette lesson to want to do the same for them. I wanted to simply because they’re great people and had been so welcoming to me.
The party, friends, food and fun part? Since I live in fabulous Plymouth, I had that locked down.
But here was my worry: I’m not a private club member. Sure, we have a range membership at Pinehills Golf Club (and we are 668 on the club waiting list – wow, are they popular), but I’m a public course kind of gal. So while my golf-loving heart wanted to show them a great time, I was worried.
Could a public course live up to their standard of play?
Then I remembered the key factor: I’m a regular at Crosswinds Golf Club (https://www.crosswindsgolfclub.com/), a family-owned public access, 27-hole club tucked into the woods just west of Plymouth Harbor.
It’s not The Country Club of Brookline, mind you, but its brilliant 9-9-9 set up, rolling hills, doglegs and absolutely immaculate fairway and greens conditions blew my private club friends away. More than once they asked, “So, really, this is public?”
What better reaction can you have?
Crosswinds has a lovely yet basic clubhouse. There’s room for events, a bright and cheery bar and lots of great outdoor seating for people and golf watching. The pro shop is a little corner of that space, and while they do serve food, it’s somewhat limited (other than functions, which you can work on menus for).
The hot dogs are A+, and they offer multiple rotating menu items day-to-day.
It’s the course and practice area set up, coupled with the delightful, helpful and fun staff that wins you over.
Post-golf drinks on the patio offers a chance to watch all the action at Crosswinds Golf Club. (Moira McCarthy photo)
Their driving range and practice area, to me, is one of the best in the region. While they do rotate days for mats or grass on the driving range (I need grass! ) the range itself has tons of targets and plenty of space to let many hit at the same time.
The chipping and sand area is magnificent, giving you all kinds of feels and options to practice. It’s well maintained and close enough to the range and clubhouse to make it all easy to access.
And the people take the time to not only get to know who their regulars are (and therefore notice when new folks arrive), they also manage players out on the course so waiting isn’t the norm. Best of all: They’re nice and treat you like, well, members.
And then there’s the course. Crosswinds is far from easy, challenging you nearly every hole with scary valleys, doglegs, uphill drives and lots of slants, sand and water hazards. But at the same time, it’s super fun. Rather than frustrate you, the challenge of Crosswinds encourages you to do well.
The fairways are pristine, cared for and groomed in a way you usually only see on private or high cost for play clubs. While the published price per round is $75 for 18 on a weekday and $96 on a weekend, you can find deals almost every day that can bring that down under $50 – including a cart. There’s also a discount for Plymouth residents (ID required).
We played Jones to Ouimet that day, wrapping up our round in just a smidge over four hours and then headed due east to the Plymouth waterfront for post-golf fun (after a crispy cold drink on the club patio).
So in the end, I didn’t get them onto Old Sandwich, but I did show my wonderful guests a great time. When you find the right home course, public feels absolutely perfect. Lesson learned. Even a public play gal like me can show friends a great golf day.