More new golf courses sprout up in the Wilmington area and along our southern coast than anywhere else in North Carolina. Brunswick County already boasts nearly 30 facilities, many part of residential golf communities or concentrated in the Sunset Beach-Calabash area near the South Carolina border. Courses throughout the southern coastal region receive more accolades, nominations and citations from the national golf press than you can shake a 9-iron at. The area features several world-class course designs bearing the signatures of Tom Fazio, P.B. Dye, Dan Maples, Hale Irwin, George Cobb and Willard Byrd. Players familiar with the Myrtle Beach area are discovering that our courses offer far less crowded and less hurried playing at prices that encourage multiple rounds per day, all year long. Professional Golfers Association and fund-raising tournaments are increasingly finding host clubs locally. And if there's one other essential factor you should know about golf in this region, it's wind, particularly on Bald Head Island, which makes play along this coast an especially formidable treat.

Most local courses are semiprivate, which means they're open to the public while club memberships are also available. Memberships, of course, offer various benefits and privileges, such as lower fees or preferred tee times.

Greens fees vary according to season and location. At semiprivate courses, they range widely from about $20 to $100 and more, but average between $30 and $40. Fees are highest during the peak months (late March to early May and mid-September to early November) and at the more exclusive clubs. All the better courses offer practice ranges. Overall, the region's courses offer an excellent balance between price and playing conditions. Summer rates, and discounts for seniors, corporations and groups are commonplace. Many pro shops at the courses rent clubs to travelers unable to pack their own.