For a golf course that has been
opened for less than 10 years,
it has not taken long for Cape Fear National at BrunswickForest to mature and become
one of North Carolina’s top-
ten golf courses. For a state
that prides itself on being
one of America’s leading golf
destinations, featuring popular
and well known courses like
Pinehurst, Pine Needles, Mid
Pines, Tobacco Road, and the
Grove Park Inn, Cape Fear
National has elbowed its way
onto the ‘leaderboard’ ofNorth
Carolina’s finest and most
sought after golf destinations.
Cape Fear National which
didn’t open until November,
2009, has experienced an
impressive rise in popularity,
but expectations were high
when construction of the
course first began.
Regionally renowned golf
course architect Tim Cate
remembers his marching
orders,
“Build us the best golf course
in the coastal North Carolina
market.”
The lucky ones are the
residents of southeastern
North Carolina, which is often
referred to as the Brunswick
Islands area. Since Cape Fear
National opened, golfers in
this part of the Tar Heel state
have been blessed and spoiled
to have year-round access to
the course. GOLF Magazine,
Golfweek Magazine, and
Business NC Magazine rate
it as one of North Carolina’s
finest golf venues.
In many respects, Cape Fear
National is a blend of the
old and the new. While the
actual golf course is less than
10 years old, it has more of
a traditional parkland feel to
the layout as mature North
Carolina pine trees are the
most dominant tree species
on site. One of the positives of
the Par-72 Cape Fear National
layout is its closeness to
the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean
breezes are often felt on the
course and add to the overall
CAPE FEAR NATIONAL: A CLASSIC CAROLINA COASTAL CREATION“Build us the best golf
course in the coastal North
Carolina market.”
NWO Golf Links
By Mike May