Old Chatham (RDU)
Played Old Chatham with my work buddy Chris back in 2015. This is a w-a-a-a-y under the radar, private Rees Jones club that is really, really good. It’s currently ranked by Golf Digest (2021/2022) as the 26th best in this golf-rich state. My pro got us on so yours probably could, too. But let’s be honest…if you and the boys are coming into the RDU airport for a golf trip, you’re only about two or three Yes songs away from Pinehurst – one of the if not THE greatest golf destination in the world. You’re not (nor should you be) hanging out in RDU for golf.
It’s funny, everyone I know refers to the Raleigh-Durham area as RDU. I think it’s known as the Research Triangle too but we call it RDU. It’s the only area I know referred to by its airport code. You always shorten some cities: LA, Philly, Cincy. Some regions you call by a resort name: Bandon (though it is in Bandon), Pebble Beach, Pinehurst (even if you’re not playing any of the Pinehurst courses, you say, “we’re heading to Pinehurst”). But here, it’s RDU.
I rank Old Chatham in and around 150 or so in my rankings. You can see my top 100 and reasoning for how I rank courses here. Some day I will add my next and third hundreds. There will be a lot of Philly area clubs I haven’t reviewed here but played and rank above OC. Since I don’t have photos nor anything pithy to say about the courses, I didn’t review them. These include Huntingdon Valley, Lookaway (another Rees Jones course), Stonewall, White Manor, Saucon, and Rolling Green. There are others outside Philly that I played too long ago and also don’t have photos like Sugarbush, Pine Tree, Barefoot Love and Stewart Creek in the Canadian Rockies. Some of the above sneak onto the golf mags’ top 100 lists and all are in their states’ rankings (provinces) so if I ever get back, I will photo and review. However, Old Chatham is right up there with all of them. It’s a great friendly club. It’s just you, the course and the pines – there are no homes nor busy streets impacting your enjoyment. It’s a manageable course and a fun design. I guess the only reasons I don’t have it higher than others was the conditioning was a little below what I’d expect – not bad just a bit lower than a course and private club like this should be IMO and there was no memorable hole or feature just a solid and Steady Eddie.
As this was also quite a while ago, I can’t really label the photos with what hole they are so you’re on your own. We played the Hogan tees when we played and these measure about 6,200 yards and a 127 slope – so not terribly hard. I played pretty average. I parred two (two holes and the second hole) on the front and doubled another (the 390-yard par four fourth). On the back I was a little more up and down with two doubles and three pars in addition to my bogeys. As I noted above, no hole stands out. Water comes into play on the 13th, 14th and 17th in the way of ponds and you’re looking above at the 14th from the 13th tee box. Fourteen is a par five the gets pretty tight by the green with some menacing traps and a watery grave (which I think I must’ve found resulting in a nice double here).
I haven’t spent a great deal of time in RDU and have never come here on a “just for fun” trip. In fact, I’ve only played the Duke and UNC (Finley) courses besides Old Chatham here. Both are really nice but hardly enough to build a trip around. And did I mention you are pretty close to Pinehurst when you’re here?!? If I’m ranking the college courses I put UNC Finley a little ahead of Duke. Chapel Hill was a cool little town and Bin 54 was a nice restaurant there.
Golf Scrapbook 