Visit The Outer Banks

Finding the Sweet Spot

By Bill Kamenjar
Feb. 22, 2021

Created by Bill Kamenjar in partnership with the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and Duck make up a remarkably memorable set of names. Together, these communities anchor the golf scene on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Along this mile-posted stretch of coastal adventure, outdoor options are everywhere, each with its own appeal. Visitors can swim at lifeguarded beaches, fish for marlin, stand where man’s first flight took place, take in sunset from Jockey’s Ridge, or wander beside the water. The setting is relaxed, rustic, and cooled by breezes in the place made famous by two brothers from Ohio who changed history. After those summer pleasures have had their turn, golf calls. For links golf, the central barrier island off the coast is a standout, much like finding the sweet spot on a club where impact is at its strongest.

Golf has kept expanding across the area, but three courses remain central to an OBX trip: Nags Head Golf Links in the south, Sea Scape Golf Club in the middle, and Duck Woods Country Club farthest north. Duck Woods, routed through tall pines and other vegetation, is not a links-style course. The other two, however, may be among the closest layouts to echo the experience of playing on the original linksland of the British Isles.

Because space is limited, only a small handful of championship golf courses sit directly on the barrier island. That makes a round on any one of these three courses, or on all of them, feel especially distinctive. Set between the sounds and the Atlantic Ocean, the layouts use the water-driven prevailing winds to full effect. Those breezes can rise fast and are said to shift sometimes by the hour, giving the courses a Jekyll and Hyde quality that changes their character from one round to the next. Duck Woods is the Outer Banks’ oldest course, while Sea Scape and Nags Head are also established designs with distinguished lineage, and both have matured gracefully.

Sea Scape arrived as the second OBX course in 1965. Cut through Kitty Hawk’s maritime forest and crossing signature dunes, it was designed by Art Wall. In 1959, Wall stunned defending champion Arnold Palmer by birdieing five of his final six holes at Augusta National, securing the defining achievement of his career: he won The Masters. That came before he created Sea Scape, close enough in spirit to lend the course its legacy. Moving through low-lying forest with a links-like rhythm, Sea Scape offers a balanced sequence of holes, some with Atlantic views. Years of storms have influenced Wall’s design and deepened its character, and the course remains one of the early landmarks in the growth of OBX golf.

Farther down the coast sits Nags Head Golf Links, admired for its setting along the Roanoke Sound. Designed by Bob Moore, Nags Head may be the area’s most intricate layout, unfolding across naturally formed terrain and asking players for both strength and strategy. Miss the fairway, and undergrowth waits. On some holes, accuracy may matter more than distance, making a safer club a better choice than driver if the wind threatens to push a shot offline. Still, when the right breeze appears at the right moment, the big club can be tempting. The toughest stretches may be the closing holes on both nines, where the routing nears the sound and wind becomes a major factor. Yet the center of the course is hardly easy, with tight interior holes, doglegs, and dune mounds shaping the challenge.

An unattributed written description of Nags Head Golf Links highlights its coastal scenery, moving dunes, sea grasses, native wildflowers, 17 ponds, pot bunkers, low scrub vegetation, and the many ways penalty strokes can enter a round. Whether mastered in calm conditions or survived in heavy wind, finishing this OBX fixture with confidence can be one of the most satisfying feelings in the area.

Completing the Outer Banks golf trio is Duck Woods, located to the north near Southern Shores. Designed by Ellis Maples, a name closely associated with the Pinehurst area in the famed Carolina Sandhills, the course has narrower fairways than its OBX neighbors. Water and tree-lined corridors create much of the difficulty. Played with discipline, Duck Woods is welcoming; once shots begin to drift even slightly away from the fairway, it can become demanding quickly. Every shot needs care, planning, and precise execution.

About Bill Kamenjar

Bill Kamenjar is a freelance writer and photojournalist who covers sports and the golf lifestyle scene throughout the Middle Atlantic. Originally from Rockville, Maryland, Bill is the 2019 Virginia Press Association award-winning photographer of high school sports for InsideNova in Northern Virginia. He has also worked as a contributing editor for GolfStyles Magazine in Washington, D.C., and Montgomery Magazine in Maryland, and previously served as Assistant Sports Information Director at George Mason University. His first trip to the Outer Banks seaside came during college, and he now returns every year, always with his golf sticks.

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