This golf range located on NC State's campus is Beautiful. I've been golfing for almost a year now and I can't believe it's taken me this long to try this range. There's an automatic ball machine that dispenses the exact number of balls bought. With a view of downtown and about 20 bays this is a great spot for practicing your swing! read more

See all

Maybe the best public course in Raleigh. The golf course itself is the most important reason to play Lonnie. With 5 sets of tee boxes PLUS hybrid tee options most players can enjoy this course. However this is NOT a course for "first timers" and true beginners due to the frequency, size, and locations of the sand traps and hazards. The restaurant is often closed and there is no on course cart for food and beverage so not ideal for the more socially oriented players. The shame of that is that the view of Downtown Raleigh from the East Deck is Awesome. When it's open the restaurant staff are super friendly and you can have a nice salad or grilled sandwich...and they make a perfect "Arnold Palmer." With bent grass greens the best time to play is in spring or the autumn. They are fast, a bit firm but receptive. The green complexes are huge therefore pin locations add to the variety of playing Lonnie. During the summer the bent grass is easily stressed due to much hotter temps so the greens are purposely allowed to grow out and they are over-watered making them soft and slow. Every green is fronted by a hazard... 17 of 18 greens have a front side bunker while one hole has a lake on its front side... which is why this course should be avoided by true beginners. The fairways are often massively wide but require you to play to the "correct" side for the best approach. Course condition is normally good-to-very-good. The grounds team are long serving and do a great job with the course. With SO MANY bunkers you may find yourself in an unkempt area or footprint in the bunker (which in friendly matches allows for relief.). The golf shop staff are helpful and courteous and the shop itself is very well stocked for retail therapy. The starters and rangers have a tough job because Lonnie gets an enormous amount of play every day...and they normally do a very good job of keeping the golfers moving along. As a public course Lonnie gets a lot of play and it can be slow so allow 4 1/2 hours +/-. If you are visiting Raleigh or on your way to Pinehurst then you really should play Lonnie. If you have the opportunity to play it multiple times then enjoy the variety and challenges which Lonnie offers. read more

Lonnie Poole Golf Course - Clubhouse. 15 Green. 18 Fairway. - Golf Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Beautiful trees but very loud; many holes next to a major highway. Definitely not relaxing and definitely not a course you can walk. Definitely not a course I would drive out of the way to play nor spend much money. Greens are ok but they are struggling with their fairways and the rough...many muddy, bare spots. read more

Located on the NC State college campus, this is one of the best well designed golf courses in the area. It is only one of 7 remaining Arnold Palmer Signature Courses. The design included plenty of water hazards and a beachload of sand traps surrounding the greens as well as anywhere you didn't want to hit your ball. I was playing from the tournament tee boxes which are quite a bit further than I'm used to. In fact, one of our par 5 holes exceeded 600 yards. The fairways were plush and green while the greens were like hitting onto glass. Very fast and difficult to control on the short shots. We had a friendly beverage cart person following us around for our outing. Very nice clubhouse with great food and drink. read more

My first trip to Lonnie Poole was for a charity golf tournament hosted by T & T creative. It was a benefit for Gabi's Grounds. I met so many wonderful people. read more

Lonnie Poole Golf Course - Golf Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I am an NCSU alumni and have played this course many times. Great layout. I recently have become displeased with some of the staff. They aren't welcoming, and better yet come across to be quite rude. I have sometimes felt just rushed to pay and get through the round of golf. I have heard that there is a recently new pro that does not run the place as professionally as it should be. And I can definitely see that. Being an NC State alum I should want to come and patronize this course when I can. I understand a golf course is about the golf and quality of the course but customer service is just as important, especially when you represent a large university. On a positive note, the starters are always very friendly and personable. read more

Rude pro shop staff, the worst starter I've ever met. Paid a lot to golf, no drink cart, restaurant closed, no instruction for first timers about the course, a line of twenty to try and get to the range before. There are thousands of golf courses play anywhere, but here. read more

Never felt like I was inconveniencing someone to book a tee time before until now. Customer service is terrible

It is a great layout that was in very good condition and I thought the price was very reasonable. Clubhouse is nice and staff was friendly. We played on a bad weather day so it was not crowded and we played in 3 hours. Carts are new and have GPS. read more

Lonnie Poole Golf Course - View of the city from the 11th tee. - Golf Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I've played this golf course twice while visiting the area (from Chicago), once before the clubhouse was built and once after, and find the pricing to be entirely appropriate for the quality of the layout, conditions and facility. The course itself is an exceptional design with nice variety of holes, spectacular views, and a rough, bold character that requires strategy and nerve. Sloping fairways demand well-placed tee shots. Greens are accessible but misses can be costly. On both of my visits, the putting surfaces were fast and true. Some of the reviews here don't make sense to me. The range had grass hitting areas and pace of play seemed normal; we finished in just under 4 hours with no pressure (on a Saturday). Regarding price and conditions, Lonnie Poole was built only a few years ago -- carved out of wild, uneven terrain. It can take time for a course like this to mature. Dozens of sand bunkers don't just appear overnight. And when a gorgeous clubhouse is added in a second phase of development, it's completely natural for prices to nudge upward. Some may expect this to be a cheap municipal just because it's affiliated with a public university, but that's not the case here. Lonnie Poole is an excellent golf course and a first-rate facility; well worth a visit. read more

Golf is the last sport that is about honor. Played the golf course today, and honestly was extremely disappointed. I do not care about the cost as a rule, played Tobacco Rd. yesterday. I just feel that the pro shop should have enough honor to tell people that the course is in HORRIBLE SHAPE. the fairways were burnt bare . No grass, as was around most of the greens. To pay a premium with no warning, shows no honor and lack of class. BILL read more

I write this review as a NCSU fan and Alumni, but it's not a great review. Sure, this is a great course, very challenging, visually stimulating and usually maintained very well. I've played the course a dozen times. However, that's a fraction of what avid golfers are looking for from a local course. I play or practice 3-5 times a week and maintain a 5-10 handicap. Often I like to leave work in the summer and get some range, chip and putt time in before sundown....cross Lonnie off the list for that. The range is 100% mats. Apparently they make the NCSU players hit off mats also. That's like asking the football team to practice on concrete. Embarrassing if true. This is nothing short of egregious! A sub 15 handicap has nothing to gain from hitting off a mat other than to get warm immediately before a round. OK, fine. So I'll just buy a small bucket, work on driver (by moving out front of the mat, and drive off grass). So I ask the clubhouse where I can chip and work on my sand game since the range is useless to me......the answer? The chipping area is for "members only." My sarcastic reply was "do I need the jacket, or can I just drive out there and practice?" Ok, working on ball striking, draws, fades...that's obviously OUT. Chipping is OUT, sand practice is OUT. I can still practice putting. Lonnie Poole gives the feel that they want to book as many tee times as possible at $75 a round on a very challenging course, and completely ignore local players needs for game improvement. If I'm being honest, I don't feel the same lack of support when I go to Duke or Chapel Hill. Drive 30 min north and spend your $$ at my favorite course in the area, Heritage in Wake Forest! Turf is always TOP of the list, fantastic layout, risk vs reward, impeccably maintained, fantastic range and practice area, friendly and helpful staff. read more

I wish I could give it more stars then 3, but that is all they are going to get because of the condition of the course. Lonnie Poole is currently redoing a ton of their bunkers and we played it on a Saturday morning and two of the holes were pretty much closed to all players. 8 -- a par 3 was closed, and 7, one of the signature holes in my opinion out there, a long part 5 was played as a short par 3. That is really unfortunate because I think that 7 would play as a great one from what i could tell. I'm surprised they have left the course open as they do this work, instead of closing it down for a few weeks and then just opening it back up when all the work is done. The guys at the clubhouse were pretty helpful, and they did give us about a 7 dollar discount on our rate for golf, but I think that you need to make it clearer what you are getting into when you make those tee times. We were happy with the condition of the greens. -- they all rolled pretty smooth and were about the same speed all across the course. The GpS was helpful, but ours and the other one in our group woudl be in the same spot and have about a 10 yard difference according to the carts. 18 is a really nice hole and has a good view to finish. I think that if you are going to have holes closed, you need to provide some complimentary range balls or something especially for those that are there during your most expensive time on a SAturday morning. I think that we will take a look at the course again during another trip back to NC and make sure we play it when all the holes are open. read more

This is a very difficult cart course that is in very good shape. Many would consider it a bit tricked up with a crazy number of bunkers. The pro shop is under construction, so I won't go again until completion. read more

I am quite surprised to read some of the other reviews on Yelp. My son and husband have been members at Lonnie Poole for about 9 months now. The course is beautiful and challenging enough that my son plays here 2-3 days per week and doesn't get bored. I also can't say enough positive things about the staff at the desk. They are always polite and answer all of my questions without judgement (I know very little about golf) the instructors are awesome, my son takes lessons with Nick and he's wonderful and so patient. read more

The pro shop staff needs a lesson in customer service. They need to remember you are in a sales environment at all times. While it is a nice place to play, it isn't really worth the poor customer service. read more

Course is fine. Quality of service facing customers requires a lot of improvement. Especially for the prices they charge whether that is to play a round or for the range. read more

The only reason I gave this more than 1 star is because the course itself is fairly nice and has a few great views of downtown Raleigh. My experience is nearly identical to Ryan S. in that although the course wasn't very busy, we were absolutely harassed by the rangers. When we went to make the turn they told us that we were playing 15 minutes behind pace and asked if we would mind skipping the turn and not getting any food or beverage to make up for pace. Even though the only group behind us was our second group and there was no one behind them, we obliged. Then on the 10th hole, a mere 10 minutes after being told to skip the turn a ranger drove up to us to tell us that we were running behind and that we should try and pick up the pace. Then, I kid you not, on the 11th hole, a mere 10 minutes later, we were told again to pick up our pace. Keep in mind you can see if there is anyone behind you on these holes and not a person was in sight. Now everyone makes mistakes but when I went to speak to the staff they were indifferent and were not helpful at all offering typical responses like 'Well sir we just have to try and keep pace going.' I filled out a comment card and asked them to e-mail me so that I could elaborate on my poor experience, and no response despite leaving multiple ways to contact me. Not too mention it's the most expensive course in the area, despite the fact that their pro shop is a double wide trailer. Plain and simple if you don't mind the service being poor, it's a very nice course with some really nice holes. If you're looking to be treated like a paying customer, I would take your business elsewhere. read more

This is by far one of the best golf courses to play in North Carolina. The greens are pure. Layout is awesome. Back nine and front nine are completely different. Links style back nine. I've dealt with Nick, Nate, Scott, and Daniel on multiple occasions; they always give A1 service. They treat every customer like royalty and provide excellent customer service. This is also NC State university's home golf course. Thanks for everything LP! read more

I would like to give this course a higher rating b/c it is in excellent shape but our group had a miserable time. On our visit the course was not crowded and no one was pushing us, yet the rangers continually pestered us to play faster. Stopping to watch us on a number of holes and continually making us uncomfortable. When I brought up this complaint to the clubhouse they offered no apology and simply pointed me to a comment card. I will not be playing this course again. There are simply way too many courses around here where they treat you much better. read more

This is one of the hardest courses I have ever played, but also one of the most fun. It plays very long and is alot of trouble throughout the hole; enormous fairway bunkers, hazards, and woods. Now I've played alot of courses that are just stupid hard, and difficulty does not equal fun alone. Here, the course designers really thought the set up through and made it a really fun track. It is fun because the trouble is usually stacked on one side so there is a lot of strategy involved. If you can set yourself up safely, you can score well. My one gripe is that there are some blind shots on a few of the holes, but I guess if you play more than once that problem disappears. I can't really say much about the course condition because I played in the winter/early spring so the fairways and rough were all yellow, plus it rained the day before. Also, the greens were being aerated so I can't fairly judge those. BUT the greens are firm and slick. Even with all these things, the course was in very playable condition so I could only imagine how nice it is on a "good" day. I had read other reviews that were complaining about the pace of play. We got stuck behind a slow two, but they let us play through and we had no problems after that. Alot of the reviews were complaining about the pace on the weekends, and pace is a problem anywhere you play during the weekends so I would not let that keep you away from this track. Also, other reviews said if you're over an 18 hcp you should avoid this place. My buddy I play with is over an 18 and he still really enjoyed it too. Oh and its a really good value too for $35 twilight on weekdays. Bottom line, play here if you get the chance. read more

Over priced and way over rated. This is a very challenging course that is fun to play but it's obvious the university is over charging the public to pay for a course that was mostly likely built with tax payer dollars. I guess they need to pay for the new club house they built....which is very nice. The driving range sucks and you are always...I repeat always hitting off of mats while they have perfectly manicured grass right in front of you. $12 for what they call a large bucket of balls is highway robbery. I guess they know that there are only a handful of public ranges in the area so they are taking advantage of the market. A guy that worked there told me they raised the prices because of the amount of people coming to the range. That is very definition of greed and if you are going to charge a premium then you dam well better at least let people hit off the grass. read more

Starter was a prick. Staff inside pro shop felt bothered to have to check us in but the course is wonderful. Play was very slow but that could be the holiday. read more

Course is in fine shape considering the winter season is upon us. Challenging course, but with plenty of birdie holes. Greens are inconsistent(was even told by a member that they cut some greens and dye others, unsure of the purpose for that), and you definitely find a huge difference in some green speeds. Bunkers are inconsistent right now, some are overfilled. Not the friendliest staff, but seem to be getting a bit better each time I go back. Probably a hot course at prime time. read more

Fantastic course. Best Public course in the triangle hands down. The pace of play has really improved, and the new clubhouse is going to be great. read more

Allison and Patty were amazing and Karthik was very attentive behind the bar. The kitchen were very patience with delivery our orders and they were accurate. The golf shop Daniel was so attentive and so nice to accommodate my sons and family today. read more

Great course with super views of the city. We were not rushed or pushed by the group behind us at all. And I play slow/ awful! Was very fun will go back read more

Great layout/design. TERRIBLE pace of play. They overbook the crap out of this course. Only play here if you have 7+ hours of free time.

Very challenging course so choose which tees you play carefully. Course was in good shape and overall experience was great. A little pricey to play often, but worth a round every now and again. read more