North Carolina's Greatest Golf Course

That Golf Course is at Innsbrook Golf and Boating Community, Merry Hill, NC. It is almost finished! At least close enough to see what it will become.

Last year this time Innsbrook Golf And Boating Community started construction on the 18 hole Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course portion of their development on the banks of the Albemarle Sound in Eastern Bertie County near Merry Hill. Two weeks ago I drove out and took a look at the course and it was something special. It is only eighteen months since they got started on this great new facility, Innsbrook. At that time I did an article about the dream Bobby Ware had of what this facility would become. You can read that article here.




After I saw how far they had come, I contacted Bobby and asked if I could do an updated article on the golf course. He felt at first that it would be better to wait until closer to the time the course is opened, but he let me go ahead with this article on interim progress. I appreciate it. He arranged for me to ride around the course with Chris Catron in an off road vehicle they use to get around this huge complex called Innsbrook.

When I got up yesterday I didn't think we were going to be able to do the tour as the sky was heavily overcast and the prediction was for rain. However the afternoon turned out beautiful. Though the course was not as green as two weeks ago due to the freezing sleet and snow we got last week, it still showed what a beautiful course and housing community this will be. When the brown grass turns green again, it will be even more beautiful.




The brochure describes the course this way, "From the moment you stand on the first tee and gaze across the greens, until you reach the eighteenth hole, you will marvel at the the design of the 'Arnold Palmer Signature Course' at Innsbrook". It certainly seems they have attained the excellence they sought. This course is magnificent.

This picture tour will show you the view from the tee and the approach shot to the green of every one of the 18 holes. (Don't forget that you can click on the thumbnail pictures in the article and open up a large size photo of any you want to see in detail. Each hole has a course map that is oriented with North pointing straight up, so golfers can figure out the direction of the sun at any time of day.)

Let's get started!

First Hole - Par 4 - 416 Yards








Second Hole - Par 4 - 420 Yards








Third Hole - Par 3 - 187 Yards





Fourth Hole - Par 4 - 398 Yards









Fifth Hole - Par 5 - 581 Yards

Sixth Hole - Par 4 - 441 Yards









Seventh Hole - Par 3 - 194 Yards





Eighth Hole - Par 5 - 561 Yards









Ninth Hole - Par 4 - 437 Yards (Tee picture from the second tee, not the pro tee)







Front Nine - Par 36 - 3635 Yards

Tenth Hole - Par 4 - 435 Yards








Eleventh Hole - Par 5 - 523 Yards




Can you see the green through the trees? You better be able to pull your drive!




Twelfth Hole - Par 4 - 336 Yards







Thirteenth Hole - Par 4 - 404 Yards







Fourteenth Hole - Par 3 - 240 Yards




Beautiful View of Salmon Creek on the left with Albemarle Sound out beyond.




Fifteenth Hole - Par 4 - 454 Yards


Par 4? You have to be kidding! You can't see the green until you are almost there and you have to thread a needle to get there.






Sixteenth Hole - Par 4 - 446 Yards




A lot of balls will wind up in that lake on the left!




Seventeenth Hole - The Signature Hole - With a simply awesome view of the Albemarle Sound - Par 3 - 152 Yards






Eighteenth Hole - Par 5 - 538 Yards - Water on the right - water around the green!

Back Nine - Par 36 - 3828 Yards

Total Course - Par 72 - 7463 Yards

What a beautiful course! Long and tough. There is no easy hole anywhere. I have no doubt it will be the greatest course in North Carolina and rival the best in the world. Because it is out near the Sound, the constantly changing wind . . . . and the layout of the holes with regard to the sun, mean this course will be different every time you play it.

From hole 14 until the end there is no more beautiful section on any golf course in the world. You are never out of sight of the Albemarle Sound. The signature hole, seventeen, is as beautiful as anything on Pebble Beach.




So that is the golf course. However Innsbrook is also a new gated housing community. The first gated community in Bertie County. The first home in the community is nearing completion along with the Golf Course. This is Chris Catron's dream home. It is everything you could want, with magnificent views of the Albemarle Sound and the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Holes.




Innsbrook looks to be everything promised.




Go check it out. The sales office is staffed daily and they will be glad to show you Innsbrook. For more information, call them at (800) 482-9012 or (252) 482-5065 or email - info@innsbrookgolfandboat.com