Tuck1953
My wife and I have bought a home in Chapel Hill and are retiring there soon from Jersey. I took a golfing trip down there in November to try out a few courses with membership in mind since I play 80-100 rounds a year. Finley was head and shoulders above the rest!!! The staff was more than accommodating (make sure you seek out Gary Stec just to say hi) the food was delicious and most importantly the golf course was impeccable!! The first day we move in I will be headed to Finley to sign up for a Championship Membership!!! The only disappointment is that I can only rrate it 5 Stars and not 10!!! Dave Tucker
Brando62
I m from the North and this reminds me a lot of some northwoods courses with majestic pines and forgiving fairways. there is a lot of sand but this is a challenging and fair course. beautiful multilevel greens on a few holes (massive greens) I still can't get used to the giant fans blowing on the greens to keep the mold down - but again, we have wind up north.
SirNigel58
This course is in excellent condition. From the tee boxes, through the fairways, and on the greens the course is in very good shape. The course can be expensive if you don't have a coupon but it appears that the extra money gets put to good use towards the course. I'm about a 15 handicap and shot a 39 on the front from the white tees and don't normally shoot that well with the amount I've been playing. I played the blue tees on the back nine and shot a 45.
666dm
a truly excellent well groomed golf course in chapel hill. challenging and fair and beautiful. staff was accommodating and fit me in to catch a quick 9 after work. highly recommended. food and service at the restaurant was exceptionally done by Blake, my server.note: the picture of the brown fairway contained on tripadvisor ismisleading, my trip in July found lush green fairways and greens and a beautiful and picturesque setting for golf.
ecvogel
What a great course, people, club house and food. The club house was great and the starter was the best I have ever had. This was a great time and ranks near the top of my golf experiences. Course was lush and fun.
RonS444
Recently played in early November and really enjoyed the course. Very nice layout with some fantastic holes, especially on the back 9. The conditioning was great and the greens were excellent. Booked through GolfNow and got a great deal, even at the regular rates it is a solid course not to be missed.
robertr457
They have really improved the layout and recently the clubhouse. I't beats Duke as it's really more playable and more beautiful to me. My foursome included 3 alumni so I guess we are bias. I filled out their "how did we do card" and wrote, " if you would lower the cart and greens fees to $40 instead of $58, I'd play it every week and I live in Durham, not Chapel Hill. Sorry one review wasn't treated well, everyone has a bad day, but that sounded inexcusable. Bob Ross
Wookness
The course is very nice, good layout. A few fantastic holes, if your in the area, I would recommend playing. Not worth going out of your way to play, but its a nice course. I get the idea of having students employed at the course, I also understand that being a campus course makes them extremely busy on a beautiful Saturday. The student at the front desk was very polite. The starter was also very polite, but the guys closing up the club house were down right rude. They seemed annoyed that we were holding them up from their Saturday night. In future, i'd keep the clubhouse open long enough to sit and enjoy a beer after the round. I went to the pro shop to buy a hat, and was told that I couldnt as they had closed. "I dont even know how you got in here, but your not supposed to be." Im not talking about late either. There was still plenty of day light left. The air of entitlement was apparent. Keep a manager present until close on a Saturday.Rental clubs are also atrocious. Pings that are so badly beat up that I don't think you could sell them on kijiji. Also only had regular flex. The golf bag was literally falling apart. It's basically like they are not trying. If ping saw what they are renting, they'd be embarassed.Customer Service on a golf course is a must have in my opinion. This was one of the stranger experiences ive seen.
209AnitaH
Home of the UNC golf teams, Finley is reputed to be a great public course and a very good value. I go there because there is a little hidden walking/running trail at the rear called the Mason Farm tract. No dogs allowed because it is used by UNC to study birds and other wildlife. An inexpensive annual gate pass can be purchased at the NC Botanical Gardens or you can park at the rear of the golf course and walk down past where the dirt road crosses the creek.
DelanceyR
Beautiful course nestled in the woods of Chapel Hill. Fun to play. Great greens. There's also a great practice green to use before you start out on the course. Great snacks, too.
balger
I live in Cary and routinely make the 25 minute drive to Chapel Hill to play Finley. It is my favorite public course in the area and ranks right up there with the private courses. It is always in great shape with very fast greens.It is a very fair course if you select the proper tees. The condition of the course is always top notch with think rough during the late summer, early fall. It is a good course to walk as well. Only the last couple of holes are a little hilly. Sometimes I walk the front and grab a cart for the last 8 holes. (The turn is after 10).A great weekend is Finley on Saturday and then a very different Duke course on Sunday.Finley will often take 4 to 4 1/2 hours to play which is a little disappointing. The marshalls don't ever push slower groups. They just drive around and frown at them.You will really enjoy this Tom Fazio course.
ArkansasTraveler68
"My own experience," in this case, is based on hearsay, but it is a good assessment. A friend - - who has no financial worries, and has played golf in all kinds of high-falutin' places - - was coming to town and wanted to play some local golf, so I made a reservation for him at Finley and at the golf course at the Washington Duke resort course in Durham. He played one on one morning, and the other on the second morning. When he came back on the second day, he said, and I quote, "I have just played the best course I've ever played in my life. The problem is, I can't decide which one it was!" We have good golf around here!!!
NoFo
The new lay out is an outstanding improvement over the old course.
bcfan1111
We had a great mini-outing at the Finley course - unfortunately their main clubhouse is under construction so the pro shop is operating out of a small building but the staff and the course are great.
Guiness211
Played UNC Finley last week. What an amazing track, the course was in great shape and the greens rolled true. A must play for anyone passing through the area. Can't wait to go back.