Wide Open Spaces
Outer Banks Ranked Among Top Spots for Social Spacing In 2020
Forbes.com recently ranked the Outer Banks as No. 1 among The 20 Top Places Americans Are Dreaming About Right Now, and Cape Hatteras was just ranked a Top Ten Beach In The U.S. by Dr. Beach.
The Outer Banks checks off a lot of boxes for golfers planning their next getaway. It has been doing social spacing before it was even a thing. With golf having taken the societal lead across the nation in the reopening of outdoor, recreational activities, it’s only natural that OBX has emerged from confinement high on everyone’s lists. That’s because it boasts a wide array of professionally managed vacation rental homes and golf cottages and the region’s golf variety, well, it’s second to none.
Case in point: golfers can escape cabin fever and play one of three courses on the mainland, each offering its own set of “wide-open” challenges. The Pointe Golf ClubThe Pointe Golf Club in Powells Point plays across an open space that was once a turf farm so special attention is always given to its perfect greens. Kilmarlic Golf Club just up the road is tucked away in a maritime forest so that nearly every shot is in peril as the ball travels across sprawling wetlands and ponds with a few memorable views of the adjacent Albemarle Sound. Rounding out the trio is the Carolina Club in Grandy, where an island green (on its signature hole) puts a premium on club selection as one plays amongst the breezes the region is famous for.
Then, of course, there are the coastal courses including The Currituck Club and Nags Head Golf Links. The “never the same two days in a row” winds on these two offerings can be especially challenging.
The Currituck Club, a sprawling 600-acre golf-resort property up in Corolla, gives true meaning to “social spacing.” Its upscale ambiance between the Atlantic Ocean and the Currituck Sound is also appropriate for both the OBX gentry and visitors alike. To the south, one of OBX’s most iconic open spaces welcomes golfers to a wind-swept, sound-side experience at Nags Head Golf Links. This “don’t mess with Mother Nature” creation boasts four holes along the Roanoke Sound featuring as true a Scottish links design as there is without a plane flight.
Once considered the newest and best-kept secret of the golfing world, the Outer Banks vacation spot – with its award-winning achievements – may have just officially joined the ranks of the top activities vacationers dream about when they see one of those OBX stickers in the back of a car window – wind surfing along the sounds, hang gliding off the dunes, fishing in the ocean and bike riding around town for a start.
While hammock may be the word of the day in OBX, there’s no relaxing on this destination’s laurels.
So if life’s responsibilities have had you saddled behind a desk inside your house, you may want to take a break, pack up your clubs and head for the Outer Banks. Because it was there that a high-flying achievement like man’s first flight (thanks Wright Brothers) took place due to its wonderfully wide-open and windy nature. Golf has subsequently taken notice, and its development has helped the destination earn the distinction of being the nation’s top spot dreamed about – especially when taking into consideration social spacing.
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