glennehurst1969

The Good -
Staff friendly and helpful. Course layout is great.

The Bad -
Wanted to love the course due to the layout was challenging however the course conditions were terrible. Only two greens were in good condition. All of the other 16 greens were mostly gone due to fungus Not sure if they will ever come back. The tees were mostly sand and fairways were not fair, mediocre at best.

The course director Doug, did refund our money which was the right action however not sure I will ever play this course again.

Have been coming and playing Carolina National for 10+ years now. Over the past 2 years the conditions have declined a bit. This past visit the greens were crusty and baked out and the tee boxes were fluffly and had not been mowed.
The worst issue was pace of play.
It took our foursome 2 hours and 55 mins to play our first nine on the Heron side. Had to wait on every shot and then when we reached the 4th hole there were 3 groups on that one hole. We then made the turn to Ibis and really sped up(LOL) and played that nine in 2 hours and 35 mins for a 18 hole total time of 5 hours and 30 min round. Yes we called the Pro Shop...no answer. Spoke to a ranger at the turn. No explanation given. Glad we did not have dinner reservations as we would have been late.....
May have to skip playing this course next year....

What can I say...The Thistle is one of the best courses in the area. From the drive up to the finish the 3 nines are the standard by which all courses in the area should aspire to. Clubhouse is a step into Scotland with the course being a great mixture of links and parkland styles. I have played all 3 nines multiple times with my personal favorite being the Stewart nine. I have nothing bad to say about comping and playing the Thistle. If they continue with the excellent conditions I will continue to come back multiple times a year to play at The Thistle.
Thank-you for being a great club with great links.

Great course layout with good conditions. Many different hole designs with lots of water and bunkers. Better be straight and accurate. A fair test of golf for sure. Will be adding MB National Courses to my yearly trip.

I have played here every year for the past 7 years when coming to the beach. The layout's of all 3 9's are great. In spite of 2 inches of rain the night before the course was playable although muddy in spots. The grounds crew had there hands full however the greens were excellent as always. The layout is challenging but you can still score. The views and shot values along the inter coastal is what makes this course one of my favorites. Look forward to coming back every year.

Wish I could say great things about this course however it is your standard country club course. Two things stand out. The greeter was excellent and helped us being this was our first time playing this course. Second there are 2 holes on the inter coastal are pretty views however that is where this course is no different than any other low land course. Very straight forward layout. Lots of houses on the course that made some holes very tight and not very picture worthy. Not all of the greens were in the best condition and rolled inconsistently. Fairways were ok and tee boxes ok. Also to note you go out and turn on 9 and come back to the clubhouse on 18. The halfway house was closed. As my late grandmother used to say...I made my first and last trip to this course.

First time playing the Thistle in sunset beach. Wish I had played it sooner. It is now one of my favorites in the MB area. I will play it every time I come down. Our foursome played the Cameron 9 and Stewart 9. We liked both however the Stewart 9 was our favorite. The course amenities are second to none. The staff from bag drop to maintenance crews were excellent. The greens were perfect and tee boxes were also. The only reason I cannot give a 5 stars is that the fairways had not been mowed in a couple days. In there defense it had rained two days prior and some spots were still wet. Even in spite of that carts were 90 degrees and fairways were playable. Pace of play was 4 hours and 15 mins with a stop at the turn. Food was top notch as well with excellent service. Cant wait to come back and play the Mackay 9.

A very good course for the money. I always rate a course by the greens first, fairways second and then tee boxes third. That is what you are paying for when you play. The greens where in excellent condition with consistent roll and speed. Fairways were cut and defined well. Tee boxes were also cut and had a good variation. The layout I really liked because it is just the course with a few houses on the outside edge of the course. Very good layout with a good mix of easy to difficult holes. Our foursome played in 3 hours and 50 mins despite the other 3 had never played the course. The course is in front of you with no tricks. I would recommend this course to any golfer.