Outer Banks Golf: The Kilmarlic Golf Club

Kilmarlic Golf Club 

Located just under five miles from the Wright Memorial Bridge and just two miles north of H2OBX waterpark lies the beautiful Kilmarlic Golf Club.

One of the things that I love about Kilmarlic is once you step foot on property you feel as though you have entered another world. There is no outside noise, no chaos, all you can hear are the elegant sounds of birds chirping paired with the sounds of golf… a golfer’s paradise. 

On property, there are eighteen championship style holes (Par 71/72) designed by golf architect Tom Steele. Kilmarlic sits on the marsh overlooking the historic Albemarle Sound. Also on property sits a beautiful clubhouse with a tap room that makes a delicious club sandwich that you can enjoy before or after your round of golf. After a minute cart ride from the parking lot lies a quiet driving range, as well as a large bent grass putting green. 

The layout of this course was very well designed. Each hole has its own unique style and there are no two holes that look similar or overlap with one another. In my opinion, this layout style is very nice because even if it is a crowded day on the course, it still feels like you and your group have the entire golf course to yourselves. Another bright side about the course’s layout is that there are a lot of loops that connect back to the clubhouse/parking lot which is very convenient in case you forgot something in your car, or want to grab something from inside. 

Katherine’s personal overview of the course: 

Off the tee, the fairways are pretty wide open for the most part. There are a few tee shots where you can choose to be a little more aggressive with your target line. For example, hole 4 is a challenging par 4/5. The closer you can be to the penalty area on the right side of the fairway on your tee shot, the shorter your second shot will be. In my opinion this is where the game starts to become a game of chess, always trying to set up for your next move. Just like chess, most of the holes on this golf course have some sort of obstacle that makes you have to think about where you want to place your upcoming shot. 

The greens at Kilmarlic are bent grass. The speed of the greens are quite comfortable – not too fast and not too slow. The grounds crew does a fantastic job keeping the speed of the greens consistent throughout the course. The greens are quite receptive and roll very true. There is not a lot of undulation, so if the putter is hot that day, then you are in for a great round ahead of you. The Par 5s are very scorable. Long ball hitters will have the option to be able to go for the green in two on the majority of them. However, I believe that the Par 3s can be considered the defenders of this golf course (especially from the back tees), they can be quite tricky. Holes 5, 11, and 17 show their teeth with water and/or marsh drawing your attention from the tee box. On the other side of things, holes 8 and 14 can be considered drivable par 4s for the long ball hitters out there with very little risk surrounding the greens. So the tricky holes are perfectly balanced with holes that can give you the opportunity to fight back. If you can survive the tricky holes and take advantage of the opportunities that you give yourself, then you have mastered this course (or any course for that matter). The more you play this course, the better you get at picking the right lines off the tee and the more fun it becomes. 

Personally, Kilmarlic Golf Club is one of my favorite places to play a round of golf, and prepare for tournaments. Over the years, I have played in many tournaments across the country competing against top female golfers in the world. In doing so, I have experienced playing on many different styles of golf courses – links, mountainous, municipal, etc. I would consider Kilmarlic to be a championship golf course because it not only tests the players skill set, but it also challenges the players mind which those two things together makes for a great golf course.  

Book a Tee Time: (252)-491-4220

Address: 215 West Side Ln, Powells Point, NC 27966