Where are the top places to play near Wilmington, NC?

Thanks!

Drive about 30 minutes south of Wilmington to Shallotte, NC to find one of the best golf courses in NC: River's Edge. GREAT, GREAT Golf course.

In Wilmington, your choices are somewhat limited just because of geography. Just outside of Wilmington though, you can find some really good courses. As mentioned before, River's Edge and Magnolia Greens are both very nice. Carolina National is also in the area, and it's a good one. You could also go 30 min north and play River Landing. I just played NC Am qualifying there, and that course is in AMAZING condition....however I'm not sure whether or not it's public (worth a call to find out though). In town, Echo Farms is nice (although the greens are still in the process of recovering from aeriation). Also the Muni course is a great Donald Ross layout, and was just ranked the 50th best muni in the country by Golfweek, but I will caution you....the greens there are like velcro. Porter's neck is also nice, but might be on the pricey side (I believe it's Semi-Private, but not 100% sure).

I think I may have left some out, but if you have any questions shoot me a PM. I've lived here for several years, and I've played a lot of them in the area.

Just north of wilmington is Castle Bay golf course. It was great from what I remember.

Just my .02 cents.

River Landing just north of Wilmington has 36 great holes and is open for public play

+1 to the short hop to Shalotte/Sunset Beach. River's Edge, Panther Run and it's sister courses, Oyster Bay -- all terriffic. Basically, it's the Northern tip of the Myrtle Beach area, but w/out the traffic.

Also, the Rees Jones course at Sea Trail Plantation is great. If you go long and left of the green on #6, ask Big Ron (My Dad) for a Miller Lite!

Another suggestion, in the opposite direction, is North Shore in or near Topsail. It, IMO, is a very underrated golf course that is just beautiful and pretty challenging. Castle Bay is pretty good. Porters Neck is unbelievable, as are both courses at Landfall, if you can somehow get on b/c they are private (Nicklaus and Dye courses there). Thistle in Sunset Beach is great as well. All the courses mentioned above are good, but I would avoid Echo Farms if they have had any rain at all recently. The place is notorious for being wet....If you have connections to any private clubs, I would have your pro call to Landfall or Cape Fear CC, both are just outstanding.