Nags Head Golf Links

Nags Head Golf Links is Bob Moore's 1987 Scottish-style design on the Roanoke Sound side of the southern Outer Banks, with wind off the inner waterway as the constant presence. Moore routed 6,126 yards par 71 with a 130 slope, modest on paper, but the sound-side breezes change hole-to-hole and the course plays a club or two different from morning to afternoon rounds. The course is genuinely links in feel rather than just labeled as such: native grasses frame the fairways, greens sit open in front to accept running approaches, and bunkers read British rather than target-style American. Bentgrass greens and Bermuda fairways hold up through the Outer Banks summer. Golf Digest has labeled several of the holes as 'among the most beautiful in the eastern United States', unusual praise for a sub-6,200-yard course. Ranked a Top 100 Place to Play in North Carolina by GolfStyles Magazine. For an Outer Banks itinerary, Nags Head sits as the sound-side links counterpoint to The Currituck Club (Rees Jones, inland dune routing), pair them for a two-course OBX trip with sharp tonal contrast.