Which are the top public, semi-private golf courses in the greater Charlotte-area?

This summer, dear reader, I risked my back for you.

I wanted to find out which are the top 10 golf courses in the immediate Charlotte area that anyone could play. And then I decided I was going to play every one.

Read more Crash on Interstate 77 in Charlotte closes all lanes in one direction Saturday

At first I thought I could crowdsource it and get lots of opinions and narrow down the list to a reasonable number of golf courses, but “Charlotte area” means many different things to many people. There needed to be a boundary.

So I partnered up with my good friend Bruce Bellamy, with whom I started playing golf with 26 years ago. I recently started playing again after an 8-year hiatus coaching travel basketball. Bruce plays frequently.

We decided that “Charlotte-area” would be 25-30 miles in any direction starting basically from Bank of America Stadium in uptown Charlotte. The courses had to be open for public play, so public courses or semi-private only. And off we went. We didn’t tell anyone we were coming or what we were doing. The Observer covered the fees. And from mid-June to early August, we played more than 25 courses, often in 90-plus-degree weather.

That’s a lot of swinging. As I said, I risked my back for the journalism.

Like many of you, I tend to play tracks on my side of town and know those pretty well. I wasn’t so familiar with courses in others. Often, I was pleasantly surprised. A few times, I felt like I’d never drive that far to play that course again.

Read more Ongoing feud ends with a woman dead, man wounded, NC police say. Suspect found.

Not every course we played made our lists, but there were a few surprises: Charles T. Myers, a public course in east Charlotte known as “The Chuck,” is making a comeback, condition-wise and popularity-wise. Another public course in west Charlotte, Sunset Hills, is no longer what golfers would call a “goat track.” That place has undergone a huge makeover, adding a really nice practice area and a 9-hole practice course. Sunset also offers free golf lessons to people with disabilities.

And some of the courses were beaten up by the heat. One had all of its greens sanded over. It was literally like putting on Myrtle Beach.

But after all that playing, and all that sunscreen, we came up with three lists: Top 10 overall, top 10 semi-private and top 10 public.

Note: Price ranges listed include junior, senior and twilight rates. Rates quoted were publicly posted as of Friday, but are subject to change. All senior rates were not posted, so call the course to check. Last, courses were evaluated by the condition they were in at the time of review. Those conditions may have changed.

Read more Charlotte storms with damaging winds, large hail possible Saturday, NWS says