Favorite Donald Ross courses.

• Position: TOP 100 GOLF COURSES

Perhaps no one has had a bigger influence on golf in North Carolina than Scotland native Donald Ross, who designed more than 50 Tar Heel courses.

From Biltmore Forest in Asheville to Wilmington Municipal, about 40 are still in play. This year, members of the North Carolina Golf Panel were asked to rank their favorite Ross-designed courses in the state. Many found it a difficult task. "It's like being a kid in a candy store," says one panelist.

1. PINEHURST NO. 2, Pinehurst

2. CHARLOTTE COUNTRY CLUB, Charlotte

3. MID PINES INN AND GOLF CLUB, Southern Pines

4. PINE NEEDLES LODGE AND GOLF CLUB, Southern Pines

5. BILTMORE FOREST COUNTRY CLUB, Asheville

6. SEDGEFIELD COUNTRY CLUB (ROSS), Greensboro

7. CAPE FEAR COUNTRY CLUB, Wilmington

8. HOPE VALLEY COUNTRY CLUB, Durham

9. RALEIGH COUNTRY CLUB, Raleigh

10. MYERS PARK COUNTRY CLUB, Charlotte

11. PINEHURST NO. 4, Pinehurst

12. FORSYTH COUNTRY CLUB, Winston-Salem

13. LINVILLE GOLF CLUB, Linville

14. ALAMANCE COUNTRY CLUB, Burlington

15. COUNTRY CLUB OF ASHEVILLE, Asheville

16. SOUTHERN PINES GOLF CLUB, Southern Pines

17. ROARING GAP CLUB, Roaring Gap

18. COUNTRY CLUB OF SALISBURY, Salisbury

19. BLOWING ROCK COUNTRY CLUB, Blowing Rock

20. MIMOSA HILLS GOLF CLUB, Morganton

Pinehurst No. 2

"Most Ross courses wrap their dense, wooden arms around you, offering comfort in their flowing familiarity, but Pinehurst No. 2 is another creature," says Lenox Rawlings of Greensboro. "Maybe it's because Ross could walk out his back door after dinner and stroll the grounds, smoking and dreaming and devising plot twists. (Ross lived for a while in a cottage behind the third green.) At No. 2, every step is like walking on pine needles, another wrong-sided predicament only a mindless slip away."

Charlotte Country Club

"Charlotte was built to be a championship test. With more elevation changes and side-hill lies than many mountain courses, [the course] challenges you with almost every shot," says Harris Prevost, who lives in Linville. "It's a perfect blend of tradition, nature and property," adds John Strasser of Cary.

Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club

"The seamless transitions from greens to the ... teeing areas make for a comfortable walk," says Greensboro's David Egerton. "The internal movement of the putting surfaces is both playful and diabolical, and the shot values from the teeing area on holes 12 through 18 are world class."

Linville Golf Club

"Linville Golf Club is not fancy or pretentious," says Prevost. "In an understated way, Ross created a...