The Bald Head Island Club's 18-hole seaside golf course winds its way over dunes, around lagoons, along the ocean, and through a maritime forest. Course designer George Cobb, who for 20 years was the lead consultant at Augusta National, left much of the terrain the way he found it, creating a course of almost unparalleled wild beauty. Many of the holes are so undisturbed, they are bordered by the still lively natural habitats of herons, egrets, foxes and alligators. Awarded a coveted 4.5 stars from Golf Digest's Places to Play, the Bald Head Island Club Course has a slope rating of 139 and course rating of 74.3, putting it in the top 20 percent of courses in difficulty. Weekend warriors need not be discouraged, though. The Bald Head Island Club Course is known to play on several levels, and average golfers find it very playable from the forward tees.