Oakwoods at Oakwoods Country Club

Oakwoods Country Club sits in Wilkesboro, a small town in the foothills of northwestern North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. The course was designed by Tom Jackson and Ellis Maples, the latter being a North Carolina native who shaped numerous courses across the state during the mid-to-late twentieth century. Maples, who learned the craft under his uncle Willard Byrd, became known for routing courses that work naturally with rolling Piedmont and foothill terrain rather than imposing dramatic earthwork on the land.

The Wilkesboro area offers a transitional landscape between the flatter Piedmont to the east and the steeper mountain terrain to the west, providing moderate elevation changes and wooded settings typical of the region. Courses designed by Maples in this era generally feature tree-lined fairways, modest greens with subtle contours, and strategic bunkering that rewards accurate approach play. The collaboration with Tom Jackson suggests a design approach that balances playability for members with enough challenge to maintain interest across varying skill levels.

Oakwoods serves as the centerpiece of a traditional country club in a community where golf provides a social and recreational anchor. The club reflects the character common to many North Carolina mountain foothill clubs: a membership drawn from the surrounding towns and counties, a clubhouse that functions as a gathering place, and a course that sees regular play throughout the temperate seasons when the elevation provides relief from summer heat found at lower elevations.