Charlotte NC Golf Weekend

My Town: Johnson Wagner

Those who visit this North Carolina city often don't want to leave. That was the case for this PGA Tour pro

By John Strege, Golf Digest
March 15, 2010

The saying goes that no one ever visits Charlotte more than once, because they don't go back to visit. They go back to live. Johnson Wagner was born in Texas, raised in New York and schooled in Virginia, yet has called the North Carolina city home since 2006, his last year playing the Nationwide Tour before earning full membership on the PGA Tour.

Wagner attended Virginia Tech, as did his wife, Katie, who played soccer there. Charlotte is only 170 miles away from campus and, unlike Blacksburg, Va., is a big city with an airline hub (U.S. Airways), a fairly important selling point for a neophyte tour pro on the road much of the year.

COURSES
The GC at Ballantyne at the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge is great, 20 minutes from downtown. The owners just redid the greens with Champion Ultra dwarf grass. It's one of the only places in town with it, and the greens are firm and good in the summer, real fast.

There are several good courses up by Lake Norman. One that gets a lot of buzz is Birkdale GC, an Arnold Palmer design that is one of seven courses on the Carolina Trail.

  Carolina Golf Trail

There's also a TPC course in town, Piper Glen, which hosted a Champions Tour event for a number of years. It's private, but if you can find a way to get on, it's worth the effort.

Dining:
The Penguin is the best burger place in the country. It's an old biker bar/drive-in joint. You have to have their cheeseburger. Around SouthPark Mall, there are a ton of good restaurants, including a good sushi place called Upstream. There are a bunch of good steak houses -- The Palm, Del Frisco's and a hole-in-the-wall steakhouse, Beef 'N Bottle, on South Blvd. It's fabulous. It has an old, almost Sopranos-type feel to it. Very dark, great salads, great steaks.

Sports Bars:
My favorite in the downtown area is Blackfin. They always show the Virginia Tech football games, so they've got a great Virginia Tech crowd in there. I've got a 10-month-old, though, so my sports-bar days might be over.

WHERE TO STAY
The Ballantyne Resort in south Charlotte. It's got a great golf course, really nice hotel, a spa for wives if they don't play. In the uptown area there's a new Ritz-Carlton that just opened. In the South Park area, there are all sorts of places to stay -- a Courtyard Marriott, a Residence Inn and a Doubletree, among other chains.

DON'T MISS
The EpiCentre, in the middle of downtown, just opened. It offers dining, entertainment, shopping and nightclubs. It's got one of the nicest bowling alleys you'll ever see, StrikeCity. You can sit in a big booth right in front of your lane, get a good meal, bowl, drink and have a good time. It's got great food and a sports bar.

For the kids there's the Discovery Place downtown, a kids' type of museum with a lot of fun activities. A friend's son had his birthday party there last year. It was fun for me and for the kids. And don't forget Charlotte Motor Speedway, home to three NASCAR races. It's located well north of town, in Concord. Lake Norman, which is also north of town, has great water sports, including jet-skiing and boating, and many other outdoor activities.

Zane Lamprey's Drinking Made Easy Guide To Charlotte, 2012

Charlotte is the biggest city in North Carolina and is growing rapidly. With a great mixture of bars, lounges, and nightclubs, Charlotte offers plenty of options for entertainment and drinking. Many of these great bars can be found in Charlotte’s uptown district, which acts as the center of the city’s activity. In this episode, Zane and Steve will get to try some great breakfast and specialty drinks, relax and smoke some hookah, and face off in a death defying race down treacherous white water rapids. Ok, maybe not “treacherous” or “death defying” but rapids nonetheless!

Oh and Pleepleus gets into a fight with a giant crab.

WHERE WE WENT

• Loft 1523: This trendy martini bar offers up a number of signature cocktails in a classy chic environment located in Uptown Charlotte. 1523 Elizabeth Avenue  Charlotte, NC 28204-2534 (704) 333-5898
• VBGB: VBGB was the first beer garden in Charlotte and currently offers the city’s largest patio with over 32 different draft beers. To ensure they serve the best beer, drafts are kept at a stable 32 degrees and are served on a 5 foot ice rail on the bar itself. You can also taste VBGB’s legendary Beer Cheese made with beer! 920 Hamilton St, Charlotte, NC 28206 (704) 333-4111
• Dixie Tavern: This fun and worry-free bar has a number of great drinks, playful atmosphere, and plenty of bar games for a good time. 301 E 7th St # 100  Charlotte, NC 28202-2538 (704) 374-1700
• Prohibition: Prohibition is a great combination of a speak-easy prohibition style with a modern twist. They offer a great vibe and some truly original drinks.  200 N Tryon St Charlotte, NC (704) 358-4244
• Crave: Featuring a cosmopolitan design complimented by the rustic nature of its cosmopolitan loft setting, Crave represents a new breed of Charlotte evening entertainment. In addition to great drinks, Crave also offers a relaxing lounge type atmosphere with dessert delicacies and herbal hookah pipes. 500 West 5th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202 (704) 335-0588
• Philosopher’s Stone: This fun-loving tavern has 2 main bar areas – one in the front and one in the back, as well as 2 outdoor patios. They also feature foosball, pool, ping pong, cornhole, and 2 jukeboxes with thousands of great tunes to download and choose from. Not to mention the great live music events. 1958 E 7th St. Charlotte, NC 28204 (704)350-1331

WHAT WE DRANK 

 Wakin’ Bacon Recipe

 CCB Recipe

 Queen City Hurricane Recipe

 Chocolate Covered Strawberry Recipe

 American Pie Recipe