North Carolina
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore confirms he won’t seek another term leading the chamber
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore confirmed on Friday that his record fifth two-year term presiding over the chamber will be his last, saying legislative colleagues have known about his decision going back a year.
Moore, a Cleveland County Republican, has served in the House since 2003 and was first elected speaker in 2015 while succeeding now-U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis at the job.
He’s helped push a conservative fiscal and social agenda through the General Assembly with Senate leader Phil Berger and built GOP seat margins back to veto-proof majorities.
The U.S. House majority is in play next year after an anemic showing by Republicans in the midterm elections and a surprise Supreme Court ruling that will likely bring two new safely Democratic districts.
House Republicans in North Carolina are pitching an overhaul of public education laws in the final days of the session that would take power away from superintendents and the State Board of Education while giving parents more control.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is backing off his insistence on money for a new private-school funding program, giving Pennsylvania’s Democratic-controlled House the opening to pass a new state spending plan after a days-long stalemate.
Republicans who control Pennsylvania’s Senate are advancing spending legislation ahead of Saturday’s start of a new fiscal year, but they lack agreement with the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
Moore, 52, said in an interview that he told fellow House Republican leaders in spring 2022 about his plans not to run for speaker after the 2023-24 term ends. And he said he told the current GOP membership the same thing last fall when they assembled their slate of candidates for chamber positions.
“All of my caucus members knew — I made it clear that this is my last term as speaker,” Moore said, adding that he would serve out his term through the end of 2024. A successful run for speaker by any Republican in 2025 would be all but contingent on the GOP retaining a seat majority.
Leading up to the 2022 elections, Moore had weighed running for a congressional seat in a potential open district west of Charlotte, but he declined. Then-U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn initially announced he wanted to run in that region. The congressional lines ultimately had to be redrawn last year and Cawthorn ran and lost in another mountain-area district.
The General Assembly will again redraw the state’s 14 U.S. House districts later this year in time for the 2024 elections, raising the potential for Moore to run for Congress now.
When asked Friday about his future, Moore didn’t completely reject running for his state House seat again in 2024. Some previous speakers over the past 30 years have remained rank-and-file members of the legislature.
Still, Moore said that he would be “looking at potentially other offices or other options.”
With his election as speaker in January, the Kings Mountain attorney made history by breaking a tie with two former speakers who had served four two-year terms: Democratic Rep. Liston Ramsey of Madison County and Rep. Jim Black of Mecklenburg County.
Rep. Jason Saine, a Lincoln County Republican and top budget writer, said Friday that Moore had mentioned not running for speaker in 2025 on “multiple occasions” to the GOP caucus.
Moore last month was the subject of a lawsuit by a man who alleged Moore broke up his marriage by having an affair with his wife. Moore, who is divorced, defended his actions and vehemently rejected allegations in the lawsuit. Attorneys for Moore and the husband announced last week the matter was resolved, and the husband ended the lawsuit July 5, according to a state courts website.
Saine, who has been mentioned as one of many on a list of potential successors to Moore as speaker, said Moore’s decision was made long ago and had no connection to the legal matter.
“No one is pushing the speaker out,” Saine said in a text message. “He’s been very open and honest that he would not seek another term as our speaker.”
In the 11 days since Bill Belichick officially became the head coach at North Carolina, not much information has surfaced about his coaching staff.
One big — and expected — piece fell into place today.
Via Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Steve Belichick will become the defensive coordinator at UNC. He has spent 2024 as the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington.
During Bill’s courtship by the Tar Heels, reports and speculation emerged regarding an effort to create a succession plan that would make Steve the next head coach after Bill leaves. The contract negotiated and published by North Carolina makes no mention of that.
Still, if things go well and if Belichick remains until he’s ready to retire, he’ll be in position to make a strong case for family continuity. Especially if Bill is poised to become, essentially, coach emeritus of the program with Steve in charge.
In unsurprising news, CBS Sports reported that Washington defensive coordinator Steve Belichick is set to follow his father, Bill, to North Carolina. It is the second lost to UNC for the Huskies after linebacker Khmori House pledged to the Tar Heels earlier this week.
Belichick’s defense was often the highlight for the Huskies throughout the regular season. Washington had the fifth-best pass defense in the nation, allowing just 166.8 yards per outing and 13 touchdowns on the year. It was an obvious strength for the Dawgs leading into the season and was pivotal in all six wins.
Belichick spent just one season on Montlake. He joined Jedd Fisch’s highly touted NFL experience-rich staff. He’ll continue that trend, once again joining forces with a man many consider the greatest NFL head coach of all time. Bill will lead a college program for the first time in his career.
Suddenly, North Carolina is an intriguing destination that the Huskies must be wary of after already losing House. USA Today college football reporter Matt Hayes said on X that UNC would increase its NIL package for football “from 4 million to $20 million in effort to land Belichick.”
On the surface, there isn’t much to fear about UNC on the gridiron. However, the sweet selection of uniforms, a sudden surplus of NIL funds, Power 4 residency and the opportunity to play under the Belichick duo could be very attractive to NFL hopefuls.
Fisch addressed the potential of having to replace Belichick earlier this month.
“If (Steve) joins (Bill) then we’ll have to hire a new defensive coordinator,” Fisch said. “If he stays here then we won’t have to hire a new defensive coordinator. I think they’re separate. Bill Belichick is not on our staff. Steve Belichick is on our staff. So, Bill will determine whether or not he wants to continue. He’s the greatest coach of all time. So, if he goes and coaches somewhere, then he’ll make a decision, and then Steve will make a decision and we’ll figure it out from there.”
As for what’s next on Montlake, our Luke Kemper has you covered.
Click HERE to view his DC replacement scenarios.
Click HERE to view his contingency plan.
A stunning aerial of the 3rd hole at Pinehurst No. 2.
USGA/Fred Vuich
As part of GOLF’s rigorous ratings process for our newly released Top 100 Courses in the U.S. and Top 100 Courses You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus expert panelists identified the best golf courses in every state.
You can check out the links below to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll down to see the best courses in North Carolina. And if you’re looking to create your own trip in the future, you’d be wise to let GOLF’s new Course Finder tool assist you. Here, you can toggle all of our lists — Top 100 public, best munis, best short courses, best par-3s and more — or filter by price to create the perfect itinerary for your next trip.
GOLF’s other course rankings: Top 100 Courses in the World | Top 100 Courses in the U.S. | Top 100 Courses You Can Play | Top 100 Value Courses in the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 Best Short Courses in the World
Check out our all-new travel podcast Destination GOLF. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: APPLE | SPOTIFY | IHEART | AMAZON
Explore our all-new Course Finder
Golf courses near you? Search here!
Begin Browsing
The best golf courses in North Carolina (2024/2025)
SYMBOL GUIDE
# = Top 100 Course in the U.S.
Y = Top 100 You Can Play in the U.S.
V = Top 100 Value Course in the U.S.
P = Public/Resort
Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not receive enough votes.
1. Pinehurst No. 2 (Pinehurst) [#, Y, P]
Donald Ross’ chef d’oeuvre rolls spaciously through tall longleaf pines in the Carolina Sandhills with holes culminating with legendary inverted-saucer greens. For the 2014 U.S. Open, a Coore-Crenshaw restoration brought back the tawny-edged fairways and native areas last seen in the 1940s. Even with no rough, the runner-up could muster only one under par over four rounds. After the Women’s U.S. Open was played the following week, a powerful message had been broadcast around the world from the home of American golf about the virtues of width, short grass and great greens. This is one of a handful of courses that presents resort guests with a fun test on which they won’t lose a single ball, and a week later can be ready to host a U.S. Open. That’s the flexibility of short grass — and Ross’ design genius. The world will get another look at No. 2 in June 2024 when the course stages its fourth U.S. Open.
2. Old Town Club (Winston Salem) [#]
With sweeping, cross-course vistas punctuated by tawny native grasses and an exemplary routing that twists around miles of creek beds, side-slopes and artistic bunkering, Old Town’s restoration portrays the enduring spirit of classic golf architecture. Perry Maxwell built this inspired North Carolina layout on a former R.J. Reynolds horse farm. The manner by which Maxwell draped the fairways across the rolling landscape resulted in few level lies. No wonder former Demon Deacon Lanny Wadkins called it the best course for training serious young players. Wake Forest’s golf teams practice at Old Town, which gives them a huge home-field advantage as few collegiate golfers are accustomed to putting on undulating Maxwell greens or consistently hitting approach shots from uneven stances. The club’s longtime green chair analyzes every minute detail of the design during his annual walks around the property with former Wake grad, Bill Coore. A 2023 bunker restoration project and the conversion of the greens from bent to Bermuda has the course climbing even higher.
Patrick Koenig
3. Wade Hampton (Cashiers) [#]
Tom Fazio has a well-established knack for building waterfalls. But at this exclusive redoubt, threaded through the folds of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he didn’t have to. Take the par-3 third hole, which plays through a valley, up a gentle rise, to a large green backed by a steep rock face where a natural cascade spills down it. It’s a setting worthy of a national park, and one of countless photo-ready moments on a course that unspools gracefully at modest elevation, ornamented by creeks and ponds. Fazio did not forgo earth-moving altogether. But the beauty of his work here is the deference he showed to the grandeur of the land.
4. Pinehurst No. 10 (Pinehurst) [#, Y, P]
Give a talented architect a sandy, rolling piece of land and place few restrictions on him or her, and it’s amazing what can be produced. Donald Ross did so with a flourish at this resort, and this time, it was Tom Doak’s turn — and he was bonused with not having to make an allowance for where homes might go or having the nines return. The result is a meandering tour that enjoys its own pacing. The first eight holes feature three par-4s — the drivable 4th, the burly dogleg-right 6th and the intermediate length 8th that plays into old mining spoils — that highlight the property’s diversity. Meanwhile, the run from the bruising uphill 468-yard 9th to the 264-yard 14th is one of Doak’s sternest stretches. Natural wetlands feature at two of the final four holes. This variety of obstacles ultimately make No. 10 an immediate stalwart among the resort’s offerings.
5. Pinehurst No. 4 (Pinehurst) [Y,P]
6. Tobacco Road (Sanford) [Y, P]
7. Mid Pines (Southern Pines) [Y, P]
8. Southern Pines GC (Southern Pines) [Y, P]
9. Pine Needles (Southern Pines) [Y, P]
10. Quail Hollow (Charlotte)
11. Roaring Gap (Roaring Gap)
12. Dormie Club (West End)
13. Tot Hill Farm (Asheboro) [Y, P]
Courtesy of Tot Hill Farm
14. Charlotte CC (Charlotte)
15. Diamond Creek (Banner Elk)
16. Woodlake – Maples (Vass)
17. Grandfather (Linville)
18. Eagle Point (Wilmington)
19. CC of NC – Dogwood (Pinehurst)
20. Biltmore Forest (Asheville)
21. Linville (Linville)
22. Carolina GC (Charlotte)
23. Forest Creek – North (Pinehurst)
24. Pinehurst No. 8 (Pinehurst) [Y]
25. Sedgefield CC (Greensboro)
How we rank our courses
For our newly released Top 100 U.S. and Top 100 You Can Play lists — a process that helped us create 50 best-in-state rankings — each panelist was provided a ballot that consisted of 609 courses. Beside the list of courses were 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists considered a course to be among the top three in the U.S., they ticked that first column. If they believed the course to be among Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, followed by 11-25, 26-50, and so on out to 250+ and even a column for “remove.” Panelists were also free to write in courses that they felt should have been included on the ballot.
Points were assigned to each bucket; to arrive at an average score for each course, we divide its aggregate score by the number of votes. From those point tallies, the courses are then ranked accordingly. It is an intentionally simple and straightforward process. Why? Because it historically has produced results that are widely lauded. Like the game itself, there’s no need to unnecessarily complicate things or try to fix something that already works so well.
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