A Big Summer for Sports in Chatham County
- Governors Club Realty
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Chatham County has a lot going on this summer. A national golf championship, the return of wood-bat baseball after a 70-year absence, and a couple of parks ranked the best in the state are all happening within a short drive of home. It's a good reminder of what makes this corner of North Carolina such an easy place to live: big things happen close by, without the traffic and hassle of chasing them somewhere else. Here's what's worth knowing.
A national golf championship, minutes away
For the first time ever, the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship is coming to the Triangle. Old Chatham Golf Club will host the 2026 77th playing from Monday, July 13 through Saturday, July 18. It's one of golf's oldest national titles, dating back to 1949, arriving essentially next door. Old Chatham sits just up the road from Governors Club on 400 acres of protected pine woodlands along the northeast shore of Jordan Lake, and this is only the fourth time the championship has ever come to North Carolina.
The list of past winners reads like a history of the women's game: Mickey Wright, Nancy Lopez, Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang, and many more earned this title as teenagers before turning pro. A field of 156 of the world's best junior players will compete over two days of stroke play before the cut to 64 for match play, building to a 36-hole final that Saturday. This year's champion earns an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women's Open and an invitation to the Augusta National Women's Amateur, so there's a real chance you'll be watching a future LPGA star.
A few practical notes if you plan to go. Mid-July here is hot, the course is walkable but covers 400 acres, and there's no on-site parking or rideshare drop-off at Old Chatham. Park-and-ride shuttles will be the way in, with details posted by the USGA closer to the event. Bring a hat, sunscreen, and a card, since concessions are cashless. The county tourism office is also launching a dedicated microsite with logistics, FAQs, and itinerary tips.
Wood-bat baseball returns to Siler City
For the first time in 70 years, collegiate wood-bat baseball is back in the area. The Chatham County Yardbirds are playing their inaugural 2026 season as members of the 24-team Old North State League, with home games at the brand-new Yardbirds Field in Paul Braxton Park in Siler City. The season runs from late May into mid-July, and the roster is built from college players spending their summer chasing reps between semesters, some of whom will go on to be drafted. The team celebrated its first home game at the new field back in May.
It's an easy, affordable night out. The seats are close enough to hear the catcher talk, the wood bats sound different from the metal you hear at most amateur fields, and there are the classic small-park touches between innings like t-shirt tosses, on-field contests, and kids chasing foul balls. Many players live with local host families for the summer, so the whole thing has a genuine community feel. Pair a game with dinner in downtown Siler City and it's a perfect low-key summer evening.
Parks and recreation, statewide favorites
The area's outdoor amenities keep earning recognition, too. Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, the same lake Old Chatham overlooks, was once again North Carolina's most-visited state park, welcoming 2.2 million visitors in 2024. It spans 4,500-plus acres of woodlands around a 14,000-acre reservoir, with 15 miles of hiking trails, over a thousand campsites, swimming beaches, boat ramps, and some of the best bald eagle viewing in the state. It's the kind of amenity most communities would love to claim, and for Governors Club residents it's practically a backyard.
And for something a little different, Diavolo at New Hope in nearby Cary was named North Carolina's most popular disc golf course by UDisc. It's a 22-hole layout across 48 acres of woods and water, once ranked #7 among the best courses in the world, and a fun, free way to spend a morning outdoors.
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