If there’s a tougher nut to crack than North Carolina’s Top 10 Golf Course list, it must be made of hickory.

There always seems to be a slight shifting of positions in the Top 10, selected annually by the North Carolina Golf Panel and published in Business North Carolina Magazine, but the names pretty much remain the same.

And you can bet a round of drinks at the 19th hole that Pinehurst Resort’s No. 2 Course will always top the list. That’s a given, and it’s doubtful it will ever change.

The major reason that No. 2 remains entrenched as No. 1 is because it deserves it. Donald Ross did the finest work of his storied career on No. 2, and a reputation steeped in golf lore and legend has only grown over the years.

Now, with the brilliant restoration project recently completed by architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, there doesn’t appear to be anything on the horizon that could unseat this tradition-laden course from its perch atop the state’s elite. Certainly the fact that both the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Opens will be held on the course in back-to-back weeks in 2014 will not tarnish that image.

For the second straight year, Grandfather Golf and Country Club, in Linville, is ranked second in the Top 100. The Ellis Maples-designed course leapfrogged Tom Fazio’s Old North State Club into that position last year and holds firm.

Quail Hollow, in Charlotte, which annually hosts the PGA Tour’s Wachovia Championship, is again ranked fourth, edging Pine Needles Lodge and Country Club, in Southern Pines. Pine Needles, another Ross classic, has hosted three U.S. Women’s Opens.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Charlotte Country Club, the Elk River Club, in Banner Elk, the Country Club of North Carolina’s Dogwood Course, Forest Creek’s South Course, and Pinehurst Resort’s No. 4 Course.

Almost unbelievably, this gives the Sandhills five of the state’s top 10 courses and three more that cracked the Top 20. Pinehurst No. 8 is ranked 12th, Forest Creek’s North Course 16th, and CCNC’s Cardinal Course 20th.

Resting just outside the Top 20 is National Golf Club, the beautiful and challenging Jack Nicklaus design, at No. 22.

Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club of Southern Pines, the sister course of Pine Needles located just across Midland Road, is ranked 25th, moving up 19 spots since its renovation the year before.

Pinehurst No. 7 comes in 44th, dropping five spaces.

One of the casualties of this ranking, due in part to unbelievably bad luck with weather, is Pinewild Country Club’s sensational Magnolia Course. Three visits scheduled by the panel have been canceled by inclement weather, including one this past Wednesday. And, as members can’t vote on courses they haven’t played, Pinewild has been unable to obtain the recognition it deserves. It currently stands 53rd, down four spots from a year ago.

The Mid South Club is another local course that probably is hurt by the lack of a panel visit in recent years, dropping from 55th to 60th. The same is true for Tobacco Road, the Mike Strantz design in Sanford that dipped from 63rd to 68th, and Anderson Creek, the Davis Love layout near Spring Lake that fell from 78th to 86th.

Three other area courses dropped in the rankings: Seven Lakes Country Club fell from 86 to 92, Pinehurst No. 6 from 92 to 95, and Little River Resort from 89 to 99.

Southern Pines Golf Club cracked the Top 100 at No. 98.

In some other interesting rankings, the River Landing courses, in Wallace, were ranked 1 and 2 in the Eastern Region. Keith Hills CC, in Buies Creek, was No. 8, Gates Four G&CC, in Fayetteville, was 11th and Highland CC, also in Fayetteville, was 12th.

In the ranking of Best Shot Values, Pinehurst No. 2 topped the Sandhills Region, followed by CCNC’s Dogwood, Pine Needles, Forest Creek South and Pinehurst No. 8.

For the first time, panelists were asked to vote for their “Dream 18,” picking holes in the state in the order that they exist and would be played.

These holes were No. 1 at Pine Needles, No. 2 at Biltmore Forest, in Asheville, No. 3 at Linville GC, No. 4 at Cape Fear CC, in Wilmington, No. 5 at Pinehurst No. 2, No. 6 at Rock Barn Golf & Spa, in Conover, No. 7 at River Landing’s River Course, No. 8 at Grandfather, No. 9 at Elk River, No. 10 at National GC, No. 11 at Elk River, No. 12 at Eagle Point GC, No. 13 at Charlotte CC, No. 14 at Pinehurst No. 8, No. 15 at Sedgefield CC, in Greensboro, No. 16 at Old North State, No. 17 at Quail Hollow, and No. 18 at Old North State.

Contact Howard Ward at howardward@att.net.