Birkdale is about 20 minutes north of uptown Charlotte, just off I-77 to the west at NC 73.

The golf course is a parkland layout that winds through a residential development over rolling hills, with the homes primarily screened by tall pines. The layout features slight elevation changes, with McDowell Creek traversing the middle, several ponds, and a bounty of sand bunkers along the fairways and defending the greens. It can play to 7,013 yards from the tips, 74.1/138, course/slope, with three shorter sets of tees down to 5,175 yards, an Arnold Palmer design.