Pinehurst – Is There a Better Way to Play this Mecca than with your 3 Sons? 2

When you hear “Pinehurst,” most golfers think about Pinehurst Resort Course #2 (#5 on Current List)  and rightfully so.  This Donald Ross gem in the sand hills has history oozing out of its challenging green complexes.  But there is so much more golf to be enjoyed than this famous layout.  There are five other Pinehurst area courses currently ranked in Golf Digest’s Top  100 Public Courses.  Pinehurst #4 (#59 on Current List) and Pinehurst #8 (#80 on Current List) at the Resort are tremendous tests of golf in their own right and a joy to play.  What is interesting is that even though Pinehurst #4 is currently enjoying a rating of #59, Pinehurst Resort has chosen Gil Hanse to renovate this layout in hopes of making it even better and to also bring back some of the original Ross characteristics.  With his recent track record, I look forward to playing this course again when finished.  The Tom Fazio designed Pinehurst #8 has great variety in its holes and also some very nice elevation changes making this course great fun and challenging.  You need to be aware though, that to play these resort courses, you will need to stay at one of their properties including The Carolina Hotel, The Holly Inn or the Magnolia Inn.  All three have their own special character and all have rich histories.  The village of Pinehurst and the Resort, now numbering nine courses, will not disappoint.  This stay is on the high end price wise but is a bucket list item for all golfers.  To save a little cash, try booking in the off- season months such as the winter or summer.

My recent trip to the area with my three sons was a real joy and an experience that will never be forgotten.  They are all very busy with their careers, families and other interests, but can all still play the game they learned in their early teen years.  We had not played together in the same foursome since they were in high school more than 25 years ago.  The credit for pulling this three day trip off goes to my wife Marilyn who arranged it with the boys for my Christmas present.  We played Tobacco Road (#71 on Current List),  Dormie Club (#43 on Current List) and the Donald Ross classic, Mid Pines (#94 on Current List).  I hired a forecaddie for us to use each day which greatly enhanced our playing experience and I would highly recommend this for anyone playing Tobacco Road and Dormie Club for the first time.

Tobacco Road, a Mike Strantz masterpiece near Sanford just north of Pinehurst, is as much an artistic creation as it is a golf course.  Every hole is unique and you need to stand on each tee and plan your route of attack.  It is not an overly long course but is very visually intimidating the first time you play.  Some holes look as if there is very little or even no fairway landing zones, but once you move beyond the massive mounding or waste areas, you see that he has given you plenty of room for your driver.  Many of the greens are almost double in size to normal greens and have two to three levels so choose your target wisely.  There are many holes that tempt the male ego with the heroic shot that will land you in big trouble if you do not pull it off, but he always gives you a much safer way to approach the green and still have a birdie opportunity. This course is not for everybody, but I love it!  Enjoy the original architecture and a course that breaks the mold of many of the more vanilla courses you can play today.

The Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore designed Dormie Club, which is located just west of Pinehurst, is an absolute joy to play.  It is set on some rolling sand hills and it is cut through many trees which give the course a little different feel than many of the other area courses.  The variety of the holes keep your interest at a high level throughout the round and the condition of the course was outstanding when we played it in October.  Like Tobacco Road, it has a rustic simple clubhouse and is all about golf.  As I mentioned before, you will want the service of a good local caddie or forecaddie to help you enjoy the first trip around.  You can see the hole in front of you much better than you can at Tobacco Road, but your caddie can give you a huge assist in reading the greens.  Do not miss this course if you schedule at trip to the Sandhills of North Carolina.

A course that is not currently rated as a Top 100 Public Course like its sister course across the road, Pine Needles (#64 on Current List), is Mid Pines.  This is another classic Donald Ross design that is in my top three favorite Pinehurst area courses.  I had played it a few years ago before the restoration by Kyle Franz and liked the layout a great deal but the conditions were not up to current standards.  Franz, who assisted Crenshaw and Coore in the Pinehurst #2 restoration, was brought in to do a similar restoration to Mid Pines.  Once completed, the ownership regrassed the greens as well and the result is just outstanding.  I have a strong feeling that Mid Pines, a course that has been around since the 1920’s, will finally crack the new Top 100 when it is released in a few months.  I know it might sound sacrilegious to golf architecture and history buffs, but I prefer this Ross course over Pinehurst #2.  To me it has more variety of holes, definitely more elevation changes and a much lower price tag.  If not a better course, certainly a better value for a true Ross experience.

Just across the street from Mid Pines, is another Ross classic design, Pine Needles.  This course has hosted the U. S. Women’s Open three times so that tells you something about its pedigree.  You will not be disappointed playing this outstanding design.  It was certainly not in need of upgrading as was Mid Pines, but the Bell family decided to do some restoration of this facility as well to bring back some of the original Ross characteristic that may have been lost over the years.  This is another course that is such a pleasure to play as it winds up and down through the sand hills.  The first time I had the privilege to play Pine Needles was a few years ago with my wife and our son who was at nearby Fort Bragg for his Army Special Forces training.  Needless to say, it was special for us to share this outstanding course and day with him.  The folks at Pine Needles  will put together a nice golf package for your group no matter how small or large and the dining room does not disappoint with some terrific lunch entrees.  Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Dormie Club and Tobacco Road form a very formidable foursome of courses that rival that of the more famous Pinehurst Resort.

The golfing solitude of Pinehurst and Southern Pines is magical to golf traditionalist.  Playing with your three sons only adds to the magic.