Question:
I was in Pinehurst this past weekend. The following is a report that might be helpful to those heading there soon, or planning to do so. #2, 7, and 8 were cross cut and dressed 3 weeks ago. The greens are near perfect due to rolling, but you can see the grooves. In a week or so they should be picutre perfect. #8 We played 8 on Friday. There are some shots there are are scary to look at. There are some pin positions that were very difficult as well. I have only played 3 courses in my lifetime that I would consider better than 8: Southern Hills, Medinah, and … #2 An experience. The course is not visually intimidating, but the greens were amazing. They are the great equalizer. The guys we played with were not happy to have caddies, but I would posit anybody that has less than a 15 would greatly appreciate it for their game, but they do add greatly to the experience for any golfer. There is nothing really I can say here that hasn’t already been written. #7 A typical, fancy country club course. Not near as difficult as 8 or 2, but a good layout. There was no clubhouse area for guests of the resort. In retrospect, I would have played another course in the area (one that is not part of the resort) than #7. In time, it is going to be converted to a private club with only 10% of the tee times ceded to the resort, instead of the 50% which it is now. That will happen when the membership grows. The members that played behind us were very inhospitable, showing disgust over our slow play. They were rather irrational in seeing the whole side was backed up in front of us. Maybe we caught them on a bad day. One last note on 7, there are some sneaky OB’s. Just kinda pay attention. To sum it up, when we go back we will play only 2 and 8 at the resort. I really can’t describe how great of an experience it was to play both of them. If possible, stay at the resort. The food was superb as was the service. Take some ones because everyone is hustling for tips, but it is really not as offensive as that sounds. — Bill Bill Estes http://www.unc.edu/~wee6298
Response:
William, I am glad that you enjoyedyour Pinehurst trip. I went there last summer #8 We played 8 on Friday. There are some shots there are are scary to look at.
How about the tee shot from the championship tees on hole #14. luckily we did not play those tees but it could have been ugly. What about the view from the cart of the green on #5? The green with that beautiful lake in the background. Probably the most intimidating shot for me was the tee on the #8 par three. If you go right you are either in the trees or down in that crevass of a unker. I decided to play safe and put a 4 iron on the middle left side of the green. I think that I liked #8 better than #2. #2 An experience. The course is not visually intimidating, but the greens were amazing. They are the great equalizer. The guys we played with were not happy to have caddies, but I would posit anybody that has less than a 15 would greatly appreciate it for their game, but they do add greatly to the experience for any golfer. There is nothing really I can say here that hasn’t already been written.
I really have a lot to say about #2. So in stream of consciousness: I really don’t think it would be too hard to shoot bogey golf on number 2 but anything lower would be next to impossible for normal folks. Every approach shot would have to be knocked stiff to avoid rolling back off the greens and into bunkers. I thought that it was great to have caddies. (You didn’t happen to have a guy named "Rush, as in Limbaugh" did you?) Their ability to read the greens was amazing — "Hit it two balls to the right …. plunk!!" It really made me feel like a pro being able to stroll along the course without having to worry about my bag or hustling back to the cart. Can you imagine where the pin on #17 will be cut on the last day of the US Open in 1999? Right over those deep bunkers in the front of the green. "knock it stiff or take a bogey," says the pin. I will always remember getting a par on #18. i hit a good drive but left my appraoch a little short. Chipped up and sank a knee knocking 5 footer for par. No when all the pros are taking bogeys I’ll be able to say, "Ha! Even I could get a par there." ;-) I don’t know what tees you played but did you look at how long the course will be when the pros play there? Most of the tees were a LLLOOONNNGGG way back from where we were hitting. #7 A typical, fancy country club course. Not near as difficult as 8 or
We did not play #7. And yes the food and service at the resort was great. I will definitely return. Especially since I beat my brother by 25 strokes on #2! He was having an off day and I was on fire. — John Pflum, Jr PKG Consultants, Inc 5533 Fair Lane Cincinnati, Ohio 45227 Web: http://www.pkgconsult.com or http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/8703/
Response:
Thanks for the update, Bill. For those who haven’t been in a while, it was *almost* like being there. I wonder what you’d think of #6? It was a surcharge course when it first opened, but since #7 and #8 have come online, it’s not. I believe it’s a Fazio course and has some great holes….