Pinehurst Resort Golf

Pinehurst Resort Golf in North Carolina

The majestic pines that line all 9 of the courses whisper the legends of golfers like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Payne Stewart and all the legends who have walked these fairways. Since 1898, Pinehurst has hosted more championships than any other club in the country and we look forward to being the site of the 2024 U.S. Open Championship. Until then, Pinehurst Resort invites you to explore all of our nine courses and create a championship experience of your own.

1 - Donald Ross Course (1898)

It all started here in 1898. Dr. Leroy Culver built the first nine holes and John Dunn Tucker added the next nine, but it is clearly Donald Ross?s touch that you feel on Pinehurst?s first golf course.

Recalling his Scottish heritage, Ross made liberal use of bunkers, both across the fairway and around the green. Don?t let the short 6,089-yard par 70 fool you; wild drives or a sloppy short game can make for a long day. No. 1 was a great start for Pinehurst, and it?s a great start for your visit.

2 - Donald Ross's Masterpiece Course (1907)

Pinehurst No. 2, the centerpiece of Pinehurst Resort, remains one of the world?s most celebrated golf courses. It has served as the site of more single golf championships than any course in America and hosted back-to-back U.S. Open and U.S. Women?s Open Championships for the first time in 2014. The U.S. Open will return in 2024.

Opened in 1907, No. 2 was designed by Donald Ross, who called it ?the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed.? Ross was associated with the course for nearly a half-century, improving the course continually until his death in 1948. No. 2 is best known for its crowned, undulating greens, which are some of the most complex and widely hailed in the world. Ross believed in providing golfers with strategic choices, and Pinehurst No. 2 was intended to epitomize that philosophy.

In February of 2010, the design firm of Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw began to restore the natural and strategic characteristics that were the essence of Ross?s original design. The project included the removal of about 35 acres of turf and the reintroduction of hardpan, natural bunker edges, and native wire grasses. Today, you are playing the restored course as originally envisioned.

3 - Donald Ross Course (1910)

This classic Donald Ross design (circa 1910) is the shortest course at Pinehurst at just 5,155 yards. But don?t let its modest distance fool you ? this is a fun par 68 that was renovated this year to return many of Ross?s original design flourishes and characteristics throughout the classic layout.

Tiny elevated greens ? averaging just 4,500 square feet each ? demand precision, the kind of delicate approaches that will surely come in handy as you gear up for No. 2. An interesting combination of par-3s and shorter par-4s provide ample opportunities to play aggressively in search of a low score. But beware ? accuracy and distance control also come into play on a number of well-conceived doglegs.

4 - Gil Hanse Course (2018)

Acclaimed golf course architect Gil Hanse began his redesign of Pinehurst No. 4 in the fall of 2017 as part of a master plan to further restore the original character and spirit to the Pinehurst golf experience. Hanse?s design and routing creates a landscape similar to Pinehurst No. 2 including exposed sand, native wire grass, wider fairways and natural topography.

We think this approach will create a more authentic, visually interesting golf course and one that feels in tune with its unique surrounds,? says Hanse. His new design of No. 4 will open on Sept. 20, 2018.

5 - Ellis Maples Course (1961)

No. 5 was designed in 1961 by Ellis Maples, a prot?g? of Donald Ross, and part of North Carolina?s first family of golf course design and construction.

Like Ross, Maples believed that it was the designer?s job to find the golf course that resided in the land?s structure, and his fealty to the land is evident in No. 5?s variety?holes meandering up and down, left and right, and over water. The combination of water carries, elevated greens and overall greater yardage favors longer hitters.

One of Pinehurst?s most picturesque holes, the par-3 15th, is here. Known as the Cathedral Hole, it?s fronted by a pond and encircled by a stand of ancient pines, the tops of which resemble the pipes of an organ.

6 - George/Tom Fazio Course (1979)

No. 6 rests a few miles from the center of Pinehurst, and is also a departure from the first five courses in design and temperament.

Tom and his uncle George, a famed designer in his own right, began work on No. 6 in 1975. The result was a more rugged, undulating track that demands bigger drives and more aggressive approaches. Tom returned in 2005 to carve new bunkers, soften angles and seed faster greens. The addition of native wiregrass throughout the course gives it a distinctive Pinehurst feel.

7 - Rees Jones Course (1986)

Rees Jones ? son of Robert Trent and brother of Robert Trent, Jr. ? built No. 7 in 1986, on the site of a forgotten nine-hole employee course laid out by Donald Ross.

The layout unfolds overdramatic, hilly terrain that?s dotted with wetlands in lower-lying areas. No. 7 has many colorful flourishes. Old bunkers from the employee course adorn the tee of the par-4 4th hole; one wetlands area, the ?Devil?s Gut,? must be cleared on your approach to the short par-4 7th hole, and Jones? trademark ?Fingers? bunker demands accuracy on 16.

Every hole on No. 7 features something to test your game. Just ask Tiger Woods, who won his lone Pinehurst title to date here in the 1992 Big I Junior Classic.

8 - Tom Fazio Course (1996)

Building a new course grand enough to celebrate Pinehurst?s first 100 years might intimidate some architects, but Tom Fazio took on the assignment with gusto. No. 8 ? which opened in 1996 ? combines classic Donald Ross concepts with the whimsical snarls that have become Fazio?s calling card.

Fazio took full advantage of the 420 acres of rolling terrain and natural wetlands to fashion a course that?s visually enthralling and challenging yet fun to play; it?s a nod to No. 2, but hardly a replication. Many feel No. 8 synthesizes all the elements of the Pinehurst golf experience into one layout.

This championship track has twice been home to the PGA Club Pro Championship. Just a short drive from the main club, the Pinehurst spirit is quite alive at No. 8 and served as the companion course for the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

9 - Jack Nicklaus Course (1988)

Jack Nicklaus constructed a masterpiece set amidst the long leaf pines. This 18-hole championship layout features classic Nicklaus architecture: wide fairways, lush course conditions and undulating putting surfaces that test your mind and your true golfing ability.

Pinehurst No. 9 is a magnificent 7,122-yard course and is as meticulously designed as it is compelling. An intriguingly well-balanced course which, according to Golf Digest, ?has come to enhance even the lofty Sandhills image for world-class golf amenities.?

Each hole has been customized to create a great diversity in the way it can be played. Added to this uniqueness are tall pines, grassy swales, groomed waste areas and a natural variety of lakes and stream beds beautifully fashioned to give No. 9 its own distinctive look.

10 - The Cradle Short Course - Gil Hanse (2017)

Nearly 120 years after golf arrived here, we present The Cradle, a nine-hole short course that even the newest to the game can enjoy. Designed by golf architect Gil Hanse, the Golf Channel calls The Cradle, ?the most fun 10 acres in all of golf.? Mere steps from the Resort Clubhouse, it is the same area where, in 1898, Dr. Leroy Culver carved our first nine holes out of the sand. Over the next century, Pinehurst came to be referred to as the Cradle of American Golf.

Greens fees for The Cradle are $50 and replay rounds are free.

Kids 17 and under play free when accompanied by a paying adult, and resort guests may book tee times in advance. Public tee times are available 24 hours in advance. Replays will be booked at the conclusion of each round.