GolfBlogger’s North Carolina Golf Trip: Day Four At Pinehurst

GolfBlogger’s North Carolina Golf Trip: Day Four At Pinehurst

On my final day at Pinehurst, I had the chance to play the legendary Pinehurst No. 2. This Donald Ross masterpiece has hosted the 1999, 2005 and 2014 US Opens, the 2014 US Women’s Open, the 1962, 2008 and 2019 US Women’s Amateur and the 1994 US Senior Open.

It is hard for a legend to live up to its reputation, but Pinehurst No. 2 pulls it off.

Number Two plays as a continuous stream of closely cut bermuda grass (there is no rough), defined and broken by large sandy wastes. On a first (but hopefully not last) playing, my immediate impression is the approach to the green is everything.

Off the tee, I worked to take advantage of the mostly open fronts of the green. Elevated, crowned greens with steep drop offs make it difficult for the amateur (and perhaps even the pros) to hold a green. I had the most success when I was able to bounce a shot up onto the green from the front. Every attempt to lob a shot over a bunker onto the green ended unpleasantly — usually with the ball skipping forward, left or right off the green and down into a bunker or collection area.

The same was true of my playing partners.

The greens are a game unto themselves. You could reproduce those 18 greens for a 120-yard-and-under short course, and people would still shoot a hundred.

Pinehurst Number 2 beat me up, but I had a lot of fun. I think that every golfer should make a pilgrimage to Pinehurst to play it at least once in their lifetimes. The course is Ross’ Masterpiece, on which he began work in 1907 and continued to work on until his death in 1948.

My stay in at Pinehurst Resort has been nothing short of incredible and I just wish I didn’t have to return to reality.