ABERDEEN, N.C. — Pinehurst is having a heck of a year. In June the resort’s historic No. 2 course will host the U.S. Open for the fourth time, and the Donald Ross masterpiece is scheduled to host that USGA championship four more times before the halfway point of this century.
But Pinehurst’s big year isn’t only about the best players in the world competing for a national title. There’s welcome news for traveling golfers who will never tee it up in a U.S. Open, as well.
Pinehurst Resort this month opened No. 10, a new course designed by famed architect Tom Doak with a big hand from lead design associate Angela Moser. As the name suggests, this is the 10th 18-hole course at the property that has been dubbed the Home of American Golf.
The new course sits on land formerly occupied by The Pit, a layout that was shuttered in 2010. There was frequent speculation about the site in the ensuing years before Pinehurst Resort announced early in 2023 that it planned a new Doak course.
The land includes sections that for decades were used as sand quarries and later were integral to The Pit, a Dan Maples design that opened in 1985. Doak designed several holes for the new No. 10 that play across these formerly mined areas, using the slopes and mounds left over from mining operations to create an entirely new routing.
But while Doak used parts of the old mining pits, those bits of chunked-up ground don’t define the new course. There’s much more in play on Doak’s No. 10 and the property as a whole. He and Moser have take the best parts – the sandy terrain that is worth more than gold to an architect, and the natural terrain – to create a can’t miss experience at the historic resort.
No. 10 stretches across 265 acres about three miles south of the main Pinehurst Resort campus, and the new course is just part of a 900-acre region the resort has acquired and named Pinehurst Sandmines. Complete plans for the future development of the area have not been announced in detail, but they will include cottages and another 18-hole golf course to be designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.
And at a resort decked out in great golf, with five layouts ranked among the top resort courses in the U.S., No. 10 is certain to open some eyes to a new experience. Playing to 7,020 yards off the back tees with a par of 70, this layout stands on its own.
To explore how the course plays, take a look at how it stacks up according to Golfweek’s Best course-ranking criteria. The hundreds of raters who help compile Golfweek’s annual best-of course lists look at 10 topics, then give each course an overall ranking. And it’s worth noting: Any course ranked above a 7 overall is a great layout, one worth climbing onto an airplane and flying cross-country to play. Only 31 resort courses in the U.S. have earned an average rating of 7 or higher.
How well the holes individually and collectively adhere to the land and to each other.
The land flows well with 75 feet of elevation changes, and the course flows with it. The course crests several ridges without ever feeling too steep, reaching into pockets of trees while highlighting all the beautiful sandy terrain and pines for which the region is famous. The layout is never forced even on the several holes that play alongside unnatural mounds – some of which are more than 40 feet tall – that were left behind by former mining operations. The use of the old mining pit on the par-4 eighth is a nod to the property’s history, the incredibly rumpled fairway waiting past a huge spoil heap on the right that calls to mind the tee shot on No. 1 at nearby Tobacco Road. This hole’s design asks players to keep right to see a green that hides behind even more piles of sand, a perfectly brief reminder of what the land used to be without ever becoming repetitive.
My rating: 8
Hole No. 3 on Pinehurst No. 10, the new and 10th course at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
The extent to which course construction creates design elements that fit in well and provides a consistent look or sensibility.
Doak and Moser tied all their handiwork into the natural terrain so well, it’s difficult to judge what they created and what they were given on the former mining site. Some greens are allowed to lay flatter when that approach matches the surrounding terrain, while others appear to slide off adjacent mounds or hillsides. The fairways feature less shaping than some other modern courses, instead laying at grade while utilizing the naturally undulating landforms.
My rating: 8
Ease of integration of all built-out elements with native land, including course, clubhouse, real estate, roads, native topography and landforms. Extent to which land plan facilitates long views of surrounds and/or interior views of property.
The clubhouse has not been built, nor have other facilities. No. 10 eventually will be part of a two-course facility away from the main Pinehurst campus and will certainly have its own identity as part of what has been named Pinehurst Sandmines. It’s just too early to tell exactly what that might be or how it will all tie together.
My rating: Unavailable at this time.
Hole No. 2 on Pinehurst No. 10, the new and 10th course at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
Interest, variety and playability of putting surfaces, collars, chipping areas and greenside bunkers.
No. 10’s greens are the stars. Some lay relatively flat on the ground, while others are propped into hillsides or bowls left over from mining operations. All the greens feature plenty of internal contours that never seem extraneous. Unlike Pinehurst No. 2, where the crowned greens reject all but the purest approach shots, No. 10’s greens frequently incorporate friendlier surrounds with external slopes that funnel balls onto or at least nearer to the putting surfaces as often as they might impede a shot. All kinds of chips, pitches, bump-and-runs and putts are possible from the lower sides of greens. Greenside bunkers rarely block the direct path of approach shots, especially those played from the proper areas in the fairways.
My rating: 9
Hole No. 17 on Pinehurst No. 10, the new and 10th course at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
Differentiation of holes by length, club required, topography, look and angle of approach.
Varying in length from 150 yards from the back tees all the way up to 264 yards, the five par 3s offer a bit of everything. The 17th, played 175 yards from the back tees over water to a green slanted severely from back left and down to a tiny front right section, surely will be the most photographed. The short seventh, playing 122 off the middle white tees, is a favorite, giving players hope with a wedge or short iron, then probably dashing that hope with the sharp internal contours and severe back-to-front slope of the putting surface.
My rating: 7
Hole No. 8 on Pinehurst No. 10, the new and 10th course at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
Range of right-to-left and left-to-right drives and second shots required, as well as spread of length, topography and look of the holes.
Frequently wide fairways ask players to choose strategic lines into greens, but these par 4s will force players to put aside ego and choose their correct tees. From the white tees at 6,439 yards – a frequently selected resort distance – there are six par 4s that play at 400 yards or longer. From those middle white tees, the 13th stretches 483 yards. Many players who choose this distance will reach for a hybrid or fairway wood for their second shots on these holes more often than not. It’s a relief that properly positioned tee shots can open up ground-game lines into the greens, but these par 4s can be brutes for many resort players. The shorter fourth and eighth provide some relief, but even the sub-400 15th that crosses a pond on a diagonal line off the tee plays much longer than the card suggests.
My rating: 6
Variety of risk/reward opportunities on tee shot; how interesting the second shots are; variety of third shots required.
The most interesting choice Doak and Moser made among the three par 5s was to leave the green of the downhill 12th hole relatively unprotected, sitting in what appears to be a sea of open green grass. The hole tees off semi-blind before launching off a hill, begging stronger players to blast away with their second shots from a sidehill stance to a putting surface that has no bunkers. The green features a bowl in the front left, an inviting spot for a flag, but the restraint shown on this hole proves the point that most golfers will find enough challenge without an architect constantly slapping them in the face with bunkers, water or extreme runoffs.
My rating: 6
anHole No. 1 (seen from behind the green and across the next fairway) on Pinehurst No. 10, the new and 10th course at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
Extent to which ornamentals, hardwoods, conifers and other flora enhance the design and playability of a course without overburdening it or compromising strategic flexibility and agronomy.
The landscape planning is excellent, incorporating mostly pines that frequently have sprouted from spoil mounds left over from mining operations. The trees provide definition to the corridors without overly encroaching on play. Wayward shots can find lightly tree-lined edges on several holes, but it does take a bit of misguided effort to get a ball far enough offline on most holes to reach any thicker stands of trees. No. 10 instead incorporates the native waste areas and low scrub to do the job, letting in plenty of sunlight and breeze to the benefit of turf. Long views across multiple holes area available from several vantages.
My rating: 9
Overall quality of maintenance, discounting for short-term issues (weather or top dressing); extent of native areas; diversity of plant life and wildlife.
No. 10 is still a young course, and that showed in a few areas during my round of preview play shortly before the opening. That said, the Bermuda turf was in excellent condition – the ground game was in play even on the stormy day on which I played. Instead of tall rough, shorter cuts allow balls to roll into the native scrub areas, bringing more of the course into play on every shot. The wiregrass in the exposed sand areas is not as plentiful on this new course as is found at No. 2, at least for now allowing players to try more aggressive recovery shots. The layout features Tif Tuf Bermuda tees and fairways with Tif Eagle Ultradwarf Bermuda on the greens.
My rating: 8
Hole No. 3 on Pinehurst No. 10, the new and 10th course at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
The sense of the place as worthy of spending four hours on it.
This Pinehurst course has a very different vibe than most of the resort’s other nine layouts, calling to mind the atmosphere of No. 4 even more than No. 2. Offering sometimes long views across several holes at junction points, No. 10 feels wide open and inviting, even with so much exposed sand in view. The walk is never too strenuous, unless you try to shove one of the available pushcarts through thick sand that awaits between the tees and fairways on several holes. I easily carried my bag but frequently looked back to a playing companion wrestling a pushcart uphill at the start of a hole, much like Sisyphus rolling his rock. Take a resort caddie or strap your bag on your own back, and enjoy the stroll.
My rating: 8
This is not a cumulative score.
I’d go back in a heartbeat, and I would be loath to make another trip to Pinehurst that doesn’t include a loop around No. 10. When Golfweek’s Best pulls data for next year’s annual lists of best courses, expect No. 10 to bolt into the top five public-access courses in North Carolina, the top 50 resort courses in the U.S. and the top 100 modern courses built since 1960.
My rating: 7.6
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