By Len Ziehm with Pictures By Joy Sarver
Pinehurst is truly the “Cradle of American Golf’ and continues to grow.
The Pinehurst Resort has announced that it will open Pinehurst 10, in April next year. Soon after, the USGA will open Golf House Pinehurst in July, with the World Golf Hall of Fame to be ready shortly after that.
The USGA is moving its headquarters from New Jersey to Pinehurst and the Hall of Fame is being shifted to the area from St. Augustine, Florida. Construction is well underway on both projects, located between The Carolina Hotel and the first tee of Pinehurst No. 2, which is set to host the 2024 U.S. Open, in June.
Of these upcoming events, the opening of the 10th course at Pinehurst might be the most significant.
Spoiler alert: An 11th course at Pinehurst is already on the drawing board.
Pinehurst No. 10 will also be the site for the USGA’s equipment testing facility.
“Pinehurst gave us 40 acres of land over there, some of which will be used as our test pavilion for club’s and balls’ compliance,’’ said Janeen Driscoll, USGA’s Director of Brand Communications. ”Turfgrass research may also be done there.”
Tee times are already being booked for No. 10, for those Golfaholics wanting to be among the course’s first players.
The new course designed by Tom Doak was put together in a surprisingly short time on land that once housed ‘The Pit,’ a Dan Maples design, built in the early 1980’s.
“The Pit was successful for a long time,’’ said Bob Farren, director of golf course & grounds management at Pinehurst. “Guys always wanted to play The Pit. It had its niche and was a unique golf course with rugged, short, mounds of dirt. It was successful for 25 years, until Michael Strantz built Tobacco Road.’’
Farren describes Tobacco Road as, “a larger version of The Pit.’’
“Tobacco Road became the next must-play course, and that didn’t bode well for The Pit,‘’ said Farren.
The Pit had been closed, but Pinehurst bought it in 2010, and that brought the total acreage up to 900 acres. For a decade nothing was done with the acreage, until the decision was made to hire Doak to build a new course, but getting the project underway wasn’t easy.
“Tom wanted the job, but couldn’t start until 2025, or 2026 (because of other projects he was working on),’’ said Farren. “We wanted it done this year. Tom said he needed to be finished by September. We had our doubts about that, due to obtaining the proper permits and approvals.’’
Finding a capable crew at short notice was also a problem. A New Jersey firm offered 65 workers to begin work in January, 2023, but two-thirds of them would be needed for other projects, within months.
Clearing the site started in late December of 2022, with the real work set to begin in January. Angela Moser came on site as Doak’s associate architect and by mid-September Pinehurst No. 10 looked very much like a very intriguing golf course.
While that work was being completed Pinehurst administrators were already making plans for course No. 11. Although not yet formally announced, Farren is sure it will be coming soon. The architects have been chosen and preliminary work has begun.
According to Farren, this new project has an interesting history, as well.
“Robert Trent Jones (Sr.) had owned the property there, and we bought it. Rees Jones (son of Robert Sr.) had built No. 7 and the first version of No. 4. Then 9/11 happened. We had to put a chain on the gates.”
That’s where the No. 11 project stands now, but probably not for long.
“No. 10 will be a destination by itself with No. 11 alongside. Cottages are planned to be added, as well, so people can stay on the property.’’
A tour of No. 10 with Farren demonstrated that it is cut from the same fabric as No. 2 and No. 4, with broad, expansive fairways, centipede turf rough with native sandscape and some wiregrass plants in the bunkers.
The 10th hole on No. 10 will be a 640-yard monster par 5 with lots of humps and bumps. There won’t be much water on the course, mainly just an irrigation pond at No. 17. The new course will be walking-only with caddies.
Holes 9 and 15 will share a the same tee, plus there will be three styles of bunkers, some made even more difficult with native plants in them.
The most talked about hole on the Tenth Course will be the par-4 eighth. The tee shot must be carried over, or around an unusually high mound with four more large mounds surrounding the green. It’ll be a hole you won’t forget.
Already with famed tournament course No. 2, Gil Hanse’s brilliant re-design of No. 4, the par-3 Cradle and the historic Pinehurst Inn, Pinehurst has long been one of America’s best golf destinations. Now with the addition of No. 10 and a future course, No. 11, Pinehurst is continuing to offer the best in golf travel and lodging.
