Mid Pines Golf Club

When an American golfer hears you're traveling to the Sandhills of North Carolina, they automatically think of Pinehurst. Most golf enthusiasts are both surprised and impressed when they hear you've played Mid Pines. For me, that fascination perfectly encapsulates the culture of golf that exists beyond Pinehurst in the Sandhills.

It is important to note that Mid Pines is not located in Pinehurst Resort. It is in Southern Pines, about a ten-minute drive from downtown Pinehurst. Mid Pines is the elder sister of the two Donald Ross designs here, the other being Pine Needles Lodge (the less famous sister course, which has hosted four US Women's Opens). I personally think Mid Pines is the better course.

Mid Pines is not a golf course that is trying to be a museum. It's better than a lot of courses precisely because there are no ridiculous attractions to draw customers in, no statue of a golfer at the entrance. It really is a small country clubhouse, and the contrast to the bigger resort courses is striking. You almost wish the conditions were worse elsewhere, just so you could justify the six-hundred-dollar green fee you paid the previous day on the other course.

It is a relic from 1921 that underwent a renovation by Kyle Franz in 2013. Digging through the history, you get the usual story of restored fairways and greens manicured to perfection. But in this case you also get a course that embraces the natural sandy scrub surrounding it rather than hiding it. In March, the fairways still had a decent green color, having been overseeded to hold up through the winter, as is the tradition in Southern Pines. That saved me from the patchy dormant Bermuda I'd played on further north. I expected a Ross course in the Sandhills to have real variation between holes, and this course has enough that each one leaves an imprint. Every hole stood out on its own.

The same stunning Ross architecture is apparent from the fairway. Misses get punished, and chipping is mandatory. If you've played No. 2 first, it's easy to spot the shared design language. But Mid Pines speaks at a high yet fair volume. The upside is that a missed green here is likely to leave you a chance to get up and down, unlike No. 2, where the same miss can have you walking off with a double bogey.

This is the whole argument for Mid Pines over No. 2 for most players who aren't pros. No. 2 is a heavyweight title fight; Mid Pines is a championship round where an average player can post a score they don't immediately want to bury. Both are Ross, and both will test your irons and your nerves. But only one of them will put you off wanting to play golf again the next day.

The value angle is not trivial. Green fees at Mid Pines are roughly a third of No. 2, depending on the season. You can walk or take a cart, and the staff is genuinely friendly, which is rarer than it should be. The pace of play is reasonable, and the whole experience is a breath of fresh air compared to No. 2.

This isn't a criticism of Mid Pines specifically, but at some point you will hear someone's speaker. That's the state of American golf in 2026, not a Mid Pines problem. The course is cart-friendly, and therefore speaker-friendly, and I have mixed feelings about that. The good news is the routing is open enough that the noise fades fast. The bad news is so does your patience.

Would I recommend it over No. 2? For most golfers, absolutely. I think visiting groups should play Mid Pines twice and skip one of the lesser-numbered courses before going back to No. 2 a second time. The course is deep and rewarding, and it holds up to a replay in a way the museum piece across the highway doesn't.

Here's a warning about the accommodation. When we shifted from Pinehurst to Southern Pines, the only room we could secure for our dates was at the on-site Mid Pines Inn. From a convenience standpoint, that's about where the positives end. In Pinehurst we'd stayed at The Manor, a historic hotel that was simple and charming, with breakfast at the Carolina Hotel and dinner in the village. After that, the Mid Pines Inn was a major adjustment. It looks like it hasn't been renovated since 1945, the whole building held together with old bolts and rusty hinges as if a strong wind could take it down. The air conditioner was so loud we had to switch it off overnight just to get any rest. In March, in North Carolina, that is a choice you shouldn't have to make. Worse still, the peeling wallpaper and plaster of the breakfast room made it feel more like a soup kitchen than an inn.

This would be more palatable if the courses and the hotel weren't owned by a wealthy golfing family who can clearly afford to invest a little back into the property. They haven't. For playing Mid Pines and Pine Needles, my practical recommendation is to just stay at Pinehurst Resort for the whole trip and drive the ten minutes over for your Southern Pines rounds. The difference in your evening meals and your sleep is massive. The daily round trip is nothing.

There is plenty of golf in the Sandhills, and after a week in the area, my honest opinion is that No. 2 is the course you play once, and Mid Pines is the course you'll want to play every time you return. The photos of your round won't make it look like the more important one. The scorecard, the day, and your memory will say otherwise.

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