Southern Pines Golf Club
Updated: Oct 12
At this stage in our trip, I’ve visited 2 Donald Ross courses in the Sandhills already. To be direct, I’ve visited No. 2, Mid Pines, and now, my 3rd and final course for this tour. I’ve come the least prepared for Southern Pines Golf Club.
Every course has its unique attributes that define the character of the course. In the case of Southern Pines, there is a unique history worthy of a course review. Southern Pines has the privilege of being one of the earliest Donald Ross designs in the South. For almost a century, the Southern Pines Elks owned this property. Elks Lodges are essentially fraternal social organizations. Given they are a fraternal social organization, they lacked the business acumen to run a golf course profitably. Because of this, the course was a victim of inadequate upkeep, and the members who played the course, being retirees on a fixed income, paid little to no money to maintain the course. Golf course architecture fans and golf writers for decades have said this course was one of the best kept secrets in American golf architecture.
About five years ago, new management took over again, this time, bringing in Kyle Franz, who applied the same methodology as at Mid Pines up the road. The restoration work included the re-crowning of the greens, the return of sandy waste areas, and tree removal. The course got its teeth back, Crump’s design got its bite back. The course, once the cheapest and best Ross in America, was now a closer approximation to fair market value — it got more expensive, but still a long way south of Pinehurst No. 2.
Of the three Ross courses I played that week, this one turns out to be more interesting. For the first time in this trip, the course has actual elevation. Not No. 10 elevation, but enough ups and downs to break the monotony of the pine flat that everyone associate with the sandhills. The back nine in particular has some real terrain. You get blind shots, you get uphill approaches where club selection is a real guess, and you get one or two greens where a short miss will keep rolling.
Southern Pines has a different ambiance than the other two courses. To me, Mid Pines feels more like a resort that is trying it's hand at being a country club. No. 2 feels more like a national monument that has an entry fee. Southern Pines Golf Course is a town course at it's core. It is easy to visualize the town's senior league playing their weekly morning tee time on this course. The clubhouse is simple, the staff straightforward. Even though the golf course is restoring the greens, the price to play here feels like a golf bargain.
Southern Pines sits in the middle of No. 2 and Mid Pines when it comes to the quality of their greens. It is a little more fair than No. 2 and a little more forgiving than Mid Pines. They require a certain level of skill to play well, and the course design is not going to punish you for a reasonable miss. The flagship course is known for punishing players for good shots. The greens here are large and the design is more about aesthetics than playability. It is more likely that you will miss the greens in decent shot than be stuck in a tough position because of the course.
The fairways at Southern Pines were a refreshing green color when I played. It is nice to see that the course is overseeing their fairways in the winter, it gives the golf course a good, lush, appearance as opposed to No. 2's beige color.
Will this course be worth the trip? Yes. Specifically, yes. Out of the Pinehurst-area courses, use the one southernmost course, Southern Pines Golf Club, instead of Mid Pines. This course completes the set. Southern Pines, together with Mid Pines, and Pinehurst No. 2, along with their respective architectural storytelling, allows one to understand a lot about what Donald Ross was up to in the Sandhill region of North Carolina. Southern Pines Golf Club, the town course, is where Ross' architectural likings are expressed perhaps the most, or rather, the most undiluted— counterintuitive to what one may think.
Another thing to consider. If you are going to be staying in the Pinehurst area and making a day trip to Southern Pines GC, Southern Pines GC is a wee bit more central than Mid Pines. The main street of Southern Pines is a more vibrant, and alive than, the pretty, deliberate Pinehurst village, and is drivable to walk about either side of the round.
I would definitely have another go at this course. I don't know if I would say it is better or worse than Mid Pines. I would have to play both of them again to make that judgment. But it earns that conversation, which is the point. Ignoring it for the reason that it is not popular enough would make you another example of the reasons American golf writers have been trying to warn people for years. Don't put yourself on that list.
Read also: Mid Pines Golf Club
Read also: Pinehurst No.10
Read also: Pinehurst No.2
Southern Pines Golf Club Southern Pines Golf Club Southern Pines Golf Club
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