It's time to check out the back nine at Southern Pines, go here to see the front.
The tenth hole is a shortish 365-yard par 4 that presents a classic strategic dilemma. The green is protected by a large and deep bunker to the right, meaning it's best approached from the left side of the fairway. However, the fairway is tilted from left to right, and there's a lot of exposed sand on the left side. The right side, while providing a much worse angle into the green, is much easier to access on the tee shot. The green itself is perched up, so if you miss you're going to have a difficult time recovering. Not a revolutionary hole, but certainly very solid.
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| The tenth hole. |
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| Approaching the tenth green. |
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| The tenth green. |
The eleventh hole is Southern Pines' classic hole. A short, potentially drivable par 4, it bends right around the course's central pond, but crucially is far enough away from the fairway and green that it doesn't overwhelm the golfer. Of greater concern is the ever-narrowing fairway pinched in on both sides by elaborate bunkering. The more aggressive you are with your tee shot, the less margin for error you have. However, the green itself is relatively bunker free, giving the golfers out there with enough length to reach it plenty of temptation to go for it. That's part of what makes this hole so good; it encourages you to be more aggressive than you should be.
As for the green, it's just as compelling as the rest of the hole. Situated out on a small promontory, it falls away on three sides while also sloping from front left to back right. You need to be very careful with your approach shot here, as anything that flies too far will run out and go over the green, leaving yourself with a tough recovery. Also, this green is plenty undulating with numerous dips and bumps. Finding the green is no guarantee of two putting. I think it's also worth mentioning that this green is tilted so that, if you're hitting driver straight at it, the slopes will actually slow the ball down. This further adds to the temptation to go for the green.
Simply put, this is an incredible hole and certainly the best one I played during this Sandhills excursion.
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| The eleventh hole. |
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| The eleventh green. |
The twelfth hole is a mid-length par 4 that plays over pretty much level ground. Bunkers that pinch in from the left, along with a cross-bunker about 300 yards out, make driver a poor choice; a fairway wood will leave you in the widest part of the fairway with a short iron second shot. The green, while not lacking interest, lacks some of the wilder contours other greens at Southern Pines possesses. It's protected by a single large bunker right, meaning it's best approached from the left. It's not a bad hole, but considering the rest of the course, particularly the previous hole, it is kind of a let-down.
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| The twelfth hole. |
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| Approaching the twelfth green. |
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| The twelfth green. |
The thirteenth hole is a very long par 4 at nearly 470 yards. The first 300 yards or so are flat, with the fairway eventually reaching a hillside leading down to the central pond. To get a view of the green, you need to hit driver, which is not an unreasonable task considering how wide this fairway is. That's not the tricky part of this hole. The difficulty comes at the green, which from above appears extremely undefended. But like the eleventh, it slopes from front to back, and a small knob placed directly in front of the green complicates matters greatly. A ball that lands there could bounce anywhere, and it's so directly in play that you pretty much have to deal with it. It really goes to show how much small features can affect a hole, so long as they're intelligently placed.
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| The thirteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the thirteenth green. |
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| The thirteenth green. |
The fourteenth hole is the final par 3 at Southern Pines, playing nearly 200 yards as the hole hops from one hill to another. The hole favors a fade, which helps you avoid two deep bunkers right; the green is also sloped from left to right, further encouraging you to aim away from those big bunkers. I will say, while the par 3s here are solid, the lack of variety in distance is a bit disappointing. A sub-150 yard par 3 would be most appreciated.
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| The fourteenth hole. |
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| The fourteenth green. |
The fifteenth hole is a short par 5 (and the only one on the back nine), playing 495 yards to a flat fairway well below the tee. A fade is favored on the tee shot; this will work between the bunkers short right and long left. Like the two par 5s on the front nine, a set of cross bunkers cuts the fairway off about 75 yards short of the green, giving people who are laying up something extra to think about. The green is elevated and the approach uphill; there are bunkers on both sides that are slightly separated from the green itself, serving more as a hazard for people going for it in two than those who have laid up and have a wedge in hand.
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| The fifteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the fifteenth green. |
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| The fifteenth green. |
The sixteenth hole is about the same length as the eleventh at 315 yards and plays downhill, making it potentially reachable for longer hitters. However, the fairway narrows the further up you go; if you lay back, you'll have plenty of space to find the fairway, but if you use driver, there's only 20 yards or so to work with between bunkers. The green is long and narrow and has some left-to-right tilt to it (along with the usual undulation) that make recovery from the greenside bunker quite difficult.
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| The sixteenth hole. |
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| The sixteenth green. |
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| The sixteenth green. |
The seventeenth hole is on the longer side at 430 yards and plays to a fairway significantly tilted from right to left. Bunkers flank both sides, and while you can lay up short of them, that will leave a very long second. The ideal play here is a fade hard up the right to stay on the high side of the fairway; this leaves the best angle for the second shot. The green is open in front and to the right but sand is everywhere left and long. The left bunker is especially easy to find, as the right-to-left slope of the fairway means the golfer is encouraged to hit a draw. Still, since this green is on the flatter side and you can quite easily get up and down from just right of it, this hole isn't too incredibly difficult.
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| The seventeenth hole. |
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| Approaching the seventeenth green. |
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| The seventeenth green. |
The eighteenth hole is not an especially fearsome closer, playing just over 350 yards (though admittedly it is uphill the whole way). This is a hole where precision and caution beats raw power. The hole bends left around a large bunker, but the fairway is tilted left to right. A bunker on the far side of the dogleg will catch any driver that isn't aimed basically directly over the inner bunker near the left tree line. A fairway wood or long iron starting down the left side is all you really need here and will still get you in wedge or short iron distance. The second shot is of course quite uphill to a semiblind green that seems to be engulfed in sand. In reality, much of the back two-thirds of the green is surrounded by fairway, so the second shot isn't quite as tough as it looks. Still, people do like to underclub on uphill approaches, and the green is no picnic either. This may not be a particularly long or challenging hole, but I'm sure it doesn't yield too many birdies either.
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| The eighteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the eighteenth green. This particular angle is less than ideal. |
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| The eighteenth green. |
Something I wish I'd taken a picture of but didn't notice until after the round (when it was basically dark) is that Southern Pines has a massive putting green filled with wild undulations; something in the spirit of St. Andrews' Himalayas. My brothers and I were putting around it for the better part of an hour, not leaving until well after it was fully and completely dark out. Between this and Pine Needles' activity-filled lodge, the extra-curriculars at some of these Donald Ross courses were almost as fun as the courses themselves.
Anyway, the golf course; obviously, it's extremely good. I saved the best for last. Tee to green, Southern Pines is every bit as good, if not better, than Mid Pines and is decidedly superior to Pine Needles. But it's the greens themselves where Southern Pines stands out. Southern Pines' siblings simply cannot compare to Southern Pines' greens. Honestly, neither can Tot Hill Farm and Tobacco Road. Those courses feature wild and memorable greens, but at a certain point wild and crazy can give way to tedium. I would never get tired of Southern Pines. Also, the eighth and eleventh holes are instant classics to me. I will say, much like Pine Needles, the finish here is on the weaker side — not as bad, but I don't think anyone will come away from a round raving over the stretch from 15 to 17.
Also, I'm not sure what the difference was, but the grass here was far faster and firmer than at Mid Pines and Pine Needles. Tee shots actually ran out some here, which was honestly very nice.
And there's more good news: the difference is technically minimal, but of the Donald Ross non-Pinehurst triumvirate, Southern Pines is the cheapest. And since it's also the best, a round here is a no-brainer. I might even be willing to play this course again at full price — or at the very least, the mildly discounted summer price ($175).
To sum things up, Southern Pines is comfortably a top five golf course for me, and I'm very glad my brothers and I finally made the trek down to North Carolina to play all these Sandhills courses. This was pretty clearly the best trip we've done from a golf quality perspective, and I would love to come back.
