Review: Southern Pines Golf Club (Part 1)

For our final golf course on this North Carolina getaway, we turn to Southern Pines, which would appear on a surface level to be the third member of the non-Pinehurst Donald Ross triumvirate. And it is these days, as it's now owned by the same group as Pine Needles and Mid Pines. But while those two courses were designed as resort courses in the 1920s, Southern Pines' history is a bit different.

The dramatic drivable par 4 eleventh at Southern Pines.

This may be surprising for golfers to hear, but Pinehurst and the immediate surrounds are actually inhabited by people. This isn't just a resort sprung from nothing. Pinehurst and Southern Pines are towns, and some of the locals here play golf themselves. Southern Pines (the golf course) opened in 1906 as a rudimentary 9-holer for the locals, though just four years later the course was expanded and elaborated on by Donald Ross. That's early enough in his career and (and for golf in the South) that he designed the course with sand greens; Southern Pines didn't receive grass greens until the 1930s, with that work being done by someone other than Ross. 

Overall, this doesn't sound like a massive recipe for success. And indeed, it really wasn't. Southern Pines existed in obscurity for a hundred years as a quiet private club for locals. However, despite the greens not being Ross originals and the tee-to-green strategy being fairly basic, the routing was so strong that the course still developed a following. Finally, with restorations occurring across the Sandhills, attention turned toward Southern Pines. The course was purchased by Pine Needles and in 2020-2021, a full renovation was undertaken. The routing remains the same, but the rough was largely removed in favor of exposed sand and sandy wastes, and the greens were completely overhauled, taking inspiration from Pinehurst No. 2 and other courses Ross designed in the Sandhills. The course that follows is not what Ross built in 1910, but more inspired by what he was building around that time. So, the question is, can Southern Hills now stand tall with its more famous (if younger) siblings? Let's find out.

The first hole is 360 yards and plays downhill the whole way; however, don't think that this is a pushover or easy birdie. The fairway, while wide (and wider than it looks from the tee), is riddled with bunkers and sandy waste which can jut in and out. There are little nooks everywhere and abundant angles to take advantage of. You can use driver, but the fairway narrows about 75 yards from the green, so longer hitters will probably want to throttle back with a fairway wood or long iron. That's all you really need here anyway, as this isn't a very long hole. And you do want to be on the fairway here, as the green is quite severe; it's propped up on all sides and is flanked by large bunkers. By and large, Southern Pines has more interesting greens than Mid Pines (and especially Pine Needles), and you can see that right out of the gate. 

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is 560 yards from all the way back, with the drive cresting a hill to a blind fairway that heads back down toward a cross-bunker (technically more of a waste area). Big hitters can get far enough to bring the green within reach in two, but you'll have to do so from a steep downhill stance with the green perched up on top of another hill. The green is open in front, making it at least somewhat amenable to run-up shots, but there's a big nasty bunker front left and the green itself is wildly undulating, particularly in front where there's a series of mounds. For those who hit a poor drive or are shorter hitters, the challenge on the second becomes clearly that cross hazard and leaving yourself on the right side of the fairway, which slopes from right to left and is more closely protected by sand, to set up the best third shot. Overall, this is a tough par 5, and not one to expect a birdie on.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is just under 200 yards and plays downhill to a large green tilted significantly from back to front. Large bunkers cover the left side and front right, but the green is large enough that tee shots can be comfortably worked around them. The best approach for this hole varies depending on where the flag is cut; for our round it was on the right side, so a fade was best. For left-hand hole locations, a draw is preferred. 

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is just under 400 yards but plays significantly uphill. The fairway here is initially quite wide but does narrow as it climbs; additionally, a notable hog's back develops the further the fairway climbs. This will very effectively shrug off any drivers that are not hit up the right side, kicking them down to the left and leaving you with a tough approach over deep bunkers to a shallow target. You could of course lay back on the tee, but if you do, the second shot will require almost a mid iron. The green here is angled from right to left and is quite undulating; it's also mostly blind from the fairway. This is certainly an unconventional and quirky sort of hole, but the strategy here is sound throughout, so it really does work.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is 540 yards and like the second features a blind tee shot to a fairway tilted down, meaning that a properly drawn tee shot here, matching the subtle curve of the hole, will go a long way, bringing the green into reach in two. A poor drive will bring into play a cross hazard splitting the fairway about 100 yards from the green. Unlike the second hole, where the green was technically reachable but practically not, you do feel very encouraged to go for this one in two; there's sand right but a lot of open fairway left. A gentle fade will do you very well here. Also, while it's no easy feat getting up and down from just left of the green, as the green is slightly elevated and filled with little mounds and valleys, it's also well within the ability of anyone to achieve. This is likely the best chance you'll find at Southern Pines to make a birdie.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is 445 yards and plays to a relatively narrow fairway that bends right just a bit before you'd want it to. If you want to hit driver, you'll have to hit a fade around the right trees, threading the drive between sandy waste and trees right and bunkers left. Obviously, that's a pretty tough shot. The smarter play is to use a fairway wood; this leaves a long iron or even a fairway wood approach, but this green is large and open in front (though there are bunkers right and long), making it very receptive to long approaches. The green's also pretty subdued, compared with what we've already seen. Honestly, this hole feels more like a mini par 5 rather than a long 4, complete with a subtle double dogleg. That's not a criticism, just an observation. It's tough to make a par 4 that "requires" a long iron approach from low handicappers, but this hole does it quite effectively.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is 210 yards and plays over a sand- and brush-filled crater to a narrow but very long green angled from right to left along the far rim of the crater. The green is angled from right to left as well, rewarding shots drawn in from the right. You absolutely do not want to find those bunkers right and long (or miss that way in general); with the slope of the green, the odds of keeping the ball on the green is minimal. The left front bunker, while deep, is actually the friendlier place to miss. Overall, this is a really good par 3, and I do like that the long green means the distance this hole can play can vary greatly day to day. Not a big deal for the tourist, but for the people who play here regularly, it's nice to have that variety. 

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

I really like the eighth hole, and it's not even the best hole on the course. This par 4 plays 430 yards from all the way back (though it's a more modest 395 from the primary, non-tournament tees) to a fairway well below; the fairway is tilted hard from left to right as it runs along the top of a ridge. Miss left and your drive will be kicked away down into trees. Let your drive drift a little too far right, and you may be on fairway (if you used 3 wood on the tee), but you'll also have to contend with a big falloff just right of the green. The ideal shot on the tee is a little fade that takes the slope and threads between the falloff left and the fairway bunkers; this leaves a wedge or short iron down along the crest of the ridge to the green. There's so much to think about on this hole, and so many different way to play it. Plus, the hole just looks so good. 

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is 200 yards and plays subtly downhill over a pond to a large green set up on a small hill. The initial impression when standing on the tee is that there's quite a bit of sand, but there's actually quite a bit more space than you might think. The green is also relatively quiet in terms of undulation. A gentle draw aimed at the center of the green is all you need here and will take much of the sand out of play.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll check out the back nine.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Just Like Himmel

The brewery: New Ridge Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description: No description for this one, but it's a Vienna lager. Annoying, but seeing as the brewery burned down at the end of January and they're currently rebuilding, I think we can forgive them this time around.

Would I buy it again? I went through quite the range of emotions when I first found New Ridge Brewing Co. on Google Maps. 

"Oh nice, a brewery that's like a mile away. That's a nice easy walk. Let's see what they've got on tap ... oh, they're closed. They had a big fire."

So, when my girlfriend and I went to a free concert at a nearby park and saw that New Ridge were serving beer, I had to buy some. Clearly from the image I was not prepared for beer reviewing. But the beer was great, which is fitting, because Just Like Himmel won gold in the Vienna lager category at the Beer World Cup. It was malty and had a lot of heft, but was still perfectly pleasant to drink outside on a warm evening. I would happily buy this again.