It's time to check out the back nine at Pine Needles, go here to see the front.
The tenth hole is a 525-yard par 5 that sweeps hard left around a pair of massive bunkers (both the Pine Needles website and the GolfClubAtlas review call the bunkering out). There's a lot of fairway right to play safely to, as clearing the bunkers requires a hard-drawn driver to both clear the sand and handle the big dogleg, but doing this not only puts the green out of reach in two, it also brings a diagonal set of cross bunkers that cut off the green from the rest of the fairway about 50-100 yards out. You either need to brave those bunkers — it's easier to carry them on the right, but you'll have an extremely awkward pitch shot over a greenside bunker — or accept that you'll have over a hundred yards left on the third. The green itself is at least relatively flat, so if you do find it you'll have a decent shot at birdie.
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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 415 yards and plays slightly downhill to a fairway that's initially quite wide before a large bunker juts in from the right. You can lay up into the wide part of the fairway, but that will leave you with a partially blind mid iron approach. Not ideal. A driver into the narrower part of the fairway beyond that fairway bunker is riskier, but you'll have a relatively flat stance and full view of the hole. The green here is unusually open, having no bunkers around it; there's just short grass and topography, namely mounds left and a dropoff right. It's a nice change of pace, and rest assured, getting up and down is no easier here than anywhere else on the course.
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| The eleventh hole. |
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| Approaching the eleventh green. |
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| The eleventh green. |
The twelfth hole is 460 yards from all the way back and features a familiar tee shot: the fairway heads up and over a ridge, meaning you need to hit driver to clear it and obtain a view of the green. This task is much easier when you're using the next set of tees up (the non-championship tees), which makes the hole a modest 350 yards. You'll also want to favor the right side on the drive; this sets a better angle into the green, which is sloped and angled from right to left and protected by two bunkers left.
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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, if anything, even more photogenic than the third, with sandy waste spread out in front and left of the green, along with two more formal bunkers right. The tee shot is downhill to a long, undulating green that, while not technically elevated, is ringed by a small, subtle swale, lending it that No. 2 dome-like structure. Anything a bit offline will roll off, though the elevation change is so small that those misses aren't overly punished. You can still make par, you just probably won't make birdie.
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| The thirteenth hole. |
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| The thirteenth green. |
The fourteenth hole is 455 yards and plays steadily uphill the whole way. The fairway bends right about 250 yards around a pair of bunkers; since the hole plays uphill, those bunkers can't really be cleared. Also, a bunker protects the front-right portion of the green, meaning you have a better angle if you play out left and accept the longer approach. Honestly, the benefit for using driver is surprisingly minimal. The green is pretty large and does accept running approaches, particularly from the left. Still, this is decidedly not one of Pine Needles' better holes.
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| The fourteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the fourteenth green. |
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| The fourteenth green. |
The fifteenth hole is 530 yards and plays dead straight to a fairway tilted from right to left that's peppered with staggered bunkers on both sides. No matter how long you hit your driver, there's always going to be a bunker in play and angles to consider. It's a similar matter with the second shot. The green is open in front though slightly perched up; it's also fairly undulating. It's not a complicated hole, but the bunkers are well placed to give you something to think about at all times.
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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 180 yards and basically dead flat. In the absence of obvious topography, sand and subtler elevation changes take its place. There's sand everywhere, most notably in front of the tee, serving as an intimidation factor. There's also flanking bunkers on both sides of the green, which is also undulating, with little valleys and knobs strewn about. Still, this is easily the weakest of the par 3s here.
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| The sixteenth hole. |
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| The sixteenth green. |
The seventeenth hole is 460 yards and bends significantly left around 250 yards out in a similar manner to the fourteenth. You can of course hit 3 wood, but that will leave a very long second shot. Challenging the big bunker in the corner of the dogleg is challenging and requires a big draw with the driver, but it does make the approach much easier. The green is quite large and undulating, with a single bunker front left. The green is perched up as well, so it will shrug off slightly wayward shots.
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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 420 yards and was actually the opener in the course's original configuration. It plays downhill the whole way as it bends left around sandy waste and a large bunker. You can play safely out to the right, avoiding trouble, or you can hit an aggressive drive down the left side to get yourself within wedge distance on the second shot. That's a similar setup to the previous hole, but it's much more fun here. The green is on the smaller side and mostly surrounded by fairway, though there are two bunkers left. Much like Mid Pines, this is not an overbearing hole and gives you hope of making birdie; it's the sort of hole that makes you want to keep playing.
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| The eighteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the eighteenth green. |
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| The eighteenth green. |
Pine Needles is proof of something we as consumer golfers would be wise to consider: Courses that host significant professional golf tournaments are not necessarily the best golf courses. Now, that's not to take anything away from Pine Needles, as it's an extremely good golf course. But in comparison with Mid Pines, it's just a step behind. The greens here are a major weak point; they're fine, but at this level fine just isn't enough. Also, with the exception of the last hole itself, Pine Needles has a pretty weak conclusion. Basically, once you've passed 13, you've seen the best of Pine Needles. Even 18 is quite similar to 12 at Mid Pines — the tee shot is almost identical, but Mid Pines has the superior green. I also don't think Pine Needles has any holes I think were truly great, whereas I can definitively point to two at Mid Pines (4 and 15).
I will say this: the lodge at Pine Needles has some really interesting memorabilia and such mounted all over the interior. Things like old photographs from Pinehurst, records of all the competitors in major competitions here, and so on. It's a museum of sorts dedicated to women's golf, which should not be surprising, as Pine Needles was once owned by Peggy Kirk Bell, a pioneer of women's golf in the 1940s and 50s and a founding member of the LPGA. After the round, it's definitely worth taking a look around. Also, they have pool and table tennis in a little nook that my brothers and I definitely commandeered for over an hour. That was fun too.
In terms of value, Pine Needles is slightly more expensive than Mid Pines (we're talking $115-$125 in the winter up to a max of $305 in the spring and fall), and the course is not quite as good. If playing quality is all you care about and you only had time to play two of the three non-Pinehurst Donald Ross courses, Pine Needles is the one to skip. But there's enough in the way of intangibles to make me equally glad I played Pine Needles as Mid Pines. It really is a fun round.
