We continue our tour of the North Carolina Sandhills by ... leaving the North Carolina Sandhills. Hey, when you have the chance to play a Mike Strantz course, you take it.
Located an hour north of Pinehurst in surprisingly rugged (and ridiculously rocky) terrain, Tot Hill Farm has had a surprisingly complex history. Opened in 2000, the course owners were staggered by the 2008 recession and course conditions suffered significantly. Tot Hill Farm was heading for closure (a tale its sibling Royal New Kent knows well), but in 2022 the course was bought out and, over the next two years, restored to its original state.
Like a surprising number of Strantz golf courses, Tot Hill Farm is not especially long — it's just over 6,700 yards from the back tees. It's also (mostly) quite wide. But rest assured, no one will come out of a round here and think "gee, what a pleasant round of golf that was." Buckle up, because Tot Hill Farm is a course that really does have to be seen to be believed. Words can't quite do it justice.
To me, a great first hole has to set the tone for the upcoming round, acting as a microcosm for the entire course. In that regard, Tot Hill Farm's opener is nearly flawless as it showcases the downright heaving terrain you're going to see for the next 17 holes. At 450 yards, this par 4 is quite long, but that distance is mitigated by the 50-plus-foot drop down to the twisting, partially blind fairway. There are no bunkers and the playing corridor is generous, but with trees and rocks right and a hillside covered in tall grass left, you do need to hit that fairway. Favoring the left side on the tee shot will give you a more complete view of the green, which is tucked into a small flat spot with a hillside right and a narrow stream just left. The green itself is fairly restrained in terms of contour, which is to the hole's benefit. This is just the first hole, and if a golfer can hit the green in regulation, why not reward them with a decent chance at birdie?
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| The first hole. |
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| Approaching the first green. |
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| The first green. |
The second hole is a mid-length par 4 with a fairway that's narrowest about 200-250 yards from the tee as its pinched in on both sides by rocks. As a result, there's almost no reason not to hit driver, as that will get you to the widest part of the fairway. Also, get used to having rocks so close to the fairway; if anything, we'll only see rocks get closer to the direct line of play. Tot Hill Farm has a tendency to use rocks in the same way other Strantz courses (like Caledonia or True Blue) use waste bunkers. A good drive will leave a wedge or short iron to another fairly flat green tucked into a corner, with rocks and trees hard against the left and back of the green. Shots missed right will kick down toward the green, so that's the place to miss.
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| The second hole. |
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| Approaching the second green. |
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| The second green. |
After two holes with restrained greens, Mike Strantz had to be sweating, chomping at the bit for something wild. And at this 180-yard par 3, he delivered with a massive boomerang-shaped green, divided roughly in half by a ridge, with a giant bunker occupying the empty space right and a stream lining the other sides. It also fulfills his penchant for oddly routed par 3s; the fourth tee is to the right of this green, and to reach the fourth fairway you play directly over the front portion of this green. It's a bit mild as a routing quirk, but don't worry, we'll see plenty more oddities as the round progresses.
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| The third hole. |
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| The third green. |
The fourth hole is not a particularly long par 5, being just over 500 yards, but it plays uphill pretty much the whole way as it swings right around the same small stream that threatened the previous green. Despite the dogleg, you don't want to favor the right side here; about 300-350 yards out the trees cut in, narrowing the fairway and blocking out shots from the far right portion of the fairway. If you want a clear view of the green on the second shot while still being close enough to go for it in two, you need to hit straight down the middle. There's plenty of space left, but that turns this into a three-shot hole, especially as the green is perched up at the top of a steep hill. Going the long way also brings the creek into play on the second shot, as it cuts across the fairway about 50 yards short of the green, right where you'd want to lay up. The green, while being quite shallow, is pretty quiet. Overall, this is a tougher hole than you'd expect, but not unreasonable.
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| The fourth hole. The third green is pretty much directly "below" the cart here. |
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| Approaching the fourth green. |
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| The fourth green. |
The first four holes at Tot Hill Farm have represented a wild but reasonable opening stretch. The fifth hole, a 540-yard par 5, takes things to the next level. The tee shot is certainly inviting; the fairway is ridiculously wide as it spreads out down below. It's a fun drive, but beyond that, things get dicey. Like the previous hole, a stream cuts across the fairway 50 yards short of the green, but unlike the fourth, there's so little space beyond the stream that there's absolutely no reason to try and get past that creek. The green here is shoehorned into a wildly small space, being T-shaped with the stream left and bunkers right; the front portion of the green is incredibly thin and separated from the back portion by a 5-foot-high tier. Honestly, this green is so well defended you might as well go for it two if you've got the length. Approaching this green is no less intimidating with a wedge in hand over a fairway wood or long iron. Oh, and let's not forget about the rocks that jut out of pretty much every available space. There are boulders poking out of the bunkers and even within 5 feet of the green itself. This is penal golf at its peak: You have no choice but to step up and hit the required shot into this green. If you don't, the consequences are dire.
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| The fifth hole. If you're like my brother and I and that mountain looks an awful lot like a volcano, there's a reason for that. Tot Hill Farm is located in the Uwharrie Mountains, an ancient volcanic mountain chain. 550 million years ago, that mountain was a volcano. This region's volcanic geology likely also goes a long way toward explain the course's ridiculously rocky nature. |
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| The fifth hole. If you're like my brother and I and that mountain looks an awful lot like a volcano, there's a reason for that. Tot Hill Farm is located in the Uwharrie Mountains, an ancient volcanic mountain chain. 550 million years ago, that mountain was a volcano. This region's volcanic geology likely also goes a long way toward explain the course's ridiculously rocky nature. |
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| Approaching the fifth green. |
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| The fifth green. |
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| Also the fifth green. Note the big rock mere feet from the green surface. |
The sixth hole, a 155-yard par 3, is downright boring in comparison with the previous hole. Once again, rocks are omnipresent, particularly left, but the green is pretty big and relatively straightforward. Also, there's some space to miss right, and if you do, the golf ball will run down off the slope and back toward the green, if not fully reaching the green itself. I initially missed the green by at least 10 yards right, but my tee shot ran back down. It wasn't close to the hole, but it was on the green, and I can't complain about that.
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| The sixth hole. I'm honestly not sure what function those two little bunkers are performing. |
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| The sixth green. |
The seventh hole is 380 yards with a tee shot that certainly appears intimidating from the tee. From what you can see, the fairway seems to be 20 yards wide and sharply tilted from left to right as it squeezes between big bunkers on both sides. Of course, that's only what you can until the fairway crests a ridge about 200 yards out; in reality, beyond the ridge the hole opens up to what is quite possibly the widest fairway at Tot Hill Farm (no mean feat on a Strantz course). You can freely hit driver pretty much anywhere, though if you can favor the right side, that will give you a better angle into this green, which is narrow and squeezed between a hillside long and a stream short. While the green does possess some wildness (in particular, a big knob in the back that I unfortunately had to negotiate on my birdie putt), much of it is pretty flat. This may just be the best birdie opportunity on the course.
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| The seventh hole. |
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| Approaching the seventh green. |
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| The seventh green. |
The eighth hole is a 515-yard par 5 that, despite playing steeply uphill for about 80% of the duration, is somehow downhill from tee to green. The drop from tee high atop a ridge down to the sprawling, heaving fairway is just that extreme. The green is certainly reachable in two, though the approach will almost certainly be blind (you can just barely glimpse the green from a few of the higher points in the fairway). However, if you fail to fully reach the green, your shot will roll back down 20 or 30 yards into a wide stretch of fairway that certainly gets a lot of play. The green here is long and narrow, with two distinct sections sharply delineated by a steep tier; there's also a big backboard to stop shots from going over the back. It's a wild hole, but the lack of rocks make it tolerable in my book.
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| The eighth hole. |
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| Approaching the eighth green. |
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| The eighth green. |
The ninth hole is not a long par 4 at 370 yards, but it plays uphill and turns quickly right around a cluster of tall trees. This essentially precludes hitting driver on the tee, as going through the fairway will leave you blocked out by two trees on the left side about 50 yards short of the green. A fairway wood or long iron will leave you with roughly 150 yards up a giant hill (use a couple extra clubs) to a small, reasonably undulating (as in, the contours are of a reasonable scale) green surrounded by rocks. Be sure not to end up short, as the golf ball will run back down the hill.
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| The ninth hole. |
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| Approaching the ninth green. |
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| The ninth green. |
That's it for now; the insanity will continue next week. And trust me, it's only just begun.
