Beer of the Week

The beer: Dunkel Bock

The brewery: Wissahickon Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Dark German Lager brewed with a blend of light and dark Munich Malts, and mashed with 40# of Philly Soft Pretzels. Hopped with Columbus, Chinook, and Simcoe. Naturally carbonated and lagered for 5 weeks in the horizontal tank."

Would I buy it again? This is the first beer of what will likely be many from Wissahickon Brewing Company, as their East Falls location is a mere 20-minute walk from my new apartment. And while convenient location can paper over many faults, I really wanted this beer to be good. And happily, I thought it was great. There's a real deep flavor to this; while it doesn't taste exactly like soft pretzels (at least, not like that Aldus Pretzel Wheat), they do help make this beer especially bready and malty, and I really enjoyed drinking it. I'd definitely buy this again.

Review: Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Mid Pines, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole isn't tremendously long at 515 yards, but with an uphill tee shot where your drive is landing right on the upslope and stopping basically dead, not too many are reaching this green in two. The second shot is blind, but the fairway is wide open and you can leave yourself your ideal yardage for your third without much fear. The green here is surrounded by three bunkers and slopes back to front more than it looks. Putts from above the hole are very slippery.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a 180-yard par 3 that, while lacking the signature Redan slopes, does have some of those playing characteristics. The green is tilted left to right behind a bunker and falls off behind, making it difficult to both hit a mid iron directly at the hole and get it to stop on the green. A small knob on the front right corner presents an opportunity to aim at a relatively safe spot and work the ball down relatively close to the hole. It's a fun hole and probably the best par 3 on the course.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is 380 yards, plays gently downhill, and presents a classic strategic challenge. Playing the drive down the left side gives you a much better angle into the green, which is very narrow and flanked by sand, as well as a shorter shot. However, the sandy wastes cut in randomly, making hugging the left side far riskier. Bailing out right is safer as there's plenty of space on this wide fairway, but the second shot will be significantly longer and you'll have to directly challenge the right-hand greenside bunker. The green itself is also quite tricky, with a small ridge crossing the center essentially splitting the green in two.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green. I found the correct side, but was a few feet in the native area. This is the genius (and frustration) of non-uniform rough; if you're lucky, the lie won't affect you at all. If you're not (like I was), your ball could end up in the middle of a tuft of thick, wiry grass and you'll only be able to get a hundred-yard shot halfway to the green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is a long par 3, playing 230 yards gently uphill. It's obviously a tough shot, but the green is completely open in front and the fairway is sloped to kick golf balls in toward the hole. This is how you do a long par 3; if you want, you could absolutely play this as a short par 4, lay up 30 yards short, chip on, and the worst you'll probably make is a 4. But the better golfers, the ones who don't fear hazards short quite like higher handicappers, they will absolutely get caught by the bunkers both left and right. I still don't love the hole, but it's undeniably challenging to the right subset of golfers.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is 360 yards and plays to a fairway steeply tilted from left to right. Considering the hole's modest length, there's no particularly reason to use driver here, particularly when you consider the green is perhaps the most well-bunkered on the course, with a front bunker all but necessitating an aerial approach. The green is on the small side and fairly undulating, making the ability to precisely control your distance important. That's much easier to do with a full wedge rather than a three-quarter shot. This is far from a standout, but even Mid Pines' mediocre holes still make you think.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is the longest hole at Mid Pines, playing as long as 540 yards. The hole does play downhill at least, with the drive best played over the right-side fairway bunker. This allows for the sharp right-to-left slope to take the ball down a good distance, potentially bringing the green into reach in two. It's a really tough shot though; the green complex calls for a faded shot, but the right-to-left slope you'll be hitting from favors a draw. I imagine that massive front-right greenside bunker catches a lot of long irons and fairway woods.

If you're laying up like most people, the fairway widens out and presents a nice flatter spot 50-100 yards out from the green; find that area on the left side and the pitch up the hill is straightforward. The green itself is tilted pretty severely from back right to front left, so you do want to take care not to stray above the hole. This may be my favorite hole on the course; par 5s are chronically underappreciated by many, so when I see a good one, I like to call it out. And this is a very good hole.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is a fairly long par 4 at 430 yards, but with the tee perched high above the fairway, you will get a bit of extra distance on the tee shot. The fairway bends left around bunkers and waste, favoring a tee shot that challenges the corner. The second shot plays to a challenging green where the center is pushed up; shots that miss the main portion of the green will fall away on all sides. Also, even if you do find the green in regulation, two putting can be difficult if you don't find the right section. There's a lot of break going on here.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is 395 yards and while it lacks the topographic interest of many holes, being pretty much dead flat, there's still plenty going on here. Much like the ninth, the fairway sweeps right, making driver a difficult choice. If you've got a big cut, the fairway does widen out a bit beyond 250 yards; the safer choice, despite bringing bunkers into play, is the 3 wood. A good tee shot up the right side will leave a shortish iron to a green with bunkers left and right. Play safely out left on the tee shot, and the left bunker will be much more in your face. There's also small but notable falloffs in front and behind, as well as a small knob back.

The seventeenth hole.

Approaching the seventeenth green.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is 415 yards and plays downhill to a relatively narrow fairway with trees especially pushing in from the left. A draw is the best play on the tee here, and while there's no obvious hazard to avoid, sandy waste and bunkers jut in randomly all down the fairway, providing all sorts of little angles to work with. The green is big and open on the right side, with a large bunker left. It's set out in the lawn below the Mid Pines Inn itself, lending a notable sense of occasion to the conclusion. While this is a bit too long to be a reasonable birdie opportunity, it's also not a dramatically difficult finisher, more the sort of fun hole that makes you want to keep playing.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

What is there really to say about Mid Pines? It's ranked 34th on Golf.com's top 100 public courses in the United States for a reason. The restoration has given back its true Sandhill nature; the open sandy wastes and endless pines give it such a remarkable sense of place. Look at any one of the pictures here, and you know you're in Pinehurst (well, Southern Pines, but close enough). That sand provides endless strategy, and the greens, while not the most dramatic in the world, are challenging enough with breaks that you can just never quite commit to. The fourth and fifteenth holes are great and would hold their own anywhere, and there is no bad hole here. Not even the third; most courses would be happy to have a hole even of that quality.

Value for money is ... well, that's an interesting question. During the winter, Mid Pines drops its price considerably, going from mid to high 200s down to just over $100. For a course like this, $110 or so is a bargain, even if the Bermuda grass overseeding done to keep the course green during the winter does prevent it from playing firm and fast. I will say though, while you can certainly get some very nice days in Pinehurst during late November, you really aren't far enough south to be ensured of reasonably warm weather. It could be 70 degrees. It could also be 45 degrees. Not to say this course isn't worth suffering through cold and rain, but it's not going to be the classic resort/vacation experience. We got lucky. You might not.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Banana Bread Winner

The brewery: Southern Pines Brewing Company, Southern Pines, North Carolina

Description (from Untappd): "No bananas were harmed making this beer, we just relied on the character of the hefeweizen yeast coupled with the rich bready, toasty malts to present elements of the familiar baked goodie!"

Would I buy it again? That's right, I found time during my vacation in North Carolina for a beer review. Unfortunately, it's just this one (I had a second beer at this place, but for the life of me I can't find any description anywhere). Anyway, the beer is quite good, I just wish I knew beforehand that it didn't have any banana in it. I was expecting a bit more fruit. Even so, if I ever visit Southern Pines again, I would buy this beer again.

Review: Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club (Part 1)

So far in 2026, the golf courses we've seen have been a little uninspiring. 

No, that's being too kind. They've been boring. The bitter dregs of what central Maryland and Pennsylvania can offer. So, what do you say we spice things up with a trip to the North Carolina Sandhills?

Before you get too excited out there, we won't be seeing any courses from the Pinehurst resort itself. The review of No. 2 will have to wait for another year. But even if you're not staying at Pinehurst itself, there's still a lot of amazing golf around, including a triumvirate of classic Donald Ross golf courses: Southern Pines, Pine Needles, and Mid Pines. 

The history of Mid Pines is one of success — after the first World War, business at Pinehurst grew so fast that Richard Tufts, owner of the resort, found himself turning away thousands of people that Pinehurst simply could not accommodate. He needed more golf courses, and so turned to his partner-in-crime Donald Ross to build him a new course a bit outside Pinehurst. 

Mid Pines has always been very well known and respected in the golfing world, but over the years things changed. Grass grew where there shouldn't have been, and some of the signature Sandhill style was lost. A restoration in 2013 brought the course back to its original look; exposed sand is everywhere, and rough (in terms of what most golfers think of) is exceedingly rare. So, after suffering through the likes of Maple Run and Eagles Crossing, let's remind ourselves what a real golf course looks like.

The first hole is almost exactly 400 yards, and it really sets the tone for what you're going to see throughout the round. The fairway is wide, but the transition into the native sandy terrain is immediate. Sometimes there are formal bunkers, but much of the time you don't really know what you're going to get. The hole follows the classic down/up Ross formula, with the tee shot playing into a valley and the approach, a short iron, heading back up to the green, which is narrow initially before widening out toward the back. Bunkers frame the approach, and while the green itself lacks much drama (though they're hardly lacking in visually noticeable contours), rest assured that at this course, your putts will break more than you think they do. Donald Ross excelled at opening holes, and this is no exception.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is a mid-length par 3 that plays over the corner of a small pond to a green perched up on the top of a hill. The green is pretty big but has a lot of slope to it, and it's got a little bit of that No. 2 inverted saucer shaping to it, making chip shots a little bit trickier than you'd probably expect. Two bunkers guard the front portion, so you do really need a fully aerial approach on this tee shot.

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is a fairly long par 4 at nearly 440 yards, and you know a hole isn't exactly well loved when the description on the course website goes out of its way to say this is "an excellent hole." If you need to say it, it probably isn't true. The fairway is pretty wide, but there's marshy hazard immediately to the right, so there's no mercy for sliced drives. Left is safer, but lengthens a pretty long hole already, but with the fairway turning right, you can pretty easily run out of space. The second shot is slightly uphill to a medium-sized green flanked by bunkers.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a short, though not quite drivable, par 4 that plays 330 yards to a fairway tilted pretty severely from left to right. Bunkers guard the left side of the fairway, which also narrows considerably about 250 yards out from the tee. It's pretty natural to favor the right side, but with a lone pine guarding that side, you really want to stay left. You also get the best angle into the green from the left, and on this hole you do want that. This green is quite small and the most undulating on the course, with bunkers in front and behind. There's also a pretty noticeable falloff to the right and long. Honestly, if you can manage it the best play might be driver into the narrow neck of fairway past the fairway bunkers and the tree right; that will leave you with just a little pitch up the axis of the green. But that's easier said than done. Still, this is an excellent short par 4 with many options to play it.

The fourth hole.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a short par 5 at 485 yards that plays over rolling ground. There's a plateau that will provide a flat lie for the second, but you have to sacrifice going for the green in two if you want to use it. For most, the second shot will be from a downhill stance, and even if you're can't reach the green in two, there's still strategic interest. A pond occupies the low point of the hole about a hundred yards out, eating into the fairway. You can of course still lay up to 100 yards, but the fairway available is about half of what's usable if you can carry the pond. Still, that carry is over 150 yards from a downhill stance, and that's not the easiest shot in the world if you're not confident in your long irons (I was struggling with irons the whole week, so that's why I know). Carrying the pond leaves a pretty simple uphill pitch to a large if fairly severe green. The large flanking bunkers are definitely a concern if you're going for the green in two; they're slightly offset from the green itself, so if you do find them, you'll have a long, tough bunker shot on the third.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is also a par 5, this one, being nearly 540 yards, being distinctly not reachable in two for most golfers. There's no grand strategy on the tee, though if you favor the right side you'll have less potential for tree trouble, and there is more space over there than what you can see from the tee. It's much the same for the lay-up; you can either favor the left side, which gets you closer to the green but gives you a bad angle right over a bunker to a small green, or the right, which has less space to maneuver but does give you a better look on the third shot. 

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a mid-length par 4 at 385 yards and plays slowly uphill the entire way. The fairway slopes from left to right, which means you really need to hug the left side to open up the best angle to approach the green. The green is protected by a bunker front right (it's nice not having sand close up on both sides for a change) and has a lot of back to front slope to it. It doesn't look super dramatic like some other greens (we'll be seeing plenty of examples in the future), but rest assured that putts break a lot on this green. 

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is 175 yards and plays downhill to a medium-sized green with a large bunker protecting the right two-thirds of the putting surface. This hole is all about distance control; it plays more downhill than it looks and (at least for our round) was also downwind. You want to clear that bunker, of course, but you really don't want to go long. The green falls away precipitously at the back, and if you go over, you'll have to climb back up that big slope to a green that falls away.

The eighth hole.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is 340 yards, but the fairway bends hard right around pine trees, and with more trees coming in from the left, driver is effectively taken out of play unless you've got a big cut on command. There's a bunker left of the fairway about 250 yards out; if you stay short of that you'll leave yourself a full wedge from the widest portion of the fairway. There's no reason to go any further. The green here is on the smaller side with flanking bunkers, and isn't the most interesting one in the world. The ninth isn't exactly an easy birdie, but there's no reason to make a big number here.

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

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