Triangle in the Triangle - Three Pinehurst-area golf courses

I find myself in the midst of a five-day junket in the Sandhills of North Carolina. Despite the immense shadow cast by the Pinehurst Resort and its eight golf courses, I and my colleagues have decided to bypass those tracks in favor of five other layouts. We had the opportunity to play two Dan Maples designs on Monday the 10th and a Donald Ross creation on Tuesday the 11th. The three courses differed noticeably and merit a bit of discussion here. If you have had the opportunity to play any or all, please chime in with your observations and opinions.

Dan Maples gained notoriety on a national scale with the unveiling of The Pit in the mid-1980s. Not since the original quarry courses (Merion, Country Club of Buffalo) some 80 years ago had anyone taken broken, wasted space like that found in Aberdeen, N.C. and turned it into a golf course. The Pit consists of 10 upland holes (1-10) and eight lowland holes in the quarry. The opening holes let you know that wayward tee balls will not be tolerated and that approach shots must not stray far from their intended line. There are a few breather holes on the front half, specifically 6 and 7, but enough tricksters (1 and 2, 4 and 8) that you’ll either keep your head in the game or be looking for solace. After descending into the pit for which the course is named, the temperature seems to rise ten degrees and the humidity weighs on you in layers. The holes relentlessly challenge, including one of the more spectacular three-hole stretches (11-13) that you’ll encounter. Interestingly enough, both 9 and 18 are much more open and much less punishing than one might anticipate. The prevailing opinion is, you’ve suffered enough, have a break.

Maples designed another course nearby, called Little River Farm. Little River is everything that The Pit is not. From the upscale sense of the horsing history to the wide fairways and ample green entryways, not to mention the spacious putting surfaces, Little River Farm is more of what we come to anticipate when on vacation, at a golfing destination. Don’t think, though, that Maples’ Pit experience is nowhere to be found; he takes advantage of a centrally located lake to give two of the most challenging carries in the Pinehurst area. From the tee shot over water to the par three 16th to the tee ball across the same lake on the par five 17th, your knees will shake a wee bit. Maples utilizes the rises and falls of the landscape to create epic par fives that traverse wrinkled, crumpled fairway stretches before ending at shimmering emerald greens. He fits angular par fours into crevices of land, working around trees with slanted fairways. In a moment of weakness, he takes the course out of the trees and into the meadows for a five hole stretch to close the front. It’s a grand tour.

6200 yards can be deceiving. Southern Pines, a Donald Ross gem, tops out at 6200 yards, according to the scorecard. When you play a 330 yard hole that runs uphill, tee balls tend to hit and stop, eliminating role. It’s all carry in those instances. When the approach shot plays so vertically that two or three clubs must be added, the 330 yard hole plays more like 400. Imagine how challenging the 400 yard holes are! Southern Pines in my estimation is a second-shot course. There is much forgiveness off the tee, but heaven forbid you misjudge forward and lateral distance. Chipping and pitching hollows, sand bunkers and trees come into play to penalize wayward approaches. Don’t have an off day on the putting greens, either. Ross entrusted his greens with many of his secrets, including greens that apparently run downhill but are still slow. While keeping pace, do your best to look at putts from all side…you’ll see break that you might have missed the first time through.