[Craig Disher]

The Cardinal 9 at Southern Pines CC was abandoned a few years ago. Last week I played SPCC (in August the Elks hired a gc management company to run the club and the improvements are dramatic) and took a few photos of what's left of the C9. It looks to me that it wouldn't take much more than new grass to re-open it. The pro said that re-opening is a possibility once they've straightened out the other 18 holes.

When the course was closed, either the turf on the greens was removed or the greens were covered with sand.

View from the 1st green back up the fairway.



200-yard par 3 2nd



The par 4 3rd and 4th holes parallel each other.

3rd:



4th, from the green back towards the tee:



Par 5 5th.



I believe this is the par 4 7th viewed from behind the green:



Parallel to the 7th is the par 3 8th. In the background is some tree-clearing around the practice range. The clubhouse is to the right of that.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Craig,

It looks like they've continued to mow it.  Still, wouldn't the greens and bunkers need a rebuild?  How much would something like that cost?

And what did you get out of them re "straighten out" the other 18, pricing and marketing strategies going forward, etc. etc.?

That course still is my second-favorite in the Pinehurst area -- sorry I couldn't get down there to play it again!

Mark

[wsmorrison]

Craig,

When was this nine abandoned?  It sure looks like there hasn't been much encroachment of trees and bushes.  I guess Mark is right, they must have managed some limited maintenance on the property.  How were the three nines used?  I think Huntingdon Valley's concept of three nines was brilliant.  I wonder if it was ever replicated (or copied) from somewhere else.

[BCrosby]

Craig -

What was the reputation of the Cardinal nine?

Bob

[Craig Disher]

Mark, The bunkers I saw were not much worse than some I've played on recently so I'd guess that minimal work would be required. As you can see from the photos, the greens have no grass but smoothing then out and seeding them couldn't cost much. And of course the fairways and rough would need to be seeded. Maybe someone else can estimate the cost accurately - I couldn't imagine it costing more than $100K. I didn't check on irrigation but if that's needed or has to be rebuilt, it would raise the cost considerably.

I didn't ask about long-term marketing; the super was very focused on further improvements though. First order of business is rebuilding bunkers and cleaning out brush and dead trees. Already the turf is better than at any time since I started playing the course 7 years ago.

Wayne, It must have closed more than 6 or 7 years ago. The C9 couldn't have been used as an alternative 9 for the other 18 since the 9th doesn't return to the clubhouse. I believe it was part of another 18 that was either not built or built and later reduced to 9. Anyway, it would have been perfect for anyone who wanted to play just 9 holes.

Bob, I don't know. With the exception of the 2nd, the holes are short but draped over some large elevation changes. It looks like it would have been a lot of fun to play but with the exception of #2, there are better holes on the other 18.

[Dave Maberry]

Craig,
 I last visited SPCC in June 2005. At that time the Cardinal 9 was closed for some time and was very overgrown. The greens were dry, overgrown and crumbling/heaving. It looks like a little work has been done since then(mowing and green cleanup) making it look like it may survive.
 Thanks for posting.
Dave

[Craig Disher]

Dave,
The C9 holes that are next to #13 are completely overgrown. Nothing has been done to keep the brush down over the past 5 years. The greens, tees, and bunkers are still visible although you'd have to stand on top of them to see them.

Here's a 1940 photo of the SPCC property. The routing of the current 18 is marked in yellow. In red is what I believe is the routing for a lost 18 - 9 of which were retained for the Cardinal 9 (the double lines). The other red lines follow cleared fairway corridors. I don't see a corridor for the 10th hole but my guess is that it was a short par 3 that is obscured by tree shadow.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Craig,
I seem to recall that on my first visit to SP the Cardinal nine was open, this was around '86 or '87, but I could be wrong.

The Elks were (or did) sell around 15 acres to the west of hole #5. The starting price was around 850k.
If they did sell it they probably have some 'extra' cash to tackle the Cardinal nine.
The management co. is called Avestra and they own Foxfire Resort and the CC of Whispering Pines, developed other courses, and they also manage Hyland Hills. "Woody" Davis is the principal and he has his roots in the banking industry. The goal of Avestra is to 'maximize' the potential of courses they own or manage.

 

[RJ_Daley]

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&q=kansas+city&f=q&ll=35.160021,-79.39682&spn=0.010561,0.033388&t=k&z=15&om=0

The link should show the aerial.  I'm guessing the aerial is from about 1998-2000.  It appears the little 9 was as I found it in about '99.  I played it and found it cute and in need of a little TLC.  The greens are small, and many of the FW bunkers were grassed in and lost, but the bunkers were clearly detectable.  The bunkers near the greens were small and simple by comparison to the big course.  The ladies were mostly playing the little nine in those days.  The FWs were apparently mowed about 2X aweek, and the greens maybe 3-4X.  The bones are clearly there to bring out a cute and sporty little course.  ONe sees there is nothing but overgrown trees on the lost 4th nine now.

I took pictures with an old film camera on panoramic view setting, I think, and they are in a box somewhere.   I'd look for them and scan and post them, but... I hate to wang it up all the time.  

[Evan_Smith]

I played the Cardinal Nine with my Dad in Jan. 2002 or 2003.  It wasn't kept in the same condition as the other course, but it was playable (the greens weren't cut everyday).  Just playing it the once, I didn't come away thinking it was a great course, but there were some good holes with the 7th being the best in my books.  With a little work it could be good, but even then I'd rather play the other course any day.  The holes are just better and more interesting.  
From looking at the 1940's overhead, it looks like the 6th and 7th were changed somewhat.  The 6th was a big downhill dogleg right that ran parallel to the 13th (until the severe dogleg) on the main course.  Oh wait, you can make it out on RJ's link.  It does look like it was changed though, but it could just be the tree shadows blocking out the fairway corridor.

[Steve Lang]

   Last time we played it was ~ Spring 1999, used to play it regularly as an emergency 9 to fill time before round on main 18, through the 80's and 90's when it started really going downhill, like the ball on those sandy fairways

I've said before on here that it always seemed like an "experimental" or R&D lab for construction methods and green complexes to me.. or was used for borrow materials..

Given how tha company has maintained/kept care of Hyland Hills.. should be good news for the place

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()