Whispering Pines - West was always known as The River Course. They changed that a few years back. This is not some sweeping historical epic or a look at some modern genius masterwork - just a tour of a good, solid course you probably haven't heard much about.
In addition to CCNC-Dogwood and 2/3's of #5 Course Ellis Maples designed no less than three courses in the very sedate town of Whispering Pines, NC.
Mr. Maples doesn't need much of an introduction here - but I will briefly say again that he was Donald Ross' protégé and surrogate son. His father Frank had a bigger hand in the original Pinehurst than he is given credit for as well. Ellis specialized in creating solid "members" courses. That is, they were solid, very fair, not too demanding with greens on the mild side. He put a more of a challenge in the West course greens though. His bunkering is not known as his strong point but his routing is considered to be one of his strengths - both of these points being the case here.
As with his masterwork Grandfather G&CC he begins with a par-5. There is a stream winding across the fairway about 290 yards out.
The uphill approach.
There are several holes where your tee shot will wind up in the edge of the woods if you don't hit a 3-wood or bend your driver around the trees. So on the 365 yard 2nd we have a very generous landing area but a bit of consideration is required as well.
The approach to the 3rd shows that he put more challenging greens on this course. Several are canted one way or the other and placing your ball below the hole will give you a putting advantage. With the greens rolling pretty quickly the side hill putts can be something of an adventure. This green is actually more formidable than it appears in the photo.
West Course has very generous driving areas so this view from the 4th tee gives you a different look to consider. It actually plays much wider than it appears in the photo.
You don't often see a green as challenging as this on his courses.
A more skilled photographer would do a much better job at revealing the attractive par-3 5th.
The 552 7th. Which way are you supposed to hit it? Neither me or my playing partner, former Pinehurst pro Brad "Burl" Hundley could remember. I just aimed straight and a power hook went out. Mr. Hundley happened to hit a fade. Turned out I was the luckier one. It is straight away after the left turn.
The approach to the 8th's elevated green.
The 204 yard 9th is guarded pretty well by the bunkering.
The 567 yard 10th has some mounding in the fairway...
...and then amazing width as you near the green of the longest hole.
The 380 yard 11th is where the river starts to come into play. Routing experts may want to comment on this aspect.
After hitting a 240 yard tee shot (no need to hit it farther) the hole goes right and you must play over the water again.
He didn't place the green right on the water.
The 393 12th features the average width of the tee shots on this course. I think Ellis wasn't looking the give your driving a stern test on this course. Most golfers don't have a great deal of time to really sharpen their accuracy so I think he wanted to give golfers shots that would keep their rounds moving along enjoyably. There are, of course, many different ways to design a course. This is the choice he made with this course. Although some of the holes he designed on other courses are pretty demanding off the tee most of his courses are not extremely exacting off the tee.
The approach to the 345 13th takes you back over the river. As with the 11th a long tee shot won't help you and the water is not right up on the green.
The 166 yard 14th. A good photographer could do this hole more visual justice than I was able to here.
The approach to the 384 yard 15th has trees encroaching upon your approach. Can you tell there is a little pond short left of the green?
The 190 yard 16th also has a little pond short left. See any houses? The very few you do on the course are well back. The less houses I see on a course the more I enjoy it. The leaning pine gives the hole a visual appeal that the hole might be missing otherwise.
Mr. Maples almost always makes the closing hole one of the more interesting ones on his courses. At 433 yards with a possible semi-blind approach that would be the case here. This is one of the few holes where there is a significant amount of strategy off the tee. The much preferred angle to the green is from fairway left.
As you can see the fairway cants significantly right to left with a bunker that can grab that long tee shot.
The routing.
Both the fairways and greens were in very good condition when we played last month. They aren't overseeding either.
I don't pretend to give you any definitive assessment of this course. But, I'll tell you what I honestly think. This is a good course. I always come back to the word "solid" to describe Ellis Maples. That is the case here - but this one is a step above his usual very competent fare. Unless you require something extraordinary I'm pretty sure you would enjoy it. So, if you are visiting or live here and you want to have a look at a worthwhile track that is not among the ones you've already heard of I'd say have a go. That is just my point of view - you can make up your own mind, of course - but I think this little tour gives you a fairly good idea of what the course is about.