[Tim_Weiman]

Ocaasionally, you will people describe Pinehurst #2 as a great golf course without any great holes?

Do you agree with this idea?

Also, what are you favorite holes on this course?

I'll vote no on the first question citing holes #2 and #5.  I'm also a fan of #1, #3 and #14.

[Chris_Hunt]

Tim:

Having only walked the course, I submit that my favorites holes are the 4th and 9th, simply for the way they play across the land.  The 4th is probably too easy to be truly great, but so what.  It sweeps down around the little valley that the more famous 5th plays up and has some decent bunkering to handle the punkish swing.  The 9th green sits beautifully into the ridgeline and sweeps majestically into the adjacent teeing ground.  The bunkering on this hole tends to be some of the most visually intimidating found on the course.  Most people probably enjoy it, too, with its proximity to the halfway house.  The first swing after a hotdog usually feels good to me.  I also submit that these views would in all likelihood need amendment after playing a round at #2.

[Fred_C.]

I really like the short par four 12th and the par 3 17th.  In all, it's a spectacular layout.

FJC

[BillV]

#3  World class.  I also really like #7 because it is so awkward, setting the player off balance a bit. #13 is treacherously good.

Gee, all shortish holes.  Hmmmmmm.......


Unfortunately, many of the greens now are over-the-top due to Penn G-2 and the resultant speeds it brings.

[jim_lewis]

My opinion is that #2 has many excellent holes. What it doesn't have is a weak hole.  My favorites are #2 (great green complex), #3 (one of the world's great short par fours), and #14 (the best, and most underrated hole on the course).

I also argue that the green speeds are not too fast. Once you get on the greens, they are not particularly difficult to putt, if you are a good putter. The problem is getting your approach shots to stay on the greens due the slopes that cause shots hit near the edges of the greens to roll off. The biggest challenge in putting is reading the subtle breaks, not the speed.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I have always liked no. 5 and 7 (with a ho hum, least favorite number 6 in between) 9, 16, and 17.

[Matt_Ward]

Tim:

The thing to keep in mind is that Pinehurst #2 is probably one of the most difficult courses to photograph well so all the fanfare you get at other courses because of visual backdrops (think how powerful the scene is with the waves crashing into the shore at PB's #7, to name just one).

I had little idea on how marvelous #2 is until you actually play the course. I went to school in the Carolinas and saw how the course evolved from the time it was owned right after the Tufts family, its demise because of poor management and then rebirth.

If I had to name a hole I'd pick two of them -- the long par-4 2nd and the 18th hole -- a grand finale that is more challenging than most people think. I can only hope that green speeds don't become over the top because skill should still be the ultimate aim not luck. #2 is a course of high distinction and merits an Open visit every ten years.

[Tim_Weiman]

Matt:

Confirming your thesis about the difficulty of photographing Pinehurst #2, I took a look at "Pinehurst Stories" published about ten years ago.

If you weren't told what course it was, I guarantee the pictures of each hole provide very little reason to go play it.  In fact, I'd call them perhaps the least appealing pictures of any highly regarded course.

Over the years I really haven't come across any photos that do the course justice.  Maybe those green complexes just can't be captured in photos.......at least not be someone of my limited talents.

[Ran Morrissett]

Unlike any other course that I can think of (save for perhaps Pine Valley), I reckon there is a decent shot that all 18 holes might eventually get a mention, at least from one person.

So far, holes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17, and 18 have mentioned - and that's well over half the holes.

I would add the 16th as one of my all time favorite swing holes at a distance of 540 yards (i.e. NOT how the USGA set it up) and for the longest time, I thought the 1st was one of the great starts in the game. I'm not sure about that any more as I've heard about too many train wrecks right out of the box but in turn, my appreciation for the 11th has soared in the past few years.

That means that every hole but 6, 8, 10, and 15 has now been mentioned. Not too bad, eh?  

Cheers,

[Mike_Cirba]

Ran,

Pinehurst 2 has always fascinated me as an exception to many, many rules.

I plan to get there in March to find out for myself, but your comparison to Pine Valley doesn't seem to ring true to me at this point.

At Pine Valley, one seems to have a difficult time in deciding which of the amazingly memorable, standout holes is better than the next.  

At Pinehurst 2, I get the sense that one is hard-pressed to explain why any of the holes stands out, in particular.

That isn't meant as an affront to Pinehurst....only a riddle I am trying to get a better handle on.

[Matt_Ward]

Mike:

Course photography has a great ability to "add" so much to the hype before you play a course. Sometimes the hype is legitimate (i.e. Pac Dunes, Sand Hills, etc) but other times it's no better than a movie trailer to a lame film.

Pinehurst #2 doesn't really stand apart and as a result it takes a series of times in playing the course to really appreciate what is offers in spades compared to so many courses that "look" great but are often flat in their demands.

Pinehurst #2 is one of the few American courses I've played where the player can actually hit the driver on just about every hole if you want to -- there is room. Unlike so many other clubs where they play the charade of taking the driver out of your hands with pinched in landing areas -- the challenge of Pinehurst #2 is in finding the premium angle into the target. You also must exercise the mind in deciding what to do when you miss the green. You don't just get the standard 60 degree flop shot out of 4-6 inch hay.

I've had friends of mine who played the course just once and said, "Is this it?" Mike, you could not have said it better -- Pinehurst #2 is a riddle -- I'm also still trying to figure out even after playing the course no less than 25 times over the years but boy it sure is fun.

They often say a picture is 1,000 words but #2 is one course that defies pictures -- see it with your eyes to really believe.

[Brad Miller]

Funny thing for me, playing #2 for the first time 2 years ago, pre-archie, for whatever reason by the second hole I sensed I was playing a masterpiece. That thought was clearly confirmed by the end of the first 18.

[ed_getka]

Haven't played it yet. Walked the course numerous times during the Open and found #9 to be the most interesting, and how perplexing it was to the best players in the world. Just watching the players during practice rounds was very educational. Most players tend to have a bread and butter way of approaching the short game. At Pinehurst I saw players trying 3 or 4 different shots from the same spot, trying to figure out a way to get to the hole.

[ian andrew (Guest)]

My vote would be for #3, one of the best short holes; and #5, one of the best long fours.

On my last visit I walked backwards (I was preparing a course based on the principles of #2). I found it more interesting to look at the green complex (some of the best) and then go back to evaluate the approach to these greens. Very educational, I would recommend this to others.

[Tom Doak]

I happen to like the 8th hole almost as much as any of the rest.  The way the hole sets into the contour of the land, so that you're driving downhill to kind of a saddle, and then back uphill as the land continues to fall away to the left -- I couldn't remember seeing another hole laid out quite the same way.

There are a lot of great holes there, so that none of them stands apart from the rest ... like say the 5th at Mid Ocean.  There's no "signature" hole, so none of them are often picked for lists of the best holes in the country.

[Paul Richards]

All eighteen holes at Pinehurst #2 are special.

That being said, the 18th is my favorite, because that's the
hole where I proposed to my wife, and she accepted!

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