... under Courses by Country.
I like pulling for the underdog. The newer North Course (profiled in November) is visually more intimidating (and easier to photograph) and has soaked up a lot of the attention that was once reserved for the South Course. Based on various conversations with people who have played both, it seems to me that 6 or 7 out of every 10 people tend to prefer the North to the South based on its WOW factor.
I might fall in that camp too but then again, I might not! One thing about the South is how far the ball releases on so many of its greens. In a recent December round, my ball must have rolled at least 125 feet after hitting the green in regulation during a freakishly
good ball striking round. That’s a lot (!) and it speaks well of the playing conditions and of Fazio’s broad sloping greens. Some of the approach shots released well forward 8-15 feet like at the 8th and 18th well others like at the 11th, 12th and 16th zipped back or sideways ~18-25 feet each. That is fun, placement golf to me. I definitely give the nod in putting surfaces to the South Course.
Why there aren’t more courses like it in Pinehurst is a mystery though I have a suspicion. Developers might not have thought that a traditional looking course like this one had enough pizazz to sell houses. Therefore, let’s build lakes, line them with stone, place greens on top, etc. Not at Forest Creek. Indeed, I just saw another high end real estate Fazio course in Florida with some excellent putting surfaces. Yet, the work around the putting surfaces was more fussy featuring excessive land movement and scalloped out grassy areas. In short, it was unnecessarily busy to my eye. Here on the South Course, things are more streamlined, dare I say simple and traditional in appearance. I like that. The land was once used for hunting and equestrian pursuits and still exudes a certain rustic charm.
Golf Week once loved the South Course and now it doesn’t but that says more about Golf Week than the South Course as very little has changed there since it opened. A bunker was pulled back for drainage reasons and 2 trees were removed to allow people to go more often for a green – that’s it, which suggest to me that the project was well conceived from the get-go.
After we profiled the North Course in November, the need existed to update the South Course profile, which was 9 years old. In the process of wandering around and taking photos, I was freshly reminded of a) why I have always liked it and b) that it has just as many appealing holes/shots as the North Course.
Have a read and see what you think. Plenty of people reading this have played it and I am always curious to here its pros and cons, relative to the North or just on its own.
Cheers,