As you know, one of the reasons Pinehurst No. 2 evolved to the level of masterpiece is because it received an uncommon level of attention from an uncommonly talented man. It took about 30 years of various changes before the essence of the course became solidified. After that it has been modifications upon the core structure.
During those years when the design wandered back and forth across the rolling pine barrens a few holes got lost along the way. What they were and where they were may surprise you. There were several iterations which occurred during those formative years. It would take a long time to go into each and every one of them. But for now lets take a look at the holes which ran along the hilly spine of the present No. 4 Course - down to the pond.
Here is a contemporary look at the area (No. 2 in red, No. 4 in blue):
Here is a look at the same area (though it may not appear as such initially) with a 1938 aerial superimposed:
As you can see one of the early versions of No. 2 ran down to the pond which has been expanded and is now an integral part of today's No. 4. What you can't see from the aerials is how the terrain drops rather sharply toward the pond. Actually, it was this sharp change in elevation which evoked criticism from a number of people who played No. 2. They didn't like the long uphill slog on the 10th hole in particular. Here is an image of that now defunct hole which shows the incline - but as with all photos does not adequately portray the terrain - which in this case was not met with affection. The image is courtesy of the Tuft's Archives.
Since the 10th was eliminated it was decided to remove the adjacent holes in the routing and replace them in a more suitable manner elsewhere. And so the early versions of the 8th and the 9th were removed, as well. Here is a representation of those holes:
Well, you just breezed right by that image instead of considering it for a bit to see what you might deduce. And there is much to deduce. For you architectural fiends it deserves something more elongated than the attention deficit mode in which 21st century consciousness operates so unimpressively. Upon closer inspection you will see the forested area around and below the 9th green is the area where the big pond of No. 4 course is today. Also you might have noticed the scarcity of trees along some of the fairways. It would definitely be nice to have many areas of the Pinehurst courses thinned out with the trees.
From an architectural standpoint neither the 9th or the 10th holes appeared to represent any sort of notable merit. They functioned effectively to round out the routing of the course but their relatively pedestrian nature and the fact that they wandered into terrain which did not effect a seamless continuum with the rest of the muscular but flatish nature of the course makes their loss rather inconsequential - mere historic curios. When playing No. 4 course I personally find it interesting to note where the ghosts of those early Ross efforts were placed. It adds an intriguing dimension to the days round.
It is possible the early version of the 8th hole possessed qualities which warranted more regard than its companions. However, this version of the 8th took a sharp dive in the terrain which again, was out of character with how the rest of No. 2 was turning out.
Consider the following photograph. Notice how the terrain beyond and to the right of the green (today's 4th on No. 4) ascends. That is where the early 10th hole was - which you can see in the historic postcard above.
And here is a Google Earth image which will give you an idea of how the general terrain of those lost holes drops sharply. That's the 13th green of today's No. 4 where the terrain line stops on the left.
To replace this area Ross incorporated a couple of holes from what was the employees course. The holes he chose are today's 4th and 5th holes. The latter being one of the sports highly regarded holes. Certainly these new additions made for a more cohesive 18 hole pattern - as well as elevating the quality of the course.
There are innumerable changes which have occurred throughout the century plus existence of this unlikely golfing kingdom. This particular sequence was singled out because the evolution of golf's immortals warrants consideration - and although there have been a million articles about this course I'm not aware of a single one looking at the course in this way. All in all, in the case of the loss of the former 9th, 10th and 11th holes their discontinuation was a wise move by the designer - especially in light of the quality of the holes which came to replace those which chased down to the pond.
And so, for the moment lets leave it at that. In time I may return to have a look at some of the other shifts which occurred upon those sandy hills but that's as far as I want to go for the moment. You are, of course, free to do your own analysis - and there is sufficient material for a worthy exposition from the materials you have at hand.