Your favorite hole at Pinehurst No. 2

[David Stewart]

With the No. 2 course at Pinehurst in the spotlight over the next few weeks, I was wondering what your favorite hole is. Favorite doesn't have to be best, hardest, easiest, prettiest, etc. Just the hole you enjoy there the most and why. I have only played it once so I was hoping to hear about some of the playing qualities that I missed during my game there. Much has been written about the fifth, both here (including the new Best of Golf feature) and elsewhere, so if it is your favorite, please mention this but then choose your second favorite for discussion.

In my one play, I really liked the 13th. It is short so there are numerous options off the tee, but the angle of the drive over the sand and wire grass gives the golfer pause. The approach is exacting, but fair for a hole of its length. The false front and deep bunkers cut into the hillside punish an poor shot. Is it best to aim left off the tee with a shorter club to leave a full iron approach? Or should one blast driver up the right to leave a shorter, albeit ticklish pitch shot? Are you content settling for the middle of the green? It seems you could play the hole 100 times and still not figure out the best way to attack it.

What is your favorite hole?

[Jaeger Kovich]

I have spent a good amount of time in the area, and asked this question of many people in the business that have been involved with the course in many different capacities. You will almost always get a different answer. 2,3,5,9,13,16,18 seem to be about the most common answers, but nobody ever seems to agree.

You could also ask what is your least favorite hole on the course, and you will get a huge array of different answers... Don't be shocked if their answer is one of your favorites!

[Michael George]

I know it is standard, but it is the 5th hole.  It is the best golf hole that I have ever played in terms of shot values and strategy.  The 2nd shot is very demanding and you almost always have an interesting 3rd shot around that green. 

My sleeper hole is #3.  What a wonderful short par 4.  That green is so diabolical that it can turn a birdie hole into a bogey hole real quick. 

Another sleeper is #9.  What a wonderful short par 3 with a great green.  I hit my shot 1 foot to the right of the green and it ran back down the hill 20 yards.  However, the recovery was not that hard as the green has a nice backstop.  Cool hole.

[Charlie Gallagher]

I liked a lot of holes when I played this amazing course. I thought 3 was really cool, not very long but with a green that repels improperly placed or greedy  approaches.  That would be my favorite on the front, with 7 finishing 2nd, a hole where the player is rewarded for a well placed drive with an easier 2nd shot; a pretty hole on flat ground.
On the back, I'd say 13. It presents one of the most challenging approaches on the course and a very dangerous downhill putt if you play safe and go long on the 2nd shot with a front hole location.

[Jordan Standefer]

I know it is standard, but it is the 5th hole.  It is the best golf hole that I have ever played in terms of shot values and strategy.  The 2nd shot is very demanding and you almost always have an interesting 3rd shot around that green. 

I hit my shot down the left side and was really amazed how deep that side of the fairway could be, because I couldn't tell from the tee box.  This also adds to the second shot being more uphill than one might anticipate.

Another sleeper is #9.  What a wonderful short par 3 with a great green.

This was my immediate thought after #5.  Cool, indeed.

[Matthew Sander]

I thought 3 was really cool, not very long but with a green that repels improperly placed or greedy  approaches.

The 3rd may not be THE best, but it is one of my favorites. The playing characteristics are very good, with options off the tee and another interesting green. However, I can't overlook the commanding view that awaits once you are up on the green, looking down over the fourth running off in the distance and the fifth returning below the 3rd green. Simply majestic.

That said, my favorite hole is not a very original choice. The 5th is such a dynamite hole. The drive is important and exacting without being confined. In fact the view from the tee begs you to swing away with everything you have. However those that have played the hole know that right of center is best.

[Paul Carey]

I know it is standard, but it is the 5th hole.  It is the best golf hole that I have ever played in terms of shot values and strategy.  The 2nd shot is very demanding and you almost always have an interesting 3rd shot around that green. 

My sleeper hole is #3.  What a wonderful short par 4.  That green is so diabolical that it can turn a birdie hole into a bogey hole real quick. 

Another sleeper is #9.  What a wonderful short par 3 with a great green.  I hit my shot 1 foot to the right of the green and it ran back down the hill 20 yards.  However, the recovery was not that hard as the green has a nice backstop.  Cool hole.

Correct

Correct

Correct!

[Terry Lavin]

5 and 19.

[BCowan]

#15.  #9 looks better post reno.  Will see after walking every hole on thur.

[Josh Stevens]

Never having played it I cant comment, but having sat through the aerials for next week, it is clear at least to me that there is no stand out "signature" hole in either of the senses that we usually understand it  ie/either just eye candy, or so much better architecturally than the rest.

I think this and the fact that that just about every hole can be considered a fav by someone is a nice change.  Consistent and unrelenting

[Matt MacIver]

My first thoughts were of 5 and 3, and 18 sort of.

But I really like both the par 5s at #4 and #16, maybe 4 better. Great perch to drive from, good angle (tight left is better), then an exacting layup shot or try to sling a draw up there and run it on...and a very right to left sloped green, so fast to a back left pin.  It's near impossible to lose a ball at PH #2 but Lefty did in '05, hooking it OOB and ruining his chances.  Great par 5s are hard to come by...guess that's why they're playing it as a par 4 this year.  

[Tom_Doak]

One of the best things about No. 2 is that there are so many very good holes that could qualify for this title.

I was very impressed with the changes to #13 on my visit last fall ... I thought that hole had really been transformed.  

However, the two holes I would like to mention are #8 and #11.  I have always marveled at the tee shot on #8 and how it uses the topography, and I think #11 is probably the most strategic driving hole on the course.  #11 was the hole that was so messed up when I saw it 5-6 years back ... the angles to the back left and front right pins had BOTH been smothered to death in the rough.

[Matt Bielawa]

Favorite: #9
Least Favorite: #10

[jim_lewis]

No one has mentioned what I consider to be the best hole on the course.......number 14. Nothing fancy or especially memorable. It's what I like to call "pure golf".  The raised tee allows you to see the entire hole from the tee. However, standing in the fairway contemplating your shot to the green (usually a long iron or wood, except to low handicappers), your depth perception is confused my a large bunker several yards short and right of the green. There is room to carry it, and you must or you are dead with a very long sand shot. With an accurate shot left of the bunker an average player can run the ball onto the green. Long is death and large bunkers are left and right. The main reason I prefer it over #5  is that while it is very tough, the average player has a fair chance at making par. On #5 a bogey is a very good score.
I used to consider #2 the best hole. It may have the best green complex in golf. However, it has been lengthened beyond reason. No one in his right mind will challenge the back right hole location with more than a short iron, and damned few players will hit the tee shots far enough for a short iron approach.

#14 won't play too tough for the pros because there is very little room for the tee to be extended. The green will receive a short iron. Not so much a long iron or hybrid.

[Tom Bacsanyi]

I only played No. 2 once, but I'd say 9.  Alas, I tend to overrate holes that I enjoy success on.  In this particular case the pin was cut front right and I yanked my tee shot to the back left shelf (dead).  I had a double breaking downhill 40 footer over a ridge and canned it for a 2.  Good thing it hit the hole though, as it was likely headed off the green.  So I stole one from Mr. Ross there.  Don't worry though, he got me earlier for a double on 5 when I missed my approach left.

I also really like the look from the tee on 4, as the fairway fits the land so nicely.  The green isn't particularly memorable though. 

[Andy Shulman]

Co-Favorites: #2 (super tough approach shot) and #4 (I've done well on the hole)
Least Favorite: #18, but I have a thing about approach shots when there's a building directly behind the green.   

[Ronald Montesano]

I'm with Chuck-O on #13. Love the drive and the approach, and the putting from on or off the green is splendid.

Runner-up would be #15. How tough could they make that green to hold?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Par 3.     # 9

Par 4.     # 3

Par 5.    # 10

[JC Urbina]

My two favorite holes at Pinehurst are 8 and 9

# 8 Because of the green complex.  The green offers a lot of creative putts but in the overall scheme of things the total green complex is really enjoyable to chip and putt on and offers a variety of recovery options when falling off this green.

# 9 The beauty of this corner of the property and the look of this one shot hole.  When I first played it back in the early 90s it was my first chance to breathe and recover from a whirlwind of first time experiences on the 8 previous holes.  Working for the Dye family I was a very one dimensional builder and when I saw Pinehurst for the first time I knew I wanted to expand my creative juices.  All 18 holes blew me away and I wanted more.

When I returned to Pinehurst last year and I saw the way Bill, Ben and crew transformed the 9th green into what it looks like today it brought me back to that very first visit.  A day I will never forget.

[Mac Plumart]

So many that I like and that are really good.

5 is my favorite, but since its been mentioned so many times.  Let give 13 some love.  I really think after the restoration the hole really popped and the hazards came to life.

[Rees Milikin]

So many that I like and that are really good.

5 is my favorite, but since its been mentioned so many times.  Let give 13 some love.  I really think after the restoration the hole really popped and the hazards came to life.

Agreed on #13, one that I that I look forward to playing the most, #3 was the second favorite.  Sucker for short par 4's.