After teasing a Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw layout for the resort’s 10th course, Pinehurst has hired Tom Doak for their latest offering.
With an ever-expanding repertoire of golf courses, Pinehurst Resort is looking to expand on a property they acquired over a decade ago. In a social media campaign posted on January 2, the resort’s official accounts posted a video of Tom Doak talking over a slew of images from their portfolio of golf courses. His quote seemed to tease the prospect of building golf, or perhaps exploring the benefits of building in the famous North Carolina sandhills:
“The number one thing is you’re working on beautiful sand. The sand and the wire grass and the blue stem and the little native grasses that grow around here are fabulous texture for golf.”
The resort is targeting an early spring 2024 opening on the site formerly known as “The Pit Golf Links,” which closed in 2010 after housing a Dan Maples design for almost 30 years. In 2011, Pinehurst Resort bought the property, but it was not until later in that decade when rumours began to swirl about a potential Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw golf course, their second contribution to the resort following the restoration of the famed No. 2 course.
Per PineStraw Magazine‘s Lee Pace in June 2021: “The architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw routed a course on land once occupied by The Pit Golf Links, and Pinehurst Resort owner Bob Dedman gave serious thought in 2011 to green-lighting the project. He decided against it, but now, amid a healthy golf economy at Pinehurst, that idea is back on the table.”
Rather than utilizing everything Dan Maples left, Tom Doak’s routing will use parts of the old golf course while exploring new areas on a property closer to Aberdeen, North Carolina just south of the main resort. Doak, who is best-known for Pacific Dunes, Tari Iti, Barnbougle, Ballyneal, and more, is a part of the group—alongside Bill Coore, Gil Hanse, Rod Whitman, and David McLay Kidd—who ushered in the new style of golf, dominated by larger fairways, big, blowout bunkers, and undulating greens not seen since the Golden Age.
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The resort is best-known for Donald Ross’ famed No. 2 design, an anchor site for the US Open and a perennial top 30 golf course in the United States, but in recent years, they have made a push to upgrade their facilities. Gil Hanse updated the No. 4 course to rave reviews, as well as the addition of The Cradle, a top-tier short course off the resort’s main clubhouse. Perhaps more than any golf resort in the world, Pinehurst is the perfect representation of the various eras in American Golf Architecture. With three Donald Ross golf courses, one full length and one short course from Gil Hanse, George & Tom Fazio (with the latter working on two different golf courses), Jack Nicklaus, Ellis Maples, Rees Jones, and even renovations from Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, the offerings are large, with Tom Doak bringing his own style to the “Home of American Golf.”
Given the timeline of hoping to have the course for 2024, construction is expected to start immediately, with Angela Moser taking on responsibilities of lead shaper. Moser’s work for Tom Doak includes St. Patrick’s, Te Ari, The Loop, as well as work for Gil Hanse at Ohoopee Match Club, Streamsong (Black), and The Vineyard Club. Minimal details are currently available, but given the reputation of Doak and the location, expect a golf course that sits into the surroundings seamlessly, with greens that feature more contour and movement than usual.
Read more on Pinehurst’s official website.
May 2023 Update
Early May, Pinehurst Resort released a video showcasing progress while talking to architect Tom Doak about the process. Things are, as the video says, progressing quite quickly, with the objective to be open before the 2024 US Open on Pinehurst’s No. 2 course. Watch the video below:
