I will be playing quite a few South Carolina courses over the course of several weeks so I am going to write up my thoughts after each round and publish all at once. If anyone knows me well, if I waited until I'd played all that I'm going to play I'd never be able to keep the courses straight.
Look for a post early in December.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
North Carolina Golf
Sorry folks that I've been remiss at writing anything of late. I've been either hunkered down in Indiana, which most of my readers already know the courses there or in North Carolina where I still have two courses yet to play - Tiger's Eye and River's Edge, both near the south-eastern part of NC near enough to South Carolina that I'll include them in my trip next week to Myrtle Beach area.
BTW - I have a hotel room for one week near Myrtle Beach some if anyone wishes to join me for some really great golf you know how to get a hold of me. I have tee times for me scheduled six days in a row are the best courses in the area.
Now on to Pinehurst and Pine Needles which are the only two places I've played in North Carolina thus far. Pine needles is ranked #43 by Golf Digest while Pinehurst Nos. 2, 4 & 8 are ranked 3, 48 and 55 respectively.
Let me start off by stating if you like water on your golf courses you probably wouldn't like any of these courses because none have very much water at all. In fact, No.2 has water on only two holes if I remember right. Secondly, unless you like pine tree lined fairways, even though there is much fanfare about how great Pinehurst is this wouldn't end up being your favorite golfing vacation.
And the above are my exact feelings. Having been to many great courses already Pinehurst turned out to be a big disappointment to me for several reasons. I will tell you however that the hotel and the rooms are fabulous. I could live there if I could afford it. And the hotel service was impeccable.
On tot the golf courses:
Pinehurst No.2, 4 & 8:
Except for the greens I didn't see anything to get me excited except for the walk up to the 18th green. I have to admit it is a pretty neat feeling walking where so much golf history has been made. The two biggest disappointments were the fairways and the caddie system they have set up.
When I booked the golf package it was made perfectly clear that I would be paying for a caddie on No. 2. It was mandatory. No problem. This is the same way it is on most PGA tier courses. So when I paid for the package (my son was playing with me) I was all excited about my son having his first experience with a caddie. Well, lo and behold, when we go to the course to meet our caddies only one shows up. Yep, Pinehurst has a 'double caddie' policy. I hadn't even heard of such since no other course I've been on has such a policy. There are either forecaddies (one caddie helping all four players map the course) or caddies (one per golfer).
To say the least I was pissed. No one told me about 'our' caddie carrying both of our bags. Later I find out that if I pay a premium I could have separate caddies. Shouldn't that be included in any package that includes No. 2? So the round didn't start off right.
Then once we start playing the fairways look like that hadn't been groomed in weeks. Trust me guys when I tell you that I've played on better fairways on some of the courses in Indy. Shameful for such a course! The fairways on No. 4 and 8 where much better than No. 2.
The bright spot (or treacherous) was the greens. I'm pretty sure there weren't any flat spots on any of the greens, and that includes No. 4. My son's first put on No. 4 went right past the hole and off the green and he's a pretty good putter. but, honestly, loved the challenge of 1) getting the balls to stop on the green and then 2) keeping them on once we got them on. lol It was a blast and the history interned at Pinehurst made the golfing overall worthwhile. But I have no interest in going back again for the type of money you have to pay. there are so many other very, very nice courses.
Pinehurst No.2:
Pinehurst No.4
Pinehurst No. 8:
Pine Needles in Southern Pines was a very nice course and I actually enjoyed playing it about as much as I enjoyed playing No. 8 at Pinehurst, my two favorite courses of the four - although the back 9 on No.4 was pretty spectacular. But again, unless you really enjoy pine tree lined fairways and nothing truly extraordinary then the course isn't anything special. The picture below is of No. 2 at Pine Needles, the prettiest hole on the course.
I will share on gem with you. Before playing any of the above courses and on my way into North Carolina I stopped at Reems Creek Golf Club just North of Asheville, North Carolina. Now this course is worth playing. Reems Creek Golf Course, built in 1989, was designed by Frederick William Hawtree of the acclaimed golf course architecture firm of Hawtree & Sons, located in Woodstock, England. Many of the links style courses in Scotland and England are designed by this firm. I absolutely loved this course. Enjoy the pictures:
BTW - I have a hotel room for one week near Myrtle Beach some if anyone wishes to join me for some really great golf you know how to get a hold of me. I have tee times for me scheduled six days in a row are the best courses in the area.
Now on to Pinehurst and Pine Needles which are the only two places I've played in North Carolina thus far. Pine needles is ranked #43 by Golf Digest while Pinehurst Nos. 2, 4 & 8 are ranked 3, 48 and 55 respectively.
Let me start off by stating if you like water on your golf courses you probably wouldn't like any of these courses because none have very much water at all. In fact, No.2 has water on only two holes if I remember right. Secondly, unless you like pine tree lined fairways, even though there is much fanfare about how great Pinehurst is this wouldn't end up being your favorite golfing vacation.
And the above are my exact feelings. Having been to many great courses already Pinehurst turned out to be a big disappointment to me for several reasons. I will tell you however that the hotel and the rooms are fabulous. I could live there if I could afford it. And the hotel service was impeccable.
On tot the golf courses:
Pinehurst No.2, 4 & 8:
Except for the greens I didn't see anything to get me excited except for the walk up to the 18th green. I have to admit it is a pretty neat feeling walking where so much golf history has been made. The two biggest disappointments were the fairways and the caddie system they have set up.
When I booked the golf package it was made perfectly clear that I would be paying for a caddie on No. 2. It was mandatory. No problem. This is the same way it is on most PGA tier courses. So when I paid for the package (my son was playing with me) I was all excited about my son having his first experience with a caddie. Well, lo and behold, when we go to the course to meet our caddies only one shows up. Yep, Pinehurst has a 'double caddie' policy. I hadn't even heard of such since no other course I've been on has such a policy. There are either forecaddies (one caddie helping all four players map the course) or caddies (one per golfer).
To say the least I was pissed. No one told me about 'our' caddie carrying both of our bags. Later I find out that if I pay a premium I could have separate caddies. Shouldn't that be included in any package that includes No. 2? So the round didn't start off right.
Then once we start playing the fairways look like that hadn't been groomed in weeks. Trust me guys when I tell you that I've played on better fairways on some of the courses in Indy. Shameful for such a course! The fairways on No. 4 and 8 where much better than No. 2.
The bright spot (or treacherous) was the greens. I'm pretty sure there weren't any flat spots on any of the greens, and that includes No. 4. My son's first put on No. 4 went right past the hole and off the green and he's a pretty good putter. but, honestly, loved the challenge of 1) getting the balls to stop on the green and then 2) keeping them on once we got them on. lol It was a blast and the history interned at Pinehurst made the golfing overall worthwhile. But I have no interest in going back again for the type of money you have to pay. there are so many other very, very nice courses.
Pinehurst No.2:
Pinehurst No.4
Pinehurst No. 8:
Pine Needles in Southern Pines was a very nice course and I actually enjoyed playing it about as much as I enjoyed playing No. 8 at Pinehurst, my two favorite courses of the four - although the back 9 on No.4 was pretty spectacular. But again, unless you really enjoy pine tree lined fairways and nothing truly extraordinary then the course isn't anything special. The picture below is of No. 2 at Pine Needles, the prettiest hole on the course.
I will share on gem with you. Before playing any of the above courses and on my way into North Carolina I stopped at Reems Creek Golf Club just North of Asheville, North Carolina. Now this course is worth playing. Reems Creek Golf Course, built in 1989, was designed by Frederick William Hawtree of the acclaimed golf course architecture firm of Hawtree & Sons, located in Woodstock, England. Many of the links style courses in Scotland and England are designed by this firm. I absolutely loved this course. Enjoy the pictures:
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