Pinehurst's newest outpost is set to take its next big step forward.
America's grande-dame 130-year old resort in the North Carolina Sandhills announced this morning that a brand-new golf course, Pinehurst No. 11, will begin construction this year at its satellite Sandmines property in the town of Aberdeen, five miles south of the resort's main campus. Set beside Tom Doak's Pinehurst No. 10, the new 18-hole course will be laid out by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and is expected to open for play in the fall of 2027.
Coore & Crenshaw have long-standing ties to Pinehurst. Their 2010 restoration of Donald Ross' masterpiece, Pinehurst No. 2, kicked off a 21st-century golf design renaissance for the resort. By stripping away acres of dense Bermuda rough that had proliferated within the pine-lined corridors and reintroducing the naturally sandy, scrubby native landscape, they reset both the original aesthetic and playing characteristics of the course, a philosophical change that has reverberated throughout the resort.
That same respect for Pinehurst's unique natural gifts abides in the significant renovations of Pinehurst No. 3, Pinehurst No. 4 and Pinehurst No. 8, as well as the construction of The Cradle short course and Doak's Pinehurst No. 10. Other enhancements resort-wide have included full-on renovations of the historic Carolina Hotel, the establishment of the Pinehurst Brewing Company restaurant and much more. The USGA opened a headquarters on resort property in 2024 and has designated Pinehurst No. 2 an "anchor site" for the U.S. Open Championship. More than ever, Pinehurst is an American golf institution.
The 900-acre Sandmines property strikes a contrast to the sprawling site that houses courses 1 through 5, The Cradle and the main clubhouse. True to its name, it was used for mining in the 1930s, and the changes wrought on the terrain as a result give it a uniquely rugged look while still being unmistakably part of the Sandhills. Whereas No. 10 climbs some of the largest hills tackled by any Pinehurst course, No. 11 will sit on quieter, rippling terrain. Parts of the section of the property where Coore & Crenshaw will build were once home to a golf course called The Pit, which went defunct in the early 2000s.
“It’s this choppy, ridgey ground,” said Coore. “It’s not as much elevation change, but it’s so quirky with the ridges and the piles and the trees and the angles. This is going to be so intimate in scale. You’re winding your way through trees and over old piles and across ridges. We’re far, far from the sea, but we have these contours and features and landforms that remind you of spots in Ireland or Scotland. And yet here it is, in Pinehurst.”
The Sandmines property will open its clubhouse this June, and plans to add lodging are underway as well.
More golf course news and notes
NEW 6-HOLE COURSE - The recently-formed design firm of Smyers Craig & Coyne (Steve Smyers, Colton Craig, Tom Coyne) announced the opening of Graves Golf Club, a six-hole loop on property owned by top instructor Todd Graves, in Edmond, Okla. [LINK: Golf Course Industry]
HISTORIC REOPENING - Iowa's Rock Island Arsenal Golf Course, which dates to 1896 and closed seemingly for good in 2018, will reopen nine holes April 26. [LINK: U.S. Army]
WRONG TYPE OF HOLES - Evergreen Golf Course, a long-running facility near Lancaster, Penn., will close permanently April 30 after numerous sinkholes have opened up across the property throughout its 60 years of operations. [LINK: WGAL News]
FIRST ORIGINAL GREEN - Andrew Green, who has garnered acclaim for his renovations of classic courses, is building a new-from-scratch course outside of Greenville, S.C., called Kawonu Golf Club. Construction is underway. [LINK: Golf Course Architecture]
GOLF-ADJACENT - After years of anticipation, Vero Beach's Sandridge Golf Club, my local golf facility, will be building a brand-new clubhouse. [LINK: TCPalm]
