Course of the Week: Pinehurst announces opening day for its first original course in nearly 30 years

Pinehurst Resort announced the opening date for its No. 10 course — a Tom Doak design. Set to open on April 3, 2024, No. 10 is the first original golf course the club has unveiled in nearly 30 years.

(Photo: Matt Gibson/Pinehurst Resort)

Construction of the course began in January 2023 with construction set to be complete just a few months before Pinehurst hosts the U.S. Open for the fourth time on its No. 2 course.

“Pinehurst Resort has been fortunate to be hailed as the Cradle of American Golf, and we’re grateful for all of the major championships and historic moments that have come before,” said Bob Dedman, Jr., CEO at Pinehurst Resort. “We’re delighted to have a date to begin presenting this incredible design by Tom Doak to our guests. April 3 will not only be another great day in Pinehurst’s history but for our future as well.”

(Photo: Matt Gibson/Pinehurst Resort)

While No. 10 is Pinehurst’s first new course in nearly three decades, it’s been centuries in the making. The landscape underlying Doak’s newest design features all that is natural to golf in the North Carolina Sandhills, including native wiregrass, extensive sandscape, towering longleaf pines and rolling hills.

(Photo: Matt Gibson/Pinehurst Resort)

Midway through the course, there are rugged dunes carved out by mining operations around the turn of the 20th century. The result is a 75-foot elevation change.

“No. 10 starts out fairly gentle, then it starts going into the old quarry works where it gets downright crazy for a little bit, then the course gets up on the hill and there’s a beautiful, sweeping view,” Doak says. “All of the holes coming in are challenging, even when you move down into the gentler terrain. It’s a dramatic golf course; more than I originally thought.”

Established in 1895 in the Sandhills of North Carolina, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club is a 2,200-acre property featuring nine golf courses, The Cradle nine-hole par-3 short course, 75,000 square-foot putting course (Thistle Dhu) and more.