Pinehurst Golf Tip

Hoping someone can shed some light on how likely it is to get tee times on a Pinehurst course without staying on the resort.

We are renting an AirBnb on one of the courses, but it doesn't come with any booking privileges.

We will have 8 guys (so I know this will make it harder), but curious to see what luck people have had.

We are going towards the end of March, so not "peak season" but not "off season"

We also have the following courses booked, so if you have any feedback on these it would be appreciated! (It is already tough to get morning tee times 2 months out! crazy)

Legacy Golf Links

Mid Pines Golf Club

Pine Needles Golf Club

Tobacco Road

In general gonna be pretty tough. less so for the non-premium courses but overall tough especially if you want back to back foursomes. April is pretty much peak weather time for the area

Dormie Club.

But might be a tough on without using a company like Tobacco Road Travel.

No longer public

It can be booked through certain golf travel companies though.

Trying to get a group of 8 on number 2 and 4 would be pretty difficult.

All 4 courses you have booked are gems. I’d throw in Tallamore and Pinewild as well if you can’t get on Pinehurst

We added Long Leaf too. Anyone play here?

I'm not a big fan of Long Leaf, although I've only played it once. I just didn't think the routing was special, and the Dan Maples "potato chip" shaped greens are often similar from one hole to the next. You'd be better off next door at Talamore. Another one to look at, usually at very reasonable price, is the Southern Pines Golf Club, a Donald Ross layout.

Although this doesn't answer your question, I will be doing the same thing about 2 weeks before you. I am staying at an AirBnB the 2nd week of March. I've got all of my golf booked for that week except for #2. The only advantage I have over you is, I am a single. So, i've left 2 days open hoping that I can get on PH#2 one of those two days. Fingers crossed.

Good Luck! you'll have to report back and let me know what luck you had

Played there twice last year. Their claim to fame is that they were purchased by the same group that owns US Kids Golf (specific details may be off). Anyway they have several sets of tees marked colors, “if you drive the ball 200 yards play the purple tees.... blah, blah”. Decent course, nice range, many holes surrounded by houses. Wouldn’t go out of my way to play it but it’s fine to play there.

Love Mid Pines

If you can get on Dormie do it over Legacy, if you cant I would think of playing Mid South over Legacy but that is just my personal opinion.

Golf Courses | Tobacco Road Golf and Travel | Sanford, NC

Posted this on another NC thread, but you can book Dormie through them. It aint private yet.

Another vote for Southern Pines GC.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Seems that Dormie is private now, and we didn't go with a travel group and booked all our tee times individually.

It's also incredibly hard to get decent times in the morning. Playing most of the courses in the afternoons, which is fine, but places like Southern Pines didn't have available times in the morning and we had already booked the "must plays" (Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Tobacco Rd., etc. )

Long Leaf had Saturday AM times available, so it played the deciding factor.

We just couldn't justify the outrageous price of staying on property at Pinehurst. (Would have likely been around 3x the cost to what we are paying)

Longleaf is definitely the weakest course in your lineup and it's not close. I didn't really care for it, especially the wide open nine along Midland Road. That said, if you aren't expecting #2 you can certainly have an enjoyable time playing it.

As for the rest, Mid Pines and Pine Needles are flat out great. Tobacco Road is the most love-it-or-hate-it course you'll ever play (personally, I like it a great deal). Legacy is a very solid track.

Probably going again myself in early April, it's a great time of year to visit.

Some recommendations....You're off to a great start with the ones you have....

#2 and #4 if you could get on, would cost $350/ea, SO Save your money and play 36 a day at places like...

The Cradle at Pinehurst (for $35 play all day - really fun par 3, great fun with a gambling group)

Southern Pines GC (While you can - at some point will be folded into Mid-Pines/Pine Needles Donald Ross restoration) (And SP's is in very good condition - Greens good/fast and over-seeded fairways)

Foxfire - Grey is much better layout than Red

Deercroft is a good track but maybe 12 miles out of town.

Whispering Pines (Pines course) - really good track and quite the test from the back

Talamore and MidSouth are pretty good

Avoid - Longleaf - odd layout

Thanks for the info. Only reason we have Long Leaf booked is they were the only course with a morning tee time on Friday (Seem to know why now)

Have you played Southern Pines recently? Playing there as a filler course next weekend and we have a few guys on the fence.

I played SP last May (is that recently?). Fun layout. Not the best conditions, but a solid filler course, especially for the price.

I know Southern Pines has varied a bit in conditioning over the last few years. There are some good reports in the Golf Club Atlas website from guys who played there In January.

Played at Southern Pines 2 weeks ago - was very good - Greens running fast (which really makes that place interesting)

Fairways are over-seeded, we don't play it down this time of year - so as long as you play it up all good - but it looks good with the over-seed.

Wet in some spots but it has rained and is understandable....

You should check out "The Cradle." It is $50 for unlimited replays. My buddies and I spent a whole day out there and played the 9 hole course about 8 times. One of the best experiences.

What about Whispering Woods?

This sounds great but my brother did this last fall - and they went there on a day where the tee times were packed. So they had to wait a few hours to get back on and only got back on right before dark. So if you get lucky and go on a day when no one is playing, that works out. But the more popular and more press it gets, I really wonder how many more days people will be able to play it 8 times.

Whispering Pines, maybe?

I played one of the courses there a few years ago, its fine,but nothing special. The cost is pretty low, and I'd say its about worth the cost. I don't mean that as an insult, if you're looking for a lower-priced course, this would be a reasonable choice.

You make a good point. We were in Pinehurst during the middle of August when things tend to be slow because of the heat.

I booked Talamore to replace Long Leaf.. hopefully a good idea.

It's a step up in quality of design (my opinion), and almost certainly a big step up in conditioning of the course (much less opinion based). Remember, stay out of the deep sod-faced bunkers!

Talamore is a MUCH better option then Long leaf. I still think the best bang for the buck is Mid South. It's too bad about Dormie, that course is one of my favorites down there. If you decide to play #2 plan on spending $395, if you play #4 it's $350. I go down every year and have played them all. If you have any questions, I know #davep043 is also knowledgable as well, he too is down there every year. In the future, if you look at going back, I would recommend going through Talamore resorts. The condo's are great, you get breakfast and the ability to play almost any course (Dormie, however you would have to book #2 or #4 on your own). All this being said...you will still have an AMAZING time! Enjoy.