PIne Needles Condition

[1988NDfan]

New to the board, so I appreciate any input.

Our group will be in town next week for our annual Pinehurst Trip. We are scheduled to play Pine Needles, and I noticed it has gotten a couple of bad reviews recently regarding course conditions (especially fairways). I realize all reviews are not accurate, so I'm reaching out here to find out if anyone has played there in the past week or so, and find out their thoughts on course conditions.

We have played Pine Needles the past two years, and I really can't imagine it being in bad shape.

 

thanks

[tacrispy]

I am not sure about within the last month but we played it the last day of may and it was a 10/10 in conditions. Absolutely perfect. It was the week right after the US Sr Women's Open.

[1988NDfan]

Thanks. Probably someone that was angry after a round, leaving a bad review.

Maybe others will chime in with a recent review.

[chris42084]

Going there this weekend...I know they aerated the greens a few weeks ago so I’m hoping they are back. If someone knows please chim in. I’ll report back with conditions from the weekend. Also playing mid pines and Tobacco Road.

[allparz]

All the area resort courses that overseed their fairways with rye will struggle in May/Early June --- i.e. Killing the Rye and then getting the fairways healthy takes a little time, also the rye steals nutrients from the soil. But Bermuda grass is miracle grass and should be healthy in July (needs night temps above ~60)

 

We played Dormie two weeks ago and it's fairways were pretty good, not great....

 

Also played Legacy and Talamore who had punched their greens around 6/29 - played a few days later and they were OK (They discounted the Rates to $25/Legacy and $39/Talamore)

[1988NDfan]

Thanks Chris. Would love to hear what you think after your trip.

I understand the Bermuda does suffer some till the rye dies out. Hopefully things are improving every day.

[chris42084]

Our schedule is Pine needles tomorrow, mid pines Saturday, and Tobacco Road Sunday. I’m from Virginia Beach area and our club has Bermuda fairways and bent greens. The fairways are like carpet right now and greens are almost back from aeration (bent takes a little while in our area). It’s been super hot here also which has helped the Bermuda but made the bent a little slower to come back I believe.

[mlecs03]

Playing Pine Needles Sunday, Tobacco Road Monday & Mid Pines Tuesday. Hoping the courses are looking and playing great post aeration

[golfheaven69]

Don’t expect good bermuda putting condition for at least four weeks after aeration unless small hole are utilized. July is normally not a good time to play bermuda greens in N.C.

[chris42084]

Played pine needles today...the greens weren’t bad. I know they aren’t prime condition yet but you couldn’t see any holes but there still was some sand on them. They rolled pretty true. Overall the course was in good shape I thought. I’ve never played it during the fall or spring to be able to compare to those conditions. Mid pines is tomorrow

[1988NDfan]

Thanks for taking time to comment during your trip. Glad to hear that Pine Needles is in good shape. My main concern was the fairways from some of the comments I had read. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. Would like to hear about the rest of your trip when you return.

We are also playing Tobacco Road and Pine Wild. We switched out Mid Pines for Pine Needles because Mid Pines had gotten a bad report on fairways (Then we read the same type of reviews about Pine Needles fairways :# ). So it will be interesting to hear your thoughts.

[chris42084]

Just got done playing Mid Pines. Fairways were terrible as reported. Very disappointing because the layout is great...greens were really good though. Fairways were better at pine needles for sure. We are staying next to pinehurst resort and truthfully those courses look in much better shape than both pine needles and mid pines. I asked one of the cart guys about the fairways and he really didn’t have a good answer other than the heat and something with overseeding that must have gone wrong. I hope Tobacco Road is in better shape tomorrow.

[golfgoob]

Z,×-$

[hangontight]

> @chris42084 said:

> Just got done playing Mid Pines. Fairways were terrible as reported. Very disappointing because the layout is great...greens were really good though. Fairways were better at pine needles for sure. We are staying next to pinehurst resort and truthfully those courses look in much better shape than both pine needles and mid pines. I asked one of the cart guys about the fairways and he really didn’t have a good answer other than the heat and something with overseeding that must have gone wrong. I hope Tobacco Road is in better shape tomorrow.

 

Curious- were the fairways baked out - hard and fast or wet and sloppy? Son playing a tournament there in 10 days- trying to figure out what to expect?

[chris42084]

There just wasn’t a lot of grass in a lot of spots. I wish I had taken pictures. Some were better than others but I wouldn’t say any of the fairways were in the condition they should be right now. They kept it cart path only, but it wasn’t that wet though. I think they are trying to do whatever they can to get them to grow back.

[1988NDfan]

Were the Pine Needles fairway in a lot better shape than Mid Pines.

 

Last year they were perfect at the end of July.

 

I think the Rye overseeding can effect the Bermuda from growing in sometimes .

[chris42084]

I would say a lot better, but that says more about how bad mid pines were. Yes it looked like that’s what happened because this time of year Bermuda grows like crazy in the heat. The rye had to have a big effect on it because it doesn’t make sense.

[chris42084]

 

This is the best I could get for a picture from what my cousin had. This was a video where I tried to stop it where you could see some of the fairway. If you look up ahead you can see a big bare spot right in the middle of the fairway. This is what most looked liked at mid pines.

[hangontight]

> @chris42084 said:

>

>

> This is the best I could get for a picture from what my cousin had. This was a video where I tried to stop it where you could see some of the fairway. If you look up ahead you can see a big bare spot right in the middle of the fairway. This is what most looked liked at mid pines.

 

@chris42084, thank you for replying. How about the greens at Mid Pines. How quick would you describe them?

 

[chris42084]

Greens were really good maybe 10ish on the stimp but obviously if you get some downhill down grain they were really fast. Couldn’t tell they were aerated only a couple weeks ago.

 

Played Tobacco Road today and it was by far in the best shape out of the 3. If you play there you won’t be disappointed by the condition of the course.

[1988NDfan]

Chris. Thanks for all the updates.

[therealsneek]

I was in Pinehurst last weekend as well. Played Mid Pines, Dormie Club, and Tobacco Road.

 

Can confirm that Mid Pines is having trouble growing grass in some of the fairways. Still enjoyed the round because the routing is so great and the greens are in good shape coming out of aeration.

 

Dormie was in phenomenal shape. Tees, fairways, and greens were all A+. They are in the middle of a million dollar bunker renovation so it was a free drop out of the bunkers that haven't been completed yet. Luckily I only hit it in one of these so it did not affect play very much. A cool note is that they are mining their own sand on site for this work to help keep costs down. That just shows how expensive bunker maintenance is.

 

Tobacco Road was also in very good shape (aside from a couple of tee boxes). Would definitely recommend.