[Mark Saltzman]

Pinehurst No. 2
Pinehurst, North Carolina, United States

Architects: Donald Ross (1907); Jack Nicklaus (1986); Rees Jones (1997); Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw [Restoration] (2011)




Scorecard Information




The Routing - NB: this is pre-restoration




All Yardages and Photos from Blue Tees unless otherwise indicated.

Hole 1: Par 4, 391 Yards

2008 Aerial:




2011 Aerial:



To anyone that has played Pinehurst No. 2 prior to the restoration, it is amazing to see the transformation.  The tee shot at the first was previously one that required little thought, but a very accurate tee ball to find the strip of fairway guarded by rough on each side.

The tee shot at 1st is now very much a gentle handshake, with lots of width.  Firm and fast conditioning means that less than driver off the 1st tee is a reasonable option even for the shorter-hitter.






The view from a tee shot that lays back from all of the natural area down the left (about 150 yards out).  From here one gets their first good look at the natural area, which seamlessly meshes with the fairway.  No rough here to slow down an errant shot before it finds the native.




As the golfer gets nearer the 1st green, the width of the DZ becomes narrower.  Few golfers will choose to drive the ball past this location (120 yards from the green), which would require the golfer challenge the natural area on both sides.




Only the brave or the stupid will drive to this point just steps from the natural area and 70 yards from the putting surface.




A first look at one of the famed turtlebacked (reverse-saucer) greens at Pinehurst no. 2.  While the tee shot may have been simple, hitting the green is not.  A green that lays at a diagonal to the fairway, with a false-front and two-edges that bleed into green-side bunkering.  While the green side bunkers look like bad spots to be, missing long or right and having to play down the slope of the green, is much worse.






Shots missed long or right will find these collection areas.  Recovery from here is near impossible and chipping off the front or side of the green is just as like as having the ball return to one's feet.  So much for a gentle handshake.

Green from right:






Green from 2nd Tee:

[Adam Clayman]

A nice opening hole, with enough subtle movement to elicit different opinions on how to play the tee shot. At least that was my observation from hearing both the starter and the caddies view. Which were different my own.

[Alex Miller]

I will be playing here in June. Looking forward to this tour!

[Mark Saltzman]

A nice opening hole, with enough subtle movement to elicit different opinions on how to play the tee shot. At least that was my observation from hearing both the starter and the caddies view. Which were different my own.

And what was your opinion, Mr Clayman?

For mine, I think this is an exceptional golf hole. 

Ross traps the left, just begging the golfer to take the safe route down the right, but the approach from there is so darned hard.

And then the green is guarded by a deep bunker on the less, again begging the golfer to miss right.  But the recovery from the fairway area right of the green is many times more difficult than recovering from the bunker, which plays into the slope of the green.

Such simple strategic design, but it is so effective.

[Dan_Callahan]

Is it just me, or does that hole look super easy? Not complaining, but at only 391 yards with wide fairway and not a whole lot of trouble around the green, it doesn't look like it matters what the strategy is. Should be a hybrid and a wedge, right?

[Bruce Wellmon]

Is it just me, or does that hole look super easy?

Look and play are 2 different things.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Nice work
Why didn't you list all the architects who have worked on #2?
Cheers

[Jud_T]

I recall really liking that green.  It's a bit of a wake-up call for what is at first glance a seemingly innocuous opener.

Mark, thank god for digital photography.  Imagine if you had to buy, load and develop film for all the shots you've taken in the past year!

[Matthew Petersen]

Is it just me, or does that hole look super easy? Not complaining, but at only 391 yards with wide fairway and not a whole lot of trouble around the green, it doesn't look like it matters what the strategy is. Should be a hybrid and a wedge, right?

And that's #2 for you.

Not many holes there that look hard. Doesn't mean they aren't.

[Mark Ringsmuth]

This hole appears easy off the tee because of the amount of space in the fairway. The alignment of the green and its shape create a challenging approach. I believe that it is a good hole because the player is eased into the round and it foreshadows what lies ahead; a course that is easy to find the fairway off the tee, but places a premium on location because the course's defense is at the greens.

[Ronald Montesano]

Save him the trouble, Mike. List them if you know them.

[rjsimper]

The hole is really easy....if golf is a game of hitting fairways and then hitting it on or near the green in regulation.

There are few challenging tee shots at Pinehurst #2, but the 1st green is one of the more difficult on the course to hold.

[Mark Ringsmuth]

Ryan,

I'm confused.  You say the hole is really easy, but the green is one of the most difficult one the course. Are you saying the course is really easy or you being sarcastic?

[Alex Miller]

Ryan,

I'm confused.  You say the hole is really easy, but the green is one of the most difficult one the course. Are you saying the course is really easy or you being sarcastic?

Read what he said again. Ryan is saying there's a whole lot more to golf than hitting a fairway and then hitting on or near the green.

[Mac Plumart]

My favorite opener in golf.  The perfect way to start a round. 

[Mac Plumart]

Is it just me, or does that hole look super easy? Not complaining, but at only 391 yards with wide fairway and not a whole lot of trouble around the green, it doesn't look like it matters what the strategy is. Should be a hybrid and a wedge, right?

And that's #2 for you.

Not many holes there that look hard. Doesn't mean they aren't.

Yep!

[Mark Ringsmuth]

Alex,

I read the post several times. Some people might believe that #2 is easy because golf is only about hitting fairways and greens and that is easy to do at Pinehurst.  But, the ellipsis was a hint at sarcasm.  Sarcasm can be difficult to detect in the wrtten word so I asked Ryan to clarify, instead of acting like an ass#%&@. I guess asking a question means i deserve the condescension.

[Alex Miller]

Alex,

I read the post several times. Some people might believe that #2 is easy because golf is only about hitting fairways and greens and that is easy to do at Pinehurst.  But, the ellipsis was a hint at sarcasm.  Sarcasm can be difficult to detect in the wrtten word so I asked Ryan to clarify, instead of acting like an ass#%&@. I guess asking a question means i deserve the condescension.

Mark,

No disrespect was meant. Ryan's earlier statement that the hole is easy had a proviso: "if golf is a game of hitting fairways and hitting the green in regulation". I didn't read it as sarcastic, but rather as an allusion to the difficulty of the hole being in the putting surface and surrounds. I often use ellipsis to convey a pause in speech or the incompletion of a thought, and that's how I interpreted it in this case. There are an infinite number of differing opinions on this site, both in literature and golf course architecture, and I was merely sharing mine.

[rjsimper]

All that was meant was that it "appears" easy and would be such if the object of the game was to navigate the hole from tee to the general vicinity of the green.

One of the most frustrating things as a golfer is making bogey (or worse) with a sand wedge in your hand from the center of the fairway when you hit a good but not perfect shot. I can't think of many courses where that happens more often than Pinehurst. It can conceivably happen at 1, 3, 8, 12, and 13 without really doing anything wrong.

Is the first hole one of the harder holes on the course? No I'd say it's in the easier third. But it's no cakewalk, despite what it looks like. But hitting the fairway has very little bearing on the score you ultimately make.

My first play of Pinehurst #2, I split the first fairway and hit what I thought was a perfect SW that stuck about 10 feet from the hole...handed my wedge to my caddie as the ball rolled back off the front of the green. 2nd hole I hit a perfect 9i from the fairway and it landed pin high...and bounced slightly long, rolled down the hill and way off the back. 2 straight bogeys having hit 4 long shots that I felt were perfect.

[William_G]

IMO it is easier with the natural sand areas restored instead of the wall to wall bermuda.....and that goes for the whole course...more fun!!!

Great pics and topic!!

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 2: Par 4, 438 Yards

2008 Aerial:




2011 Aerial:




Another fairly wide tee shot for those willing to lay-back off the tee.  The duo of bunkers down the left side protect the ideal line into the green, but can serve as aiming bunkers if the golfer is willing to leave a 200-yard approach. It is 235 to reach the first bunker and 265 to get past the second bunker.

Golfers wanting to leave a shorter approach will want to challenge the right side, but flashing in the waste area makes it very difficult to gauge the line on which fairway ends and natural area begins.






While the approach from the right may be shorter, it is clearly the more difficult angle.  From here the approach must carry the natural area that juts in front of the green...




As the approach is played from farther left, the golfer need not carry the natural area on the second shot...




And the approach is played to a green that lays head-on, rather than on a 45 degree angle to the fairway...





While the green has the P2 trademark turtleback, this one is made even more difficult because of large humps on its left and right edges:




The green from behind:






Lots of fairway grass around this green... shots missing the green can travel a long way before coming to a stop!

[Mike Nuzzo]

Save him the trouble, Mike. List them if you know them.

I wasn't asking him to name them, I asked why he didn't.

[Mark Ringsmuth]

Alex,

No problem.

Ryan,

You are exactly right. I had a number of shots land in good locations on the green and watched them roll right off.  Yet, I never felt frustrated by the course. I believed that I could recover from almost every error or miss, especially since I wasn't forced to chop out of deep rough around each green with a wedge. I was able to choose a different shot (putt, chip, pitch, flop) depending on pin placement, ball location and my skill set on almost every hole.  Instead of feeling demoralized if I couldn't execute one shot repeatedly, I tried something else.   

By the way, great thread Mark.

[Mark Saltzman]

Save him the trouble, Mike. List them if you know them.

I wasn't asking him to name them, I asked why he didn't.

Mike, forgive my ignorance, but who are the other architects?

I believe Nicklaus did some work in the 80s and Rees Jones in the 90s, but my understanding of what is currently on the ground is Ross' work, restored by Coore & Crenshaw.

[Chris Buie]

From the Tufts Archives

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