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I had spoken to a few people who had played Tobacco Road and everyone said it is a love it or hate it course.  Well, I’m here to say it is a LOVE IT course.  I had designs on walking it until I pulled into the parking lot.  It is quite hilly and there are a few long treks between holes.  I took a cart. After checking in and hitting a few range balls, I went to the first tee and found the rest of my foursome. 

All were a pleasure to play with.  3 of us played the plow (white) tees. The fourth played from disc (blue) tees.  He had played Tobacco Road before and hit a long, high ball.  This being my first time, I was sticking with the plows.

I should also note that Tobacco Road did not have the dormant Bermuda straw color, but was green due to over-seeding the fairways.

If you have ever played Tobacco Road on a simulator, the first hole looks exactly the same.  It is a par 5 with looming mounds on either side of the fairway.   

If you hit a good drive, they are easy enough to carry with plenty of room on the right side, which I found out after going that way.

I played a 9i over the mound on the right that put me in the fairway.  Again, there are two more mounds with a narrow passage that gives you a view of the green.  

I hit 8i hoping the ball would hit and roll on.  Maybe in drier conditions that would have happened, but I was a bit short. 

Chip on and two putt for the bogey.

A view of the tee shot from the 2nd hole…

…and a view of the approach into the 2nd green…

And another angle showing the danger that awaits…

The 4th hole is a shorter par 5 with a tee shot out of a wide shoot to a generous fairway.

I hit my drive about 230, which left me about 195 to the pin with a green guarded by a sand/clay waste area with a stairway leading up to the green.  

I opted to aim at the tree just to the right of the green and I flushed a 7w.  The ball came down right where I wanted it and I turned to put my club back in the bag. 

Behind me there was a construction crew laying asphalt for an updated cart path. One of them started clapping and said nice shot.  I said thanks but he said, no, turn around. 

Apparently, where I hit my ball feeds down to the green. My ball ended up rolling down about 15 ft from the pin. 

I had dreams of an eagle, but just missed my putt and made birdie.

A view of the par 3 6th hole. Made birdie here.

We’ll skip to the par 5 13th hole.  The tee shot gives you choices.  You could play it safe with a 3w to the open fairway that awaits…

…OR hit driver over the first set of trees on the right side, which I did.  Unfortunately, it was too good of a drive and leaked into the waste area beyond the narrow fairway. My ball was sitting on packed clay with no shot to the green, so I hit a 9i to the fairway which left me with this shot…

You can see the flag on the left side of the picture.  It was 115 yds to the pin.  The person that had played there before said the green tends to run right to left towards the flag.  Again the three quarter 9i which hit just over the top of the berm even with the small tree in the center and kicked left.  This is what awaited me…

To fully appreciate what you are hitting into, I took a 360 video of the green…

After entering my score from the 16th hole in my app, I realized I had a chance to break 80. I needed a combination of birdie-par on the past two holes. 

The 17th hole is a short par 3 with plenty of sand/clay in front and a marshy area in back.  

The range finder indicated 115 to the pin, playing 105 from an elevated tee. I decided right away that it was a three quarter PW.  Here was the result…

My ball hit the front of the green and settled about 6 feet from the pin and made the birdie putt.

The 18th hole is a par 4 with a blind shot over a sand/clay hump with trees guarding each side. The trees should not come into play if you drive it with a normal trajectory…

The wind was in the face a bit. I hit a drive about 215 to the right side of the fairway. It left me about 138 from the pin with the green guarded in front by large mounds on either side.

I hit an 8i that made the front of the green with about a 20 ft putt.  Missed the birdie opportunity but made the par putt for 79.  I have to say, this totally made up for my disappointment on Pinehurst #2. And to think I was considering switching from Tobacco Road to another Pinehurst Course!

Pinehurst No. 2 is definitely a pressure filled test of your golfing skills which I think every golfer can appreciate. But Tobacco Road was just extremely fun to play and the greens were in excellent condition. 

There is another Mike Strantz course nearby called Tot Hill Farm that is in the final stages of restoration.  One of my playing partners played it the day before and said make sure to play it when/if you come back.

All in all, this was an excellent golf excursion, either for couples or for a guys trip.  And this was just the tip of the iceberg.  Southern Pines, Pine Needles and Mid Pines are all within a four mile radius of the Pinehust Resort and are supposedly excellent courses.  If you ever get the chance to go to Pinehurst, do not pass it up!