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I recently visited Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in North Carolina, also known as, the “Cradle of American Golf.” 

It was a long-planned golf trip for my son Adam and I.

The resort reservation intake is very well organized. I sent them an inquiry email and received a call on the next late Saturday morning.  Sitting at my desk working on a cold, rainy Saturday, the call could not have been better timed.

The reservation sales coordinator, Bobby, had answers to questions I did not think to ask. Pinehurst is close by via plane and I was set on getting a direct flight from TF Green – the Best Small Airport in America.

Breeze Airways flies directly to Raleigh Durham airport which is the closest airport to Pinehurst.

With great ease, Bobby helped create an itinerary where we could play 5 courses in 5 days – including both days of travel.

The golf agenda was;

Thursday – No 7 Course

Friday – No 8 Course

Saturday – No 2 Course

Sunday – No 10 Course (their newest course)

Monday – No 4 Course.

The original courses were designed by world renown golf architect Donald Ross, who had a home on his Pinehurst masterpiece, Course No 2.

Pinehurst No 2 has hosted the 1936, 1999, 2005, 2014 and 2024 US Open.

We left TF Green early Thursday morning with a 1:40 PM tee time on No 7. The published flying time from Rhode Island to Raleigh Durham is grossly exaggerated and we were there in virtually no time.

We flew Breeze Airways, who thanked us for choosing them, except the only reason we chose them is they were flying to the place we wanted to go and at about the time that we wanted to go for, and about the price that we wanted to pay.

Upon landing, we received a text from the Pinehurst subcontractor shuttle. Since the pickup location was recently changed and no one knew, it took a while to find him.  Once we did, we were on our way to Pinehurst.

We chose the Donald Ross Package, which included four nights at the Carolina Hotel, five rounds of golf and breakfast and dinner. The price before caddy fees, tips, alcohol, transportation, course surcharges for Course No. 2 ($250) and Course No. 10 ($150) was about $5,000 per person.

After an hour drive from the airport, we arrived at the Carolina Hotel. The staff is extremely friendly, well trained and attentive. 

They took our luggage as we checked in, but separated our golf clubs.  A very nice touch is that every player has a bag tag with your name and itinerary.  Therefore, your clubs are shipped ahead of you to each course and are waiting for you.

We checked into our rooms, grabbed lunch and took the shuttle to Course No. 7.  There is no need to rent a car at Pinehurst as there are always plentiful shuttles wherever you need to be.

We arrived at No. 7 and were warmly greeted. We made our way to the range and as hard as I tried to find my swing, I had mixed results.

Due to the time of year, every course practice facility had mats vs. turf, and I really disliked that, but understood the rationale.

The courses are very busy, and we never went out as a twosome, which is understandable.  We met another father and son ~ Chris and Owen from Upstate New York.  

We all hit good tee shots, but Adam hit one 295 yards and then proceeded to hit a 237-yard 7 wood to three feet for an eagle. I was in for a long week of competition!

Chris and Owen were super nice, but were oblivious that they were in a foursome and not a twosome. 

There were many times that they were in our line, or on the green as we trying to hit our approach shots.  I asked the caddy a few times to assist in this issue, but he did not.

I never want to hit anyone and since the other group thought “etiquette” was a small town in France, I picked up a few times and called it a non-round.

We went back to the hotel, got ready for a great dinner.  The first four dinners were great – the last night at Pl8tle (not a typo) was mediocre.

The next day was the Pinehurst pinnacle ~ No 2.

No. 2 is considered the best course at Pinehurst and is in the U.S. Open rotation.

We had an early tee time at 7:50 AM and met another father-son – John and John Jr.  Two of the nicest people we could have played with, and we had a great time.  On No 2, all the greens are raised.

if you remember, Martin Kaymer won the US Open there in 2014 and never chipped once ~ always putting off the greens. I putted every shot off the green and had a good day.

Another day of golf then another great dinner.

The next day was No 8.  It was not a great. The temperature was very cold, and it took me quite a few holes to warm up. 

Adam and I had a good round, but the course is unremarkable.

Another day of golf, another fantastic dinner.

The next day we played No. 10, the Resort’s newest course (they are currently building No. 11).

Number 10 was ranked by Sports Illustrated as the best new course of 2025.

Number 10 is unique as it is walking only and a very long walk. 

The course is spectacular, it plays extremely long, but with very wide fairways.  

It says to me ~ “dear golf course designer, you have unlimited land and unlimited options – build the course that you have dreamt of.”  

I think that they could have built this course on 10% of the land that they used.

On the last golf day, I did a golf audible and regretted it.  We decided to play No 2 again and skip No 4.  That was a huge mistake as even though we teed off early in the morning, the round was 5 ½ hours plus. 

It was very unfair and much to the credit of the Resort, they refunded the $500 Course surcharge.

As I recall the trip, the most striking feature of it was the hotel rooms: very large, very clean, large bathrooms and showers, great TV and super fast internet.

The trip was great time spent with my son Adam, but the jury is out if we will return to Pinehurst.

Even though the staff was nice, there was an uncomfortable underlying tone that guests should be super grateful to be here – a tone I never felt at another top end golf resort / golf course. 

We dealt with some service issues that surprised us, but it was nice to scratch Pinehurst off our bucket list.