Pinehurst No.2 Golf Course

1 Carolina Vista Drive,

Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina NC 28374

  • Office

    +1 (855) 235 8507
  • Pro shop

    +1 (910) 235 8141
  • Fax

    +1 (910) 255 3360
  • Golf pro

    Eric Alpenfels (Head Academy Instructor)
  • Academy

    Pinehurst Golf Academy

About the course

  • The Course:

    18 holes. Inland sandhills course. Relatively flat terrain - easy to walk.

  • Surroundings:

    Woodland and other Pinehurst golf courses

  • Designer:

    Original design by Donald Ross (1907), with subsequent modifications by Robert Trent Jones Sr (1974), Rees Jones (1998) and Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (2010).

Back
tees
Club
tees
Front
tees
Yards
7588
6307
5257
Par
72
72
72
SSS or slope
76.5
70.7
70.0

At the same location:

Fanning out from Pinehurst Resort's impressive clubhouse, are five of the Resort's ten 18-hole golf courses: No.1 course (par-70, 6089 yds from back tees); No.2 course (U.S. Open venue, par-72, 7588 yds); No.3 course (par-70, 5722 yds); No.4 course (par-72, 7117 yds); No.5 course (par-72, 6848 yds). Also adjacent to the clubhouse is the 9-hole Cradle course (par-27, 789 yds, designed by Gil Hanse) and 18-hole Thistle Dhu putting course.

Located within two miles of this central clubhouse, and separate from each other, are four more Pinehurst Resort courses: No.6 course (par-72, 7053 yds); No.7 course (par-72, 7216 yds); No.8 course (Centennial, par-72, 7092 yds) and No.9 course (formerly National GC, par-72, 7118 yds). <br/><br/>5 miles to the south lies the Resort's newest 18-hole course, the Tom Doak designed No.10 (formerly The Pit Golf Links).

Location

Latitude:

35.193250

Longitude:

-79.464028

How to get there:

1 mile W of Pinehurst Traffic Circle

From the Pinehurst traffic circle (intersection of the US-15-501, 211 and 2) follow the 2-West direction Pinehurst. After 1.3 miles turn left into Carolina Vista Drive. After 300 yards parking is on your right (bag drop straight ahead).

Pinehurst No.2 Golf Course

5-PLUS: In the world’s elite - has few peers; one of our top-rated 5s!

Est. 1907

Pinehurst No.2 Golf Course is the most famous of all the Pinehurst courses, revered the world over, and understandably so. Designed by the legendary Donald Ross, "No.2" opened in 1907. Ross, who was born in Dornoch in Scotland, regarded the course as “the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed.” He was associated with the course for nearly a half-century, living in a brick built house next to the third green and continually improving the course until his death in 1948.

Talk to anyone who has played this Donald Ross masterpiece, and they may not recall the wonderfully understated design, the immaculate upkeep, absence of water hazards and out-of-bounds, or the mature pine trees that beautifully define the holes. They may even forget to mention the relatively flat good-width fairways, or the hard-pan sandy waste areas that line them (the waste areas are liberally dotted with clumps of wire-grass, as tough to play out of as thick Scottish heather). However, what most remember, perhaps with shot-by-shot clarity, are the adventures they had in and around the greens.

Call them what you will .... turtle-backs, inverted saucers or upturned pudding bowls. Pinehurst No.2 has some of the most difficult crowned greens that you'll find in golf. Slick run-off areas around these domed putting surfaces simply serve to magnify your troubles. If any part of your game needs to be completely on song to score well on No.2, it's your chipping and putting. Your bunker play will also need to be top draw. Getting into the many deep steep-faced bunkers that fiercely protect the greens is easy; much harder to get out of them.

Without doubt Pinehurst No.2 is one of the most celebrated of the world's major championship courses. But whether you regard it as a fair test of golf, or a cruel one, may largely depend on the strength of your short game on and around the greens.

Stay&Play at Pinehurst Resort: three historic Pinehurst Resort hotels (Carolina Hotel, Holly Inn and Manor Inn) are located o.5 mi from the golf clubhouse, from which courses No.1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 radiate out (see Where2Stay section below).

List of courses: Pinehurst, NC

Visitors

Who can play and when?

Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.

Must book in advance. Non-resort guests can only book 1-day ahead.

Green fees

Contact club/resort for information on golf rates and Stay&Play packages.

Other information

Non-metal spike facility. Walking permitted if accompanied by a caddie. Caddies available at all times and generally used by visiting players. Golf carts must remain on the cart path. On a first outing here, it's best to take a caddie - difficult to read the greens without one.

Practice facilities

Excellent

Did you know?

Overlooking the 18th green on the No.2 course is Pinehurst's Walk of Fame, with statues honouring Payne Stewart, Richard Tufts (grandson of Pinehurst's founder James W. Tufts), Donald Ross and Robert Dedman (whose Dallas-based Club Corporation of America, revived Pinehurst in the 1980's).

Pinehurst Resort's clubhouse is also a great place to spend some time. Strolling its impressive corridors provides the opportunity to review many showcases of memorabilia from U.S. Opens and other top level championships that have been played here. The brick built house to the left of the third green on the No.2 course is the former home of Donald Ross.

Pinehurst No.2's Roll of Honour includes many distinguished legends of the game. Ben Hogan won his first professional tournament here (1940 North & South Open), which convinced him to remain a touring professional. Jack Nicklaus and Curtis Strange both won here as amateurs (North & South Men's Amateur).

Perhaps the images most strongly etched in golfers' minds are those associated with Payne Stewart winning the US Open here in 1999. In 2005 Michael Campbell won that same title on the No.2 course; in 2014 it was Martin Kaymer's turn. The U.S. Women's Open was also played here in 2014, Michelle Wie collecting her first victory in a major championship. For more details see Major Golf Tournaments at Pinehurst No.2 golf course.

Published ranking

No.2 course:
North Carolina's No.1 course (Golf Digest, 2023/24).
USA's 29th best course and 6th best public access course (Golf Digest, 2023).
World's 21st best course (GOLF Magazine, 2023/24) and 15th best public access course (Golf World, 2023).

Where2Stay

  • The Carolina Hotel5-star

    Carolina Vista Drive, Village of Pinehurst, NC 28374

    +1 (910) 295 6811

    Visit website

    The Carolina opened in 1901 and is a world-class hotel. Dubbed the Queen of the South, it has 210 rooms and 12 suites, and is located just a few hundred yards from the historic Village of Pinehurst, and five of the nine Pinehurst Resort championship golf courses (which share the same stunning clubhouse) just across Cherokee Road.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      Pinehurst Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 (all located at Pinehurst Resort clubhouse, o.4 mi from hotel).

    • Golf within 5 miles:

      Pinehurst Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10; Pine Needles; Mid Pines; Talamore; Mid South; Longleaf; Pinewild (Magnolia and Holly courses); The Carolina; Southern Pines.

    • Golf within 20 miles:

      Whispering Pines (East and West courses); Little River; Tobacco Road (25 miles).

  • The Holly InnAAA 4-Diamond

    Village of Pinehurst, NC 28374

    +1 (910) 295 6811

    Visit website

    Opened in 1895, the Holly was Pinehurst's first Inn. To this day it retains all the character, warmth and charm of a wonderful old property. Its 79 rooms and three suites have recently benefitted from a $31 million renovation, ensuring the old world charm is matched with today's highest standards of comfort. The 1895 Grille provides a wonderful dining experience.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      No

    • Golf within 5 miles:

      Pinehurst Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10; Pine Needles; Mid Pines; Talamore; Mid South; Longleaf; Pinewild (Magnolia and Holly courses); The Carolina; Southern Pines.

    • Golf within 20 miles:

      Whispering Pines (East and West courses); Little River; Tobacco Road (25 miles).

Find a course

Or

Tournaments

The Masters: The 88th Masters Tournament at Augusta National sees LIV golfer Jon Rahm defend his title against the world’s best. Pressing hard will be world No.1 and 2022 champion Scottie Scheffler and world No.2 Rory McIlroy (April 11-14).

Chevron Championship: the women’s major championship season gets underway for the second year at its new Carlton Woods home outside Houston, Texas. World No.2 Lilia Vu defends (April 18-21).

Who's Who

Nelly Korda: records a perfect start to 2024 with five wins out of her last five starts on the LPGA Tour. Winning the Chevron Championship also brought the second major championship win of her career.

Scottie Scheffler: narrowly missed out on matching Nelly Korda's five wins in five starts, when he placed second at the Houston Open. Either side of that, he won The Arnold Palmer, The Players, and then The Masters and The Heritage.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

Popular videos

You can subscribe to the Where2Golf channel on YT if you like to see more video content. You'll find a "Subscribe" button on any of our YouTube videos. Or if you want a quick and direct access subscribe here. Once done, any new published videos will show up in your Subscriptions feed.

Hamburger GC - Falkenstein, Germany

WINSTONgolf - Links course

Littlestone Golf Club (Kent, UK)