PINENEEDLES Lodge and Golf club

I just finished playing 18 holes at PINENEEDLES, site of the 2007 Women's US OPEN. AWESOME facility, great course.

Whoever said that Donald Ross "protected par at the green" was definitely telling the truth. I was killing the ball off the tee with the generous fairways here. The areas around the greens, and the greens themselves were quite slick, rolling VERY FAST.

Service is 1st class here all the way. As I type this I am happily staring out the window of my hotel room overlooking the 18th green at Mid Pines GC. Carts were restricted to the cart path at Pineneedles and in the pinestraw only. We walked the front 9 and then we rode the back nine. The course does not route itself back to clubhouse but they have a snack shop at the 9th tee box. I played the US Open tees, about 6700 or so. If you play the tips, you would be looking at 7015 yards. Quite formidible, especially with the well protected greens! The Ross tees ( I played these) had a slope of 126 and a course rating of 70.6.

There is something about great golf courses in the south with all the towering Carolina pine trees. These trees can really mess with your depth perception when calculating shots into the greens.

Pineneedles is a must play IMO. Several of the employees here feel it is a better experience than No. 2....

Here are some pics.

I played there during the 2005 Open. When we got back in from our round, Michael Campbell (who was staying there that week) was practicing his putting on the putting green. We watched him for a few minutes but didn't bother him - I guess the practice really paid off! Anyway, I agree, Pine Needles is a top notch facility. I'd definitely play there again.

Great review with some good quality pics. Thanks for sharing that with us. I'll have to add that to the ever-increasing list of places to play.

Great Review and Great Pics! Thanks!

Thanks for the review and the great pics. I played Mid Pines in April and really liked it - looking forward to trying Pine Needles next time!

Wow..

Simply putt, D. Ross is the greatest architect of all time. I grew up playing a similiar Ross US Open golf course and there is nothing like a Ross design. Great pics. I wanna play there some day. What a beautiful track. There's nothing like playing a Ross. Even your golf shots feel different playing one of his courses I know you know what I mean. You feel priveledged after you've struck a shot.