Southern Pines Golf Club — Attraction in Southern Pines

I miss the old Southern Pines Golf Course, a true Donald Ross classic. The fairways are still Donald Ross, the added waste areas are visually pleasing, but are not really in play. The greens, however are NOT Donald Ross. The greens were hard from the lack of rain and very severe on the front side. Center of the green on #5 with an 18' uphill putt (45* angle) was impossible to make. A putt 3' past the hole ran for another 8'. Second attempt to let it die at the hole, took a left hand turn and went 20' to the left. Greens were average speed. From there on forward, it was automatic 2 putts. The greens on the back nine were less severe and more Donald Ross like. Donald Ross would not be happy. I have played many Donald Ross courses in my life and by far, he is my favourite architect. Having played Mid Pines twice and Pine Needles once this week, I was really looking forward to playing Southern Pines. Kyle Franz missed the mark. What he did from tee to green was nice, how could you screw that up? I am wondering if someone told him to tone it down on the back nine, because they are not similar to the front nine greens. What he had to do, was shoot the elevations of the original greens and rebuild them to USGA specs and have run offs similar to Mid Pines and Pine Needles. 5 stars for his work from the tees to the greens, 2 stars for the front nine greens and 3.5 stars for the back nine greens. I am almost 70 years of age, play to a 6.1 and was down to a 1 before I got married and helped raise a family. I like 6,200 yards in length, so I played a White/Blue combo. I will play it again, but will still use that automatic 2 putt rule. Watching the foursome in front of us, spray the ball all over the place and 3 and 4 putt every green was very frustrating to watch and sit through for almost 5 hours. Sad to say, the owners at Pine Needles need to redo the greens on the front side. BTW, I am a big fan of Tobacco Road and their greens are no way as severe as the greens on the front side of Southern Pines. Tobacco Road has more possible pin placements that...

I hate to say it, and certainly wish I didn’t have to- Elks club ran it better. Starters/Rangers, as a matter of fact ALL staff should be replaced. When you take over a new course, you get new people in, which is exactly what they didn’t do, and kept the old and decrepit staff they had. Rangers need to be replaced immediately if you want anyone to have a shot of having an pleasant experience playing this course. Almost feel as though the course would do better without any rangers whatsoever. How do you blatantly ignore all of the negative reviews regarding the inflamed ego of the rangers and the exuberant cost to play? Has increased at least $100 since new management took over. OG Donald Ross courses aren’t supposed to have paved cart paths. It’s supposed to look natural with sand. Maybe you’d know that if you kept true to the original nature of the course. Rangers need to be fired and led to the retirement homes they belong to. Maybe someone under the age of 70 might be a nice refreshing change… Don’t waste your money here. And if you do receive attitude from the starters or rangers, give it right back to them. They are on a power trip unlike any other. Ego’s need to be knocked a peg down. Not to mention the course has multiple “cart only” holes that are impossible to play without straying from the cart path. You’d think with someone who has golf course experience buying the course that there would be improvements…I’ve only seen disappointments. There used to be a free water station at nearly every other hole, now you can only get water if you buy it from the 10th hole, which at that point is much too late to get water when playing in 90 degree heat. New owner only cares about the money. Overpriced. If you’re going to be doing repairs while still allowing people to play, lower the price. Go play...

I hate to have to write this review. I played in mid-October '24 and was thrilled to get to see another Ross layout. When we arrived, I learned that Kyle Franz had recently redesigned. If I had the keys to the car I arrived in, I'd have turned back, as I've seen other Franz disasters. This is stunning land on perfect golf course property with magnificent views ... all spoiled by another overarchitecturing job by Franz. Worst of all are the greens where balls would frequently run 30 yards or so off of false edges or where slightly mishit putts would leave you 20-30 feet for your next putt. Then you have the "native grasses" likely planted near bunkers during the renovation that gobble up balls just mere feet off the fairway. It's fine to make greens challenging, but when that challenge tests you to get a putt or a chip from just off the green somewhere inside 30 feet, the designer has lost their way. Don't trust the scorecard either - we played blue tees and on a number of holes the markers were well behind what the card indicated they would be. This is a fun play ONLY IF you're willing to go pure match play here and forget about score. Do not come here trying to shoot a score of any sort (forget about a "good" score no matter your skill level). Lastly, the range was an abomination. Balls were worn, had to be gathered out of two large buckets tied down with a large link of chain and hitting off of mats like you'd find at your worst local muni. I've played hundreds of courses and this is one of the worst "bangs for the buck"...