Tobacco Road Trip

[OoAaronoO]

trying to plan a trip up to north Carolina in sep. going play tobacco road and looking for 4 other courses to play. currently looking into pine needles, mid pines, dormie club, talamore, southern pines, and maybe a Pinehurst course. Anyone have any recommendations on the courses listed or some others? thank you.

[iacas]

I don't think you'll be able to get on Dormie anymore. They may have finally gone private.

I'd skip Talamore from that list, and definitely try to do Pine Needles and/or Mid-Pines.

[DaveP043]

10 hours ago, OoAaronoO said:

trying to plan a trip up to north Carolina in sep. going play tobacco road and looking for 4 other courses to play. currently looking into pine needles, mid pines, dormie club, talamore, southern pines, and maybe a Pinehurst course. Anyone have any recommendations on the courses listed or some others? thank you.

Top rank are Mid Pines and Pine Needles.  Of those two, I like Mid Pines a little better, but both are excellent.  Dormie is good, but you have to book through a limited number of sources.  I know Talamore Travel can get you on, and I'm pretty sure that Tobacco Road Travel can as well.  You might want to play that this year, they do pan to go completely private sometime soon.  Southern Pines is another Donald Ross design, I hear conditions are improving.  I play Talamore quite a bit, and its good, but not in the class of the others.  Under the same ownership, Mid South is a better course.  A lot of people like Legacy.  

To get advanced tee times on the best Pinehurst courses, #2 and #4, you'll need to stay on their property.  The others are pretty good too, in my view I'd recommend #8, #9 as the "best of the rest".

[klineka]

Here's a review I did of the three courses I played when I visited in 2018.

I would try and get on Dormie Club if you can especially since it's going private. I appreciate the course architecture more now than I did when I played it and would switch my ranking from the topic below and rank Dormie Club above Talamore. 

 

[dsc123]

I'm heading down in 2 weeks.  We're not playing Dormie, but while we were sorting out our options someone in our group did call and it was still open for public play.  At least through March 1. 

Mid Pines or Pine Needles were targets for us but they're hosting a tournament that weekend.   

So we're staying at Pinehurst Manor and playing:

Thursday - Pinehurst No. 3

Friday - Pinehurst No. 4 and The Cradle.

Saturday - Pinehurst Nos. 2 and 8.

Sunday - Tobacco Road.

Its my first trip to the area, but I'll report back.

 

 

[OoAaronoO]

2 minutes ago, dsc123 said:

I'm heading down in 2 weeks.  We're not playing Dormie, but while we were sorting out our options someone in our group did call and it was still open for public play.  At least through March 1. 

Mid Pines or Pine Needles were targets for us but they're hosting a tournament that weekend.   

So we're staying at Pinehurst Manor and playing:

Thursday - Pinehurst No. 3

Friday - Pinehurst No. 4 and The Cradle.

Saturday - Pinehurst Nos. 2 and 8.

Sunday - Tobacco Road.

Its my first trip to the area, but I'll report back.

 

Please do

 

I can play dormie in sep. If I go through tobacco road booking 

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, dsc123 said:

I'm heading down in 2 weeks.  We're not playing Dormie, but while we were sorting out our options someone in our group did call and it was still open for public play.  At least through March 1. 

Mid Pines or Pine Needles were targets for us but they're hosting a tournament that weekend.   

So we're staying at Pinehurst Manor and playing:

Thursday - Pinehurst No. 3

Friday - Pinehurst No. 4 and The Cradle.

Saturday - Pinehurst Nos. 2 and 8.

Sunday - Tobacco Road.

Its my first trip to the area, but I'll report back.

Sounds like a lot of fun.  #3 is a great course to start on, relatively short, but with some really demanding green sites.  You might want to check this out, I believe much of current #3 follows the back nine of the original #3:

Golf Club Atlas » Buie, Chris – The Original Pinehurst No. 3

I just read that the bar/restaurant at the Manor Inn has reopened with an emphasis on a variety of whiskeys and whiskey-based cocktails.  Also, you're pretty close walking distance to the Pinehurst Brewing Company.  Have a great time!

[dsc123]

Played Tobacco Road yesterday and I couldn't recommend it enough.  Visually stunning.  Like nothing else I've ever played.  Every hole is so cool.  Just accept that half your shots will be blind and enjoy the bold design.  I wouldn't want to play it every day, but I couldn't imagine being in the area and not squeezing in a round there. 

I also absolutely loved Pinehurst No 4.  Probably my favorite course on the trip.  It felt like an easier, and maybe prettier version of #2.   Of course, I also loved playing No. 2. Those greens are so cool and so difficult.  I really wish there were more courses like Pinehurst with wide fairways and waste areas instead of rough.  You really can't lose a ball out there and that goes a long way to keeping it fun when you're struggling to score. 

#3 and #8 were also really good, but 4 and 2 really stood out. 

I think we're planning on doing the other area courses next year, but I can't imagine going down there and not squeezing in rounds at Tobacco Road and No. 4.   

 

We stayed at the Manor Inn but didn't eat or drink at the bar/restaurant.  We did go to the brewery right around the corner. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by dsc123

[OoAaronoO]

5 minutes ago, dsc123 said:

Played Tobacco Road yesterday and I couldn't recommend it enough.  Visually stunning.  Like nothing else I've ever played.  Every hole is so cool.  Just accept that half your shots will be blind and enjoy the bold design.  I wouldn't want to play it every day, but I couldn't imagine being in the area and not squeezing in a round there. 

I also absolutely loved Pinehurst No 4.  Probably my favorite course on the trip.  It felt like an easier, and maybe prettier version of #2.   Of course, I also loved playing No. 2. Those greens are so cool and so difficult.  I really wish there were more courses like Pinehurst with wide fairways and waste areas instead of rough.  You really can't lose a ball out there and that goes a long way to keeping it fun when you're struggling to score. 

#3 and #8 were also really good, but 4 and 2 really stood out. 

I think we're planning on doing the other area courses next year, but I can't imagine going down there and not squeezing in rounds at Tobacco Road and No. 4.   

 

We stayed at the Manor Inn but didn't eat or drink at the bar/restaurant.  We did go to the brewery right around the corner. 

That's awesome.. good to hear. I'm all booked for September. Cant wait