Tobacco Road

[nevets88]

I played TR early spring. I liked the last hole, although it the tee shot was blind, over a road. The two par 3s on the back nine too. But the 9th and the par 5 on the back nine near the road was a bit much, with punishing elevated greens. You can barely see the flag, let alone guess there was a green on that par 5. I hit two fairway woods to 100 yards and dumped a wedge into the front right bunker.

Tot Hill Farm, another Strantz course is not as bad, but with more elevation changes.

One of these days, I'll eventually play a Pinehurst resort course and Pine Needles.

[WorkerOfTheBall]

Steve,

That 9th hole is a brute (#1 hdcp) and most golfers make double. There is NO bailout or safe shot into that green. The Par 5 you are speaking of must be the Par 5 13th (573yds) ...from 30 yds short, you can't see the green.

[InternalGolf]

Now I really want to play there. Looks like a really nice course. I live in NC also.

[nevets88]

Going back to original review, I'd agree with the tricked up ness of TR and given the variety of other courses in the area, it's not the first course on my list to play. It does get alot of business though and on a totally unrelated note, it does have one of the more interesting tee markers.

WorkerOfTheBall - I forgot 9 has the #1 handicap. I usually get stuck at the bottom of the right bunker - a tough up and down.

[iacas]

On 6/27/2006 at 11:03 PM, ttee9 said:

...... You've got to be kidding .. Mid Pines..?!? There's 41ish supurb courses in and around Pinehurst and you picked Mid Pines ....?

This didn't age well.

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Among things that did age well, I think my original post is pretty good. I recently played it (while fighting a few things) with @Hardspoon, and he said something like "I can see how this course would be kinda boring for a good player."

Still love to take first-time players there. Still don't hate it, but also don't love it. Good, but not great.

[Hardspoon]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

This didn't age well.

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Among things that did age well, I think my original post is pretty good. I recently played it (while fighting a few things) with @Hardspoon, and he said something like "I can see how this course would be kinda boring for a good player."

Still love to take first-time players there. Still don't hate it, but also don't love it. Good, but not great.

Yup.  I've been wanting to post more on our trip overall (which also included Mid-Pines, Southern Pines, Talamore, and Mid-South)...but regarding specifically Tobacco Road, I'd describe it as extremely interesting visually but not interesting in terms of golf-related decision making.

I think of it like this: there are golf holes, and courses, where making the correct decision on club selection and where to aim is a tricky exercise.  You're balancing risk-reward, and while there is probably an objectively correct answer (using strokes-gained calcs and all that), it's not easily determined.  At Tobacco Road, the answer is usually pretty easy.

Should I challenge that 30-foot deep sand pit from hell on my second shot?  No, you shouldn't.  Hit your 6-iron to a 70-yard wide fairway instead.

But...that doesn't mean it's not fun to try...or EXTREMELY fun when you pull it off.  (Hell, it was fun when you DIDN'T pull it off...one of my best shots all weekend was a full flop lob wedge up and out of that 30-yard deep pit).

That summarized the course for me - a very obviously correct decision which leads to two boring shots (a 6-iron to a 70-yard target, followed by a wedge from 100 yards) or a really fun shot (a hybrid over a 30-foot sand pit) that is objectively going to lead to a worse score.

Of course, that kind of golf is always going to be more fun for worse players, because the "easier" shots are still rewarding to execute well.

[saevel25]

On 7/15/2006 at 9:11 AM, iacas said:

Again, it was the cheap one of the bunch. And one at which I could take a caddy. That's all.

So, now that it isn't cheap anymore. Was Mid Pines back in 2006 much different than it is today? I can't remember when I first played it. Didn't they renovate it, and give it the Pinehurst #2 treatment? I know they redid the greens at least with the micro Bermuda grass. 

Just wondering if your opinion of the course has changed from 2006? 

I love the course. It has it challenges, and it might not be the most difficult course, but I do not think there is a terrible hole on the course. To me, every hole is good or better. If I had to rank Mid Pines, its probably like a 7.5 or maybe 8/10. 

[iacas]

22 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

So, now that it isn't cheap anymore. Was Mid Pines back in 2006 much different than it is today? I can't remember when I first played it. Didn't they renovate it, and give it the Pinehurst #2 treatment? I know they redid the greens at least with the micro Bermuda grass.

Well…

https://www.thepilot.com/news/mid-pines-restoration-wins-top-u-s-honor/article_64a498b2-68b8-11e3-b090-001a4bcf6878.html

Mid Pines has 20th-century look back | Golfweek

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SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Nearly a century ago, Donald Ross applied the final touches to his new course at Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club. Having spent much time in North Carolina’s Sandhills – n…

The renovation was a big deal. As this is the TR topic, I'll keep it to that.

[iacas]

So, I took @DrizZzY (and my daughter @NatalieB, and another friend) to Tobacco Road recently. We played 11.5 holes on Tuesday, and all 18 on Thursday.

I'll post two videos, and maybe some images… and let them add some thoughts of their own (probably only @DrizZzY will do so)…

Also, if you're in the area, you must stop here to eat: https://www.fondalupita.com. Top three Mexican meals I've ever had. Natalie had the ACP, I had the QuesaBirria Combo. 🧑🏼‍🍳💋

 

[DrizZzY]

I had an absolute blast playing Tobacco Road. I've had the opportunity to play Caledonia and True Blue, both of which are Strantz courses. Tobacco Road is my favorite of those three by far. In my opinion, there were no holes that felt like the others and that is something I haven't experienced. I'm not much of an architecture guy, but you can tell there is something special about this course. Holes challenge you in different ways, but on many of the holes, there are safe ways of getting around. Some areas are absolute death spots, but you are given plenty of room to navigate around those spots. If you take on hero shots and pull them off, you are rewarded greatly. However, if you fail to pull it off you are equally punished. All in all I loved playing the course and it is on my to-do list to bring others that have never played there before. I'll post a few of my favorite photos that I took. 

[iacas]

[klineka]

Looks very cool with the grass dormant. Makes it look like even more from another planet, in a good way. I think I prefer how that looks (based on the pictures) vs. the middle of the summer when I played it.

I'm not sure I'll go back anytime soon since their peak rates have more than doubled in the last 3 years and there are plenty of others in Pinehurst that I have yet to play. 

[Golfer20]

On 1/12/2024 at 8:24 PM, klineka said:

I'm not sure I'll go back anytime soon since their peak rates have more than doubled in the last 3 years and there are plenty of others in Pinehurst that I have yet to play. 

Yes, it's insane what their rates have gone up to the past few years.  I just checked US Open week and green fees are now at $324.51.  They are almost completely booked for that week.  So somebody is paying!