Best golf courses: Pinehurst, NC

The small village of Pinehurst in North Carolina is home to some prestigious golf tournaments and has a rich history pertaining to golf that dates back to the 19th century, when wealthy golfers from the north flocked to enjoy a round of winter golf. The Pinehurst No.1 golf course with pine trees and plunging landscapes is located on the very first 18 hole course that was opened back in the 19th century. The historical Pinehurst Resort houses nine golf courses that are home to PGA tours and other championships. To make the most of your golfing trip, and to help in your planning, you can look up the location of the best courses in Pinehurst on our customised maps.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
(Closed in 2014)
Pinehurst
Palmer, Arnold

Visitors?

(Closed in 2014)

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Arnold Palmer & Ed Seay

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
By arrangement
Pinehurst
Coore & Crenshaw

Visitors?

By arrangement

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw

Unrated: Well regarded course not yet visited by the Where2Golf team.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Nicklaus II, Jack

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Jack Nicklaus II

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
(Closed in 2020)
Pinehurst
Maples, Dan

Visitors?

(Closed in 2020)

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Dan Maples

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Maples, Dan

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Dan Maples

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original design by Donald Ross with later modifications by Kyle Franz (2013).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Rsrt guests only
Pinehurst
Palmer, Arnold

Visitors?

Rsrt guests only

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Arnold Palmer

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original design by Dr Leroy Culver (front-nine, 1897) and John Dunn Tucker (back-nine, 1898). Course substantially redesigned by Donald Ross (1901) to produce today's layout.

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Doak, Tom

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original "Pit Links" design by Dan Maples (1984). Course completely redesigned and rebuilt by Tom Doak (2023).

5-PLUS: In the world’s elite - has few peers; one of our top-rated 5s!
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

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).

3-star: Good course – an enjoyable test for your game.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Donald Ross (1910).

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Fazio, Tom

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original design by Donald Ross (1919), with subsequent modifications by Robert Trent Jones Sr (1973) and Rees Jones (1982). Significant redesigns by Tom Fazio (1999) and Gil Hanse (2018).

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Maples, Ellis

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original design by Ellis Maples (1961); subsequent modifications by Robert Trent Jones Sr (1974).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Fazio, George & Tom

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original design by George Fazio and nephew Tom Fazio (1979); subsequent modifications by Tom Fazio (2005).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Rees Jones - original design (1986) and subsequent modifications (2002).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Fazio, Tom

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Tom Fazio

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Rsrt guests only
Pinehurst
Nicklaus, Jack

Visitors?

Rsrt guests only

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Jack Nicklaus - original design (1988) and subsequent modifications (2012).

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original design by Donald Ross with later modifications by John Fought (2004) and Kyle Franz (2018).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
By arrangement
Pinehurst
Player, Gary

Visitors?

By arrangement

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Gary Player

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
By arrangement
Pinehurst
Hamm, Gene

Visitors?

By arrangement

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Gene Hamm

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
(Closed in 2010)
Pinehurst
Maples, Dan

Visitors?

(Closed in 2010)

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Dan Maples

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Ross, Donald

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Original design by Donald Ross with later modifications and restoration by Kyle Franz (2020).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Rees Jones

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Strantz, Mike

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Mike Strantz

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Maples, Ellis

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Ellis Maples

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Pinehurst
Maples, Ellis

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Pinehurst

Designer

Ellis Maples

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Tournaments

The Sentry: known for many years as the Tournament of Champions, the PGA Tour’s 2025 season-opener gets underway on Kapalua’s Plantation course (Jan 2-5). Chris Kirk defends.

Tournament of Champions: the LPGA Tour’s 2025 season is launched at Lake Nona with the their Tournament of Champions (Jan 30-Feb 2). The 2024 edition gave Lydia Ko her 20th LPGA Tour title.

Who's Who

Attahya Thitikul: also known as “Jeeno”, the Thai golfer won the LPGA Tour’s 2024 CME Group Tour Championship … and an eye-watering $4 million, the richest first-prize in women’s golf.

Rory McIlroy: scooped the 2024 European (DP World) Tour season-long Order of Merit title, joining Seve Ballesteros as a six-time winner of this prestigious award.

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

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