Southern Pines Golf Club

This place is absolutely amazing! Every hole is a challenge in itself. We played 36 holes and I couldn’t get enough of this golf course! Greens rolled true and fast. There are no easy shots here and the par threes are very demanding from the tips. Play and enjoy this Donald Ross masterpiece as I’ll be back soon!

I’ve played SPGC a few time over the past year and typically take different friends with me to introduce them to a true Donald Ross hidden Jen. Today I took my son and he summed it up in just a few words. After the first 12 holes he looked over and said “ just look around Dad, it’s something about it, it’s just a special place isn’t it! This course is pure Donald Ross so add it to your must play list in Moore County

Loved the wide open fairways and hills that gave generous rolls. Excellent value for the money. Enjoyed enough to return the following day.

My brother and I played at 11:30, and still ran into a few greens that were frozen (ball bounced like it hit concrete). The first two holes were under construction, but overall it was fast and fun. Definitely a good deal for the money.

I really enjoyed my afternoon at SPGC. I had the course to myself and really got to take in the beauty of this Ross gem. I can’t wait to return and see what improvements the new owners make to the course.

Excellent place to play. So much value for money. Staff phenomenal

This course is very fun to play and has a great layout. Reggie was great in the clubhouse. Enjoyed our round immensely.

A little soft, a little wet. Overall in good shape for the time of year. Paired up with a great guy who appreciates the history of the course as much as I do. Had a great time. And the loaded hot dog after the round was awesome.

Southern Pines is one of the few untouched Donald Ross designs left in the area, which drew me to play here today. It is fun to study this course’s features and imagine how it would have played with the equipment of the early 1900s.

Earlier this month, the course’s owners reached an agreement to sell the club to an investment group that includes the CEO of Pine Needles. The sale is expected to close in February 2020. It would be great if the new ownership infused some cash into this historic course and “revealed” what Ross created. A similar facelift, like those occurring at Mid Pines and Pine Needles would elevate this club’s status in the Sandhills.

That is important, because this region is billed as the St. Andrews of America. And it is indeed appropriate. But what makes a trip to St. Andrews special is the lesser-known courses that compliment loops around the Old Course or Kingsbarns. Places like Crail and Elie. This is what Southern Pines is: an architectural marvel with befuddling green complexes.

There is a tremendous amount of elevation change too, something not seen over at the Pinehurst Resort. The collection of par 3s were a highlight and extremely challenging. No wedges - I had 6 and 7-irons in.

Current conditions are good for this time of year. Fairways are overseeded. Tee boxes could use some TLC, but no big deal. Greens were tremendous.

This was my third trip to the Pinehurst area, and the trip was not golf-centric, so we tried to include a couple of rounds at some of the peripheral courses in the area.

I was so impressed with Southern Pines. The layout is top notch. Ross’ design is superb and right now, at least, you are getting one of the last untouched Ross designs in the area. The ownership at Mid Pines and Pine Needles is taking over. Hopefully, they use the discretion they took at those aforementioned tracks and uncover the obviously rich bones that are in place.

Honestly, the conditioning for this time of year was not bad. Fairways were a little bare, as well as around the greens, but the greens were stellar.

The course itself, will, demand that you work the ball, but the course’s defense lies in the greens. Typical Ross: looks like he threw a blanket where the green should be then copied the rumpled facsimile. I never three-putt as much as I do on a Ross course. I will see a left to right break, then the ball will inexplicably go left at the hole. Deal with it.

Fairways are wide. Bunkers are thin. Second shot course. Hit it in close in proximity to the hole or pay the price.

I loved it. Highly underrated. Great value.

I had heard many good things about this course and finally had a chance to play it. I was not disappointed. Typical of Ross designs, it's fairly straight forward tee to green;; it's the green complexes that provide the challenge. This layout has lots of elevation changes. The greens are tricky with undulations and subtle breaks galore and are well bunkered. I recommend playing this course when in the Sandhills. I will definitely play it again.

Great course with tricky places to avoid.
A big reward for staying below the hole, however sneaky long on up hill pitches to the pin.
Lots of fun.

This course has a wonderful layout. Designed by Donald Ross, the holes are varied and interesting. The conditions could be better. Not terrible but not pristine. The price was great. The staff is very nice.

The course layout is great. However, the pace of play was terrible, which takes away from the enjoyment.
No one in the pro shop on a busy Saturday, and no Marshall helping with the pace of play seemed odd.
Efficiency of this facility has diminished from years past., but a great golf course.

I was really excited when I was able to get a deal to play Southern Pines for $49. A classic Donald Ross design for $49 seemed too good to be true! Sadly, it was.

First off, Southern Pines is one of the best courses I've ever played from an architectural standpoint. The layout is fantastic! The course tumbles up, over and around the hilly property, and the greens are pure Donald Ross. It's so good.

Unfortunately, the conditions of the course were so bad that they were hard to look past. While I am usually not one to be overly critical of conditions, I feel like I have to here. The greens were the worst, with dead spots, weeds and scalped old cups all over the place.

The rest of the course had thin fairways and burnt out bermuda rough. They had overseeded recently, and some of the overseed was coming in, especially on the tees. But the overseed hadn't been mowed. On some tees it was difficult to tee it high enough!

I would play Southern Pines again, and I do recommend it because of it's architectural significance. But, I would love to see this course under new ownership that recognizes what they have and invests to keep it in the condition it deserves.

My favorite hole is the par 4 8th hole. It's a downhill par 4 that, if you're aggressive, you can get a short approach. The green is 100% Donald Ross...and don't go long!

This is the first time we have been totally unsatisfied with a course booked on GolfNow. The course was rated 4 stars...so we had no problem paying the $70 per person when we booked based on past 4 star experiences. Honestly, it was maybe worth half that. The layout was good...and we could tell this was a nice course at one time. However, today the fairways had been over seeded, greens were not bad but also not great. The rough was in bad shape...many bald spots around the course. The bathrooms were portable toilets.

Very disappointed in this course. Thought it more upscale than it was. From the minute we pulled into the parking lot it looked a bit run down. The only positive thing we can say is that Carrie in the pro shop was very nice. Course in terrible condition - greens burned out around the edges and tough to find grass in many fairways. The pace of play was horrendous and when we asked about the 5-comes on the course we were told that was normal. Starter was not friendly and almost rude. Halfway house closed early. We could not wait for this round to end and will never go back unless things change dramatically. Luckily we had a better day at our next course the following day.