Southern Pines Golf Club needs time

After its initial renovation, the Donald Ross layout will get better as years pass

The eighth fairway and green at Southern Pines Golf Club

Creating the “wow” factor is not necessary

It’s neat when elderly golf courses are renovated to give the layout the look and feel of the original design or to just improve the golfing experience without destroying the original intent of the layout, all with an up-to-date angle. That is, such changes should also take into consideration the golf clubs and balls used way back when against the course killers of today.

Usually, golf course renovations and updating are a return to yesteryear when the courses first opened under the spell of and grew through mythology of the original course designer, the course architect which has a magnificent reputation through a lifetime of work. Sometimes, renovations, for what they are worth and the associated price tag, go beyond simplicity and reach for a “wow” factor that wasn’t in the initial design and shouldn’t be in the changes.

A resort golf course is not so concerned about the everyday golfer and more about the sojourn linkster who shows up to play one round a day on several area courses. Resort courses thrive from reputation which doesn’t necessarily include ease of play. When resort courses are renovated, it’s usually to give an old course a fresh look, though the course could become a bit more challenging. Just playing it is a “wow” to many golfers.

It’s a shame when some of the renovation is overdone because, maybe, the renovation architect is a self-proclaimed expert trying to put its stamp on the “new” golf course instead of giving full credit to the original designer. This could be the case at the Southern Pines Golf Club, a 1906 Donald Ross gem with a good reputation even when in a disrepair state as was the case before Kelly Miller, proprietor of Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club and Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club, and renowned golf course renovator and architect Kyle Franz got ahold of the 18-hole layout. All three courses are in Southern Pines, NC, and now under one umbrella, offering excited golfers a chance to play three Ross layouts on one bill.

The renovation of Southern Pines Golf Club started in December 2020 with the removal of trees—lots of trees—and work on sand bunkers, most of which are referred to as natural areas. Tree removal widened the fairways, hopefully to help with wayward tee shots, and offers vistas not see there before, at least in the last 50-plus years, probably more. You can stand on the first tee and get glimpses of several holes, and, as you progress throughout the layout, the same is available combining many other holes. It’s a scenic layout.

The thinning of trees and the use of natural areas instead of standard sand bunkers gives Southern Pines Golf Club the look and feel of Mid Pines, also a Kyle Franz renovation, but different. The bunkers or natural areas are, in this opinion, overdone to come up with that “wow” factor, giving you a nice photo opt but not a fair test of golf. There’s too much natural area (sand waste areas and greenside bunkers) across the course and the sand is so soft and fluffy that hitting from a sand dune would be easier. There’s no bounce. Even after a recent dose of rain, the sand did not settle.

The Bermuda greens—which have been renovated to the “original” state—are the typical Donald Ross design but on steroids with huge, not subtle, false fronts, backs and sides and character-building interior ups and downs. Nearly every green, some call a push up green, has a minimum of a 10-feet drop in elevation from the front edge to where the ball comes to rest in the fairway. After watching a very capable golfer attempt to chip the ball three times toward a pin on the front level of the green only to have the ball come to rest at his feet each time and then take nearly a full swing to make sure the ball stayed on the putting surface, I chose to putt up the hill, not trying to get up and down for par but to be satisfied with a bogey.

My “putt” stopped about 10 feet past the cup, leaving a delicate downhill attempt at par and being careful not to be too bold as to possibly find my effort back down the false front. That was on the par 3, third hole. I was ready to duplicate the flat stick from the fairway the remainder of the round and never once had to putt more than once to gain the green. Quirky is a good way to describe the greens and the greens complexes. Quirky might be good in some eyes.

Expectations were high when I played there the third week of April. The course seemed to be and played longer than advertised on the scorecard. It may have been the course set-up that day, but if you compare yardages on the actual scorecard with the yardages on the website, you’ll see a difference with the scorecard shorter.

There’s a lot of work to do with the clubhouse, practice range and restaurant. The carts paths or natural cart driving areas need much attention. The course renovation continues as golfers make their way around the course. It’s a walkable layout and can be enjoyed hoofing it. It’s a neat course, less than 6700 yards from the tips, that requires much local knowledge, but there’s no doubt here that Franz overdid it with the natural areas and the severity of the greens even if restored to the original design.

On the 2022 North Carolina Golf Panel list of the top 100 courses in the state, Southern Pines Golf Club went from missing out completely in 2021 to the 88th spot this year, directly due to the renovation, even though it’s likely most Golf Panel members probably didn’t play the “new” look course until recently. It’ll probably rise more in the 2023 ranking because more Panelists will have played it, coming away impressed but unsure of its place in the top 100. In all fairness to the course, Southern Pines Golf Club needs another three years, at least, of growth and refinement to be considered higher up the list, By then, with off the course amenities improvements as well, the expectations of those who want to tour a Donald Ross gem of years gone by may be met.