After two years, Pinehurst No. 10 continues to be its own marvel

By Alex Podlogar

Two years ago today, Joseph Larkin was one of the first players to play Pinehurst No. 10, Tom Doak’s masterful design that made the first of what will be many imprints at Pinehurst Sandmines. The course itself, at less than a day old then, had also already left a deep impression on Larkin and his playing partners.

“If I had to give one sentence, I’d say, ‘There’s nothing like this place, No. 10,’” he said.

Larkin had more to say. A lot more. He didn’t stop at one sentence. He couldn’t stop at one sentence.

And in the two years since, he hasn’t been the only one.

It turns out commenting on No. 10 is as expansive as the course itself.

Over these last two years, as No. 10 has matured and settled in after being named the “Best New Course” for 2024 by both Golf Digest and Sports Illustrated, so has Sandmines. The rustic-styled clubhouse soars against the Carolina blue sky and Station 21 greets guests and locals alike with a southwestern grill that delights the senses. Fire pits crackle in the spring mornings and early evenings, and friendly staffers align with caddies and this special soil to deliver an experience unlike any other in Pinehurst.

And, to think, No. 10 was just the beginning. The Sandmines story is only getting started.

“(These) represent the first 18 paragraphs in a new chapter in the resort’s history,” wrote Golf Pass’s Tim Gavrich.

While Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw work on crafting Pinehurst No. 11 on the other side of the property, it’s a good time to match the excitement of what’s to come by continuing to marvel – and reflect – at what is already there.

Like the wild dogwoods sprinkled among the longleaf pines allow for splashes of Spring color, No. 10 deserves its flowers.

Two years is not a long time in a golf course’s history, but for No. 10 it has been more than enough to establish its firm foundation on the sand and wiregrass that frame it.

But you don’t have to take our words for it. As Pinehurst Resort President Tom Pashley said upon No. 10 opening in 2024 – a mere two months before the return of the U.S. Open: “What’s really fun right now is that people are coming to play the golf course. It’s rewarding to hear about Pinehurst No. 10 in their words. We’ve been using our words for a long time, and now we’re getting to hear what other people have to say.”

Like Larkin above, so many have spoken.

A few stand out, however. And they get No. 10. They see it. They articulate it. And already, well, you’ve heard enough from us, and from this email. While we appreciate the attention all the same and thank you for clicking and for reading, to celebrate two years of Pinehurst No. 10…we’re taking the rest of this column off.

And we’re headed down to Aberdeen before the sun sets on another day at Sandmines.

We hope to see you there soon.

Until then, here are five of the best quotes about No. 10 we’ve ever heard or read:

1 . Derek Duncan, Golf Digest

“The setting of sand and pines and slight wildness is the native color of Pinehurst. There are also holes that are unlike anything else, not just here but anywhere.”

“No. 10 is big, rugged and sprawling. It looks like it was simply ripped open and revealed from the pine barrens where it’s built, the bunkers and caverns gouged from the earth with fescues and wild grasses blending the course into the surrounding sandscapes. Though its footprint is similar in size to courses like Pinehurst No. 8, No. 10 feels vaster, its broad fairways roaming a seemingly endless parcel of land with no competing development.”

2. Jon Cavalier, LinksGems

“Hole 8: the best way I can describe this hole is that it’s like playing down the spine of a dragon. A huge sandy nob blinds most of the fairway and its mammoth mounds on this short par-4. The farther right the tee shot, the better the angle into this green, which sits in a hollow surrounded by large dunes.”

3. James Colgan, Golf.com

“Pinehurst’s newest golf course was everything it’d been billed to be: interesting, creative, eye-popping and thought-provoking. I thought its contours were friendlier than anything I’d encountered in the Pinehurst area, and found its variety unusually beguiling. In my mind, it easily achieved the difficult feat of being totally distinct to anything in the (already loaded) North Carolina Sandhills region.”

4. Christian Hafer, The Golfer’s Journal

“They cranked it to 11 on No. 10.”

5. Joseph Larkin, First group to play No. 10

“Coming to Pinehurst a few times now, every course has a different, unique vibe. And I think No. 10 brought something that you don’t see here. It presents challenges unlike any other course in Pinehurst.”