Forest Creek (South)

Nestled close to the world-famous Pinehurst Golf Resort, the private residential development at Forest Creek features a stately manor-style clubhouse and charming men's locker room, a multi-court tennis facility, junior Olympic-sized swimming pool and a pair of highly regarded golf courses designed by Tom Fazio.

The facility was formed in the early 1990s when brothers Terry Brown and Louis Meyer Brown inherited a large, 1,265-acre property from their grandfather Charles Louis Meyer, with the South course opening in 1996. It plays a little shorter than its younger sibling, measuring 7,067 yards from the back markers, and its generally wide fairway landing areas allow players the chance to open their shoulders with the driver on most tees.

The greens on the South are a little gentler than those on the North course – though neither could really be considered unusually contoured or unfair – and the Crenshaw bentgrass putting surfaces are renowned for their true and fast roll. Bunkers are numerous but they’re not particularly penal, even though their prominent faces can look a little fearsome at times.

Water hazards only ever threaten a few times on the South, principally on the approach to the par four 9th, with the tee shot on the par three 17th and on the second shot to the par four 18th – though, truth be told, it would take a really bad pull to the left to find water on the closing hole.

Notable holes include the par three 2nd, played across a wetland area to the green, and the par four 9th, where approach shots must fly a pond to reach the green. On the back nine, the 224-yard 10th and 195-yard 17th are demanding, long par threes, with the latter played slightly downhill across water to a sand-protected, narrow green.