The Pinehurst Sandmines (formerly Pleasants Sand & Supply) is an area of 900 acres that remained wooded and undeveloped until Tom Doak was hired to build Pinehurst's 10th golf course. Currently, Tom Doak's No. 10 is the only course on this parcel of land - the site was the former home to a 1985 design from Dan Maples known as The Pit. It ceased to exist in 2010 and no part of that course made it through to Tom's design.
Pinehurst Resort has publicly voiced the option of an additional 18-hole golf course (no doubt Coore & Crenshaw, Gil Hanse or another go-to golf course architect), short course, clubhouse and guest cottages. With 250 of the 600 acres used for No. 10, there is plenty of scope for further development. In fact, Coore & Crenshaw did a routing for the site in 2012 which was never brought to fruition. Once does wonder if you overlaid both drawings how the routings would work…
The former mine left a rugged and scarred landscape that was reclaimed by nature. The excavations and carved landscape softened with time, leaving a canvas that resembled the crumpled seaside links with dunes. The most dramatic feature of the land is the 'Matterhorn', a 25-foot sand mound that punctuates the now famous 8th hole. Located south of the resort, No. 10 is closer to the Country Club of North Carolina than the world-famous No. 2.
There are visual similarities with the short grass from native edge to native edge, open sand scrapes and wiregrass. This has more to do with the raw ingredients than the substance, a little like saying London heathlands are all the same or at least similar. However, No. 10 has an identity all its own.
A point of difference is the green sites. Where No. 2 is known for its upturned saucers or turtlebacks, No. 10 greens and many fairways gather rather than repel. Parallels will be drawn between No. 2 and Tobacco Road down the road. Tom Doak says he wanted to build something that 'feels like a cousin or a sister' to No. 2.
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The golf course, which opened on April 3, 2024, is a Par 70 that plays from just under 5000 yards to just over 7000 yards using four sets of tees. The nines both clock in as par 35's. The outward nine has a single par 5 and two par 3's whereas the inward nine has two par fives but three par 3's.
From the tips, there is a good variety of par three's - a wedge-able 150-yard hole on the 7th offset by a monster 264-yard par three on the 14th. A short and right bailout can be laid up to and a deft touch will secure a par.
The par five's have plenty of meat on the bones with the shortest weighing in at 544 yards and the longest, the 10th, measured at 634 yards. It is a rare thing to find a proper three-shot par 5 nowadays, but the longest hitters will still be going for this in two as it plays downhill from the tee. The days of Driver, 4-wood and long iron are well and truly gone - but for mere mortals, this will still provide that thrill.
Tom describes 7 and 8 as pretty gettable but from 9 to 15 he describes it as a hard golf course. What is great to see is No. 10 was designed as a walking course, best experienced with the help of a caddy. If you don't want a looper, push carts are provided complimentary if you don't want to carry.
