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It should be a crime to allow such an amazing RTJ routing to fall into this state of disrepair. Negligence and/or greed is only compounded by the fact they charge more than $150/round in season and cannot even be bothered to have regular marshals/PAs on the course (5 hours is closer to the norm than 4 here).

Note: as a member of the Classics CC, this is one of 3 courses I can play under my membership.

It is as disappointing to have to write this review as it was to play the Flamingo for the first time in roughly 6 months. Make no mistake, this RTJ layout is up there with the best course designs you will find anywhere. That’s why it is such a shame that the course conditions have been allowed to deteriorate to the virtually unplayable situation now. Bare patches are about as common as finding your ball on some grass whether in the fairway or around the greens. There’s generally more grass in the rough, except that more of it is weeds than Bermuda. Only a few greens had bare spots today, so that was a positive.

Likely due to playing before 9am, we managed to finish under 4 hours. Closer to 5 is more the norm in season here, so come prepared. In keeping with that norm, our foursome did catch up with a group that began with about a 2-hole head start and waited the entire back 9 on nearly every shot. When we thought we were at last seeing a PA (marshal/ranger) on 17, it was someone changing out a cart that was low on battery life. Amazing as this means someone was monitoring the carts remotely enough to see this issue and there was enough staff for someone to ride out to make the switch, yet no one was available to break up the logjam group(s). For a club that charges upwards of $150/round in season, it can only be negligence or unadulterated greed that allows the players’ experience to be sullied consistently.

Until the general public starts voting with its wallet and playing elsewhere, it is likely the annual lip service devoted to rehabbing this course will continue translating to “wait til next year.” That’s a shame, and it is only compounded by ignoring basic aspects of the customer experience like pace of play as a general rule.

Flat out some of the best greens I have putted anywhere. Smooth, quick, and receptive. Aside from some bare spots in the rough on a few holes (stay out of it, I know!), the overall conditioning was impeccable. Fun layout. Seemed to have a pokey threesome 2 groups ahead of our twosome but still got around in under 3-1/2 hours despite waiting on nearly every shot after the 4th hole. Worth the drive in/around Philly commuter traffic this morning.

Knew this was a love/hate course going in, and I definitely slanted toward love. I expected crazy holes after reading reviews and hearing word of mouth, but aside from a couple holes (circular dogleg par 5, for example), it was fair and “real” golf. Staff moved us on the 2nd tee to avoid some awful and slow golfers ahead of us, so we ended up jumping around to finish the round, but it was most welcome and the kind of proactive service more courses should deploy. If you are going to put out a bunch of slow hackers, don’t let them ruin everyone’s day by turning every round into 5+ hours.

Staff might have been the friendliest at any course I have ever played, and the golf course is a treat. Hands down the best track I have played in the Pinehurst area (haven’t played 2 or 4).

I really want to like this course more because the design is good. However, the fact they cannot seem to manage keeping play much under 5 hours and the course conditions (washed out bunkers, no grass to speak of around greens) left a lot to be desired takes this off my future play list. I would play twice across the street at Pine Needles instead.