“You can land the ball on the front and let it bounce onto the putting surface.
It’s got kind of a Redan look to it,” Franz says, pointing to the green positioned at a 45-degree angle to the line of play with a deep bunker front-left. “This is such a good place for a golf hole that it was just kind of begging for it. He had the area cleared of dozens of trees and built a green, a pair of bunkers and a new tee.
There was a sand pit sitting in the trees that Franz thought would make an ideal green site. “We thought it would be cool just to work this par-three into the routing and give people the opportunity to play nine holes and play a really cool golf hole,” Franz says. The par-three was abandoned at some point in the mid-1900s. That hole would have allowed golfers to play one through four, this par-three and finish a nine-hole round with 15 through 18.
The first tee and eighteenth green are side-by-side in the northeast corner of the property, and the course winds southward with holes two through six before the routing turns back on the seventh hole.įranz had access to aerial photos of the course dating to the early 1950s that shows a par-three hole positioned to the left of the fourth green and running in a southeasterly direction and connecting with the 15th tee. Southern Pines is unique among most American courses in that the ninth hole does not return to the clubhouse. 2 from 2010-11, was immediately hired and began work to rebuild greens, bunkers and various features with mounds, wiregrass and sand that reflect the course’s original personality. Franz, who has coordinated restorations of both those courses (Mid Pines in 2013 and Pine Needles in 2016) and also worked for Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw on the restoration of Pinehurst No. The remaining 18-hole course was owned from 1951 to 2020 by the Elks Club until acquired by the management company that owns and operates Pine Needles and Mid Pines, another pair of 1920s-era Ross courses. Golf has been played on this site just south of Morganton Road in Southern Pines since at least 1906, and newspaper records indicate an 18-hole Ross course was operational by 1923, with a new nine having opened in 1924 (it was later abandoned). Never try to "lift" the ball out of a tight lie.Work continues this summer on the restoration of the Southern Pines Golf Club course toward a September 2021 completion, and one of the interesting elements of the project being directed by Kyle Franz is building a new par-three hole to replace “the lost hole” from Donald Ross’s original design. You probably will take a divot after you hit the ball. Make a smooth swing and be sure to hit slightly down on the ball hit the ball before you hit the ground. If the lie isn't perfect, it's better to err on the safe side and play all fairway shots from the center of your stance. Remember to place the ball approximately in the center of your stance for an iron and slightly ahead of center for a fairway wood or hybrid. Hitting the ball from the fairway isn't the same as hitting it off a tee. The longer shafts of fairway woods automatically help you make a flatter swing. Remember to hit your fairway woods with a more sweeping stroke than your irons, which require a downward stroke. Concentrate on making better contact and the ball with go farther with more accuracy. Try to duplicate that languid practice swing that feels so good. Make a longer swing with relaxed muscles. If you do, pay more attention to your rhythm than trying to generate power. Sometimes, you have no choice but to make a full swing. If you make solid contact, you may be surprised by how far you can hit the ball accurately. For example, if you are a full 8-iron from the green, consider using your 7-iron and making a less-than-full swing. The longer your backswing, the more likely you are to overswing, lose your balance and make poor contact with the ball. Unless you have no choice, you probably are better off taking more club and making a shorter backswing. Less risk means less pressure - and probably a better score. Unless you're a professional golfer, the best shot is usually the safest one. Sometimes, it's better to lay up and hit a wedge in.
Similarly, if there's trouble in the back, guard against going over the green. If there's a bunker or water fronting the green, your approach shot choices are more limited than if you can land the ball short and run it on. Before hitting your next shot, take everything in front of you into account. However, your job is only halfway done you still need a good approach shot to post a good score.Įven though the ball is in the fairway, it's not sitting on a tee.
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