Pinehurst Resort announced Tuesday that Pinehurst No. 11 will debut on March 29, 2027, marking another milestone in the longtime relationship between Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw and the Cradle of American Golf.
“It is another momentous day for Pinehurst,” says Tom Pashley, president of the Resort, in a news release. “We can’t wait for our guests to experience No. 11. It is a special course that will help further define Pinehurst for decades.”
Designed by Coore & Crenshaw and shaped by Ryan Farrow, No. 11 will be a golf course unlike any other at Pinehurst, shaped as much by the land’s fascinating history as by its natural character. The course intimately winds and twists across a site once shaped by mining operations in the 1930s through the 1950s, where remnants of spoil piles and other man-made features have been reclaimed by nature.
“This land is totally blessed by its character,” says Crenshaw.
The result is a dramatic and distinctly rugged corner of the sweeping Pinehurst Sandmines, where jutting ridges, massive mounds and native vegetation create a compelling setting for golf. Rather than smoothing away the site’s past, Coore and Crenshaw have embraced its character, weaving the remnants of its mining history into a course that feels both natural and entirely of its place. Dramatic in shape and style, No. 11 promises a golf experience that is as intriguing to discover as it is challenging to play.
“I call it ‘Weirdly Wonderful,’” Coore says. “I know that’s kind of an odd description. The landforms are so unusual, so unique, there are areas that have been mined years ago, but it’s land you don’t typically find in the game of golf. The word I’d use is mysterious. You walk among these landforms, and you feel the big trees that have grown out of these mounds for the last few decades since the mining occurred. It’s just a really mysterious place to go walking. It’s intimate. You turn the corner, and there’s a surprise. You’re nestled down, you get to a green, and then you turn the corner to the next tee, and there’s a whole different look and whole different set of challenges and strategies and looks for golf. It’s just a fantastic site.”
No. 11’s opening complements Coore and Crenshaw’s deep history and personal relationship with Pinehurst. Both have been coming to Pinehurst since the 1970s, but it was their bold restoration of Pinehurst No. 2 in 2011 that ignited a wave of restoration projects of classic golf courses all over the country. The success of carefully bringing back the rough-hewn sandscapes and wiregrass that framed No. 2’s fairways and turtleback greens restored Donald Ross’s masterpiece to his original intent for the course. An unprecedented staging of the men’s U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open in consecutive weeks in 2014 presented Ross’s vision to the world and the greatest players of the era, eventually earning Pinehurst the Green Star Award from Golf Digest for demonstrating outstanding, sustainable, and innovative environmental practices.
That success helped usher in a new golden age for Pinehurst Resort itself. In addition to opening The Cradle short course and redesigning Pinehurst No. 4, the Resort has renovated No. 8 and No. 9, added Tom Doak’s masterful No. 10, created Pinehurst Sandmines and been named as the first Anchor Site of the U.S. Open, which returned in 2024 and will be played four more times between now and 2047. The U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open double will be repeated in 2029.
Guests can begin making reservations and inquiring about tee times at No. 11, located at 1075 Sandmines Crossing, off Highway 5, in Aberdeen.
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*Contributed photo and article.
