Pinehurst No. 11 Set to Open This Spring

Pinehurst Resort has announced the grand opening of its latest addition, Pinehurst No. 11, scheduled for March 29, 2027. Access to tee times will be exclusively for resort guests, with bookings now open.

This highly anticipated course is a significant development in destination golf, bearing the hallmarks of renowned designers Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, with associate Ryan Farrow overseeing the shaping. Coore and Crenshaw have a long-standing connection to the Sandhills region, having frequented it since the 1970s and previously leading the acclaimed restoration of Pinehurst No. 2 over a decade ago.

Pinehurst No. 11 distinguishes itself by its unique location on the eastern section of Pinehurst's 900-acre Sandmines property, situated approximately four miles south of the main resort and adjacent to Tom Doak's Pinehurst No. 10. This land, formerly scarred by decades of sand mining from the 1930s onward, has been naturally reclaimed by pines and native vegetation. The result is a distinctive, undulating landscape characterized by jagged ridges, unruly mounds, and scattered pockets of trees.

"The site is totally blessed by its character," stated Crenshaw in a press release accompanying the announcement.

Coore described the setting as "weirdly wonderful," highlighting how the otherworldly landforms contribute to a "mysterious" atmosphere.

Instead of altering these unique topographical features, Coore and Crenshaw have integrated them into the course's design. The routing of holes navigates through trees and across, around, and between these rumpled landforms. Pinehurst No. 11 occupies the eastern portion of the former mining site, while No. 10 spans the west, with the two courses intersecting at various points.

Similar to No. 10, which opened in 2024, No. 11 is designed to enhance the comprehensive golf offerings at Pinehurst, a resort celebrated as the Cradle of American Golf. Pinehurst, with roots dating back to 1895, has a profound historical link to Donald Ross. Ross arrived at the turn of the century as head professional and later undertook the redesign of the resort's inaugural course. He subsequently created Pinehurst No. 2 and established Pinehurst as his winter residence, maintaining his association with the resort throughout golf's Golden Age.

Over a century after Ross first set foot in Pinehurst, the restoration of No. 2 by Coore and Crenshaw, completed in 2011, heralded a new era of prosperity for the resort and stimulated a wider movement of course restorations across the nation. Pinehurst has continued to build upon this legacy, commissioning Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner for a redesign of Pinehurst No. 4 in 2018 and, more recently, expanding its presence on the Sandmines property with the addition of No. 10 and No. 11.

This strategic development has further solidified the resort's prominent standing in the world of golf. Pinehurst No. 2 was designated as the inaugural U.S. Open anchor site and hosted the championship in 2024, marking the fourth time it has welcomed the event. The course is scheduled to host the championship an additional four times through 2047, including the unprecedented back-to-back hosting of the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in consecutive weeks in 2029.

Crenshaw, a competitor in the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, has since broadened his involvement with the resort beyond competition to include high-profile design commissions.