Country Club of North Carolina – Syndication Server

Where to play golf in Pinehurst, N.C.: Pinehurst Resort, Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Tobacco Road and more

Pinehurst Resort, Mid Pines, Pine Needles, Tobacco Road, Mid South and more among the state’s ranked courses in Golfweek’s Best.

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PINEHURST, N.C. – I won’t bother writing that you should play golf in Pinehurst. You already know that. The Sandhills region of North Carolina is dubbed the Home of American Golf for a reason.

Advising well-traveled players they should try out Pinehurst is akin to telling gearheads that Ferraris are nice or suggesting a foodie sample something beyond the SpaghettiOs. But until you immerse yourself in Pinehurst, it’s difficult to imagine how much the game defines this little village and its surrounds – and vice versa. It’s one of the few places in the world where just about any conversation can safely begin with the question, “How you been hitting it?”

So many options among great courses. So many chances to bunk up in historic lodging. So many shots to be hit by so many golfers. Pinehurst doesn’t simply scratch an itch to play somewhere new, or even old – it fulfills a deeper need to immerse oneself in the game. Even the USGA is tapping into that need, building a second HQ in Pinehurst and bringing more national championships, feeding on the game’s energy that flourishes among the tall trees and sandy soil.

The only problem is time. How to set aside enough days to sample it all?

Pinehurst No. 8 in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)

That’s where the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for the top public-access layouts in each state comes into play. The list for North Carolina includes 15 courses, with more than half around Pinehurst. So while I won’t bother telling you that you should play golf in Pinehurst, we can look at the rankings list to see where you might want to start among the region’s 40-plus layouts.

The eponymous Pinehurst Resort is an obvious choice, home to four of the top 15 public-access tracks in North Carolina, including the famed No. 2. But the great golf doesn’t end at the resort’s sprawling borders or on its numerical lineup. Four more of the top 15 layouts in the state lie just beyond. It’s an area so packed with strong golf that, given time, it’s entirely possible to play all eight of these layouts without stopping to refuel a rental car.

Carolina Hotel Pinehurst — The Carolina Hotel at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst)

The ranked lineup truly does offer golf to suit just about any taste. Old courses that define classic architecture. More recent courses that promise modern flair. Restored courses. Renovated courses. Even a newish par-3 course that shouldn’t be missed. You get the idea – it’s all here.

I set out on an epic adventure of golf earlier this year to see exactly how much Pinehurst golf could be squeezed into four and a half days. Trust me, it’s a lot of steps. I played six of the best-in-state public-access courses in the Pinehurst area plus two private clubs and a quick trip around the hottest par-3 course in town. That was all a follow-up to a previous trip in which I played the other best-in-state courses. There is no doubt, if you want to play as many solid golf holes as possible in the shortest amount of time, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better destination than Pinehurst and the courses below.

U.S. Junior Amateur: Luke Clanton takes down the No. 1 seed, then a local Pinehurst favorite

Get to know the player who took down the two U.S. Junior Amateur favorites in the same day.

Welcome to the Luke Clanton show.

If you’re unfamiliar with the 17-year-old from Miami Lakes, Florida, let me hit you with some knowledge. He’s committed to Florida State, has won the Class 2A state title in two of the last three years and is off to a blistering start at this year’s U.S. Junior Amateur at The Country Club of North Carolina in the Village of Pinehurst.

“It was kind of funny because me and Ben were talking on the first tee and we kind of knew the whole day was going to be one-sided with the crowd,” explained Clanton.

Clanton took down top-seed Kelly Chinn in the morning Round of 32 on Thursday, 1 up, and then defeated Pinehurst local favorite Jackson Van Paris, 2 and 1, in the Round of 16.

U.S. Junior: Match results

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“But it was an unbelievable experience with everyone out here. I can’t even think – I was looking down an iron shot and I saw like a bunch of people surrounding the green, so that’s kind of cool,” he continued. “I just said, ‘one shot at a time,’ and I played really well today. I think I only had one bogey and five birdies. It was just kind of one of those days where I took it one shot at a time, and Jackson is a great opponent, great player, known him for a while. It was fun today, and I just played a little bit better today. That’s it.”

Already this year, Clanton has three top-5 finishes, including a T-2 at the Dustin Johnson Junior Worlds. Last year he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational Junior and posted three top-10 finishes.

“He’s a great player, and he’s definitely a guy that you go into the match knowing you have to play good to beat,” said Van Paris after the match. “He’s not going to lay over. He’s a great competitor. I have no doubt that he’ll continue playing well and keep it going for the rest of the week.”

Awaiting Clanton in the quarterfinals is Vanderbilt-bound Gordon Sargent, a two-time defending Alabama State Amateur champion and three-time Rolex Junior All-American.

For Clanton, he believes in himself just as much as Van Paris.

“My goal is to win,” he said.

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With his older sister on the bag, 12-year-old Davis Wotnosky becomes second-youngest competitor in U.S. Junior Amateur history

Wotnosky shot a 2-over 74 and is within striking distance of match play.

The Wotnosky name is starting to carry some weight in the amateur golf world.

Haeley is a rising senior at Virginia and has played in one U.S. Women’s Amateur and three U.S. Girls’ Junior championships. Grayson is entering his sophomore year for the Cavaliers.

And then there’s Davis. At 12 years, 6 months, 16 days old, he is now the second-youngest player to compete in U.S. Junior Amateur history. Wotnosky began the week at The Country Club of North Carolina with a 2-over 74 on the Dogwood Course with Haeley on the bag.

“It’s really fun. I’ve always been really good friends with my brother and sister,” Wotnosky said of his family support. “She keeps me loose and it’s always awesome to have another eye from someone who is a golfer and has played in tournaments.”

Wotnosky began the day on the par-4 10th with a bogey then settled in with a pair of pars followed by a pair of birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, his only two of the day.

Davis Wotnosky hits from the woods on hole 15 during the first round of stroke play at the 2021 U.S. Junior at The Country Club of North in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Monday, July 19, 2021. (Chris Keane/USGA)

“On No. 13, I hit an OK tee shot to about 50 feet. I hit the putt way too hard and it hit the back of the hole and bounced up and went down. So, I got really lucky there,” explained Wotnosky. “On 14 it’s a tough hole. I hit it center of fairway and then hit it to 30 feet. I had it lip in and that is always nice to have.”

Playing about 90 minutes down the road from his Wake Forest, North Carolina, home, Wotnosky remarked special it is to make his Junior Amateur debut in North Carolina.

“I wanted to play in this event, especially here, for a long time,” said Wotnosky. “I was pretty nervous on the first tee. I usually do not get nervous. I certainly felt it there.

“It’s been fun. I know this golf course and I have played it a few times. And to have all the people I know here is great.”

The youngest to ever play the event is Matthew Pierce Jr., who competed in the Junior Am in 2001 at the age of 12 years, two months, 15 days. In 1996, Kevin Na was 12 years, 10 months and 13 days old. He’s now fourth on the list of youngest competitors in the event.

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Kelly Chinn tees it up in final U.S. Junior hoping to finish the job

Chinn is one of two players in the field making a third U.S. Junior appearance this week.

Kelly Chinn has been thinking about this one for two years. It’s the last hurrah.

Chinn, 18, is one of only two players in this week’s U.S. Junior Amateur field at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst, North Carolina, making a third U.S. Junior appearance. In 2018, he was medalist at this event. In 2019, he lost in the semifinals.

“There was no doubt I would play this,” he said. “Probably the biggest junior event in the world and the most prestigious. No chance I’d miss this one.”

The close calls give Chinn, the AJGA’s Rolex Player of the Year in 2020, a little extra motivation, and a little extra experience – not that he needs it. So far this summer, Chinn has played the Sunnehanna Amateur, the Northeast and the North & South. He and partner David Ford were stroke-medalists at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Chambers Bay in May.

“I think also my past experience gives me a lot of confidence going into this event,” he said. “I think out of all the top players, I think I’ve had a lot more experience than them. I think, especially going into match play, I’ll have a lot more experience and confidence going into that.”

U.S. Junior: Tee times, players to watch

His best advice in that format?

“I think kind of just play your own game, not really focus on — obviously you’re playing match play against one person but the worst thing you can do it get ahead of yourself and start thinking about the outcomes of what you did before, in the previous match,” he said.

“You really just have to play your own game and really just avoid outside of what you can control. That’s something I’ve worked on over the years and something I’ve gotten a lot better at.”

If there’s one area that’s really improved since that 2019 semifinal run, it’s mental game. That, Chinn says wisely, just comes from the experience of playing more events and at a higher level.

The Pinehurst area has been a constant for many juniors. That starts with the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship. Pinehurst Resort hosts the North & South Junior and many players eventually graduate to the amateur version of that championship. Chinn has seen success there, too, and just last month made it to the Round of 16.

Chinn has also bounced around more than most, which adds considerable experience to his golf toolkit. Chinn’s father Colin retired as an admiral in the U.S. Navy in August 2019. Before that, the Chinn family moved frequently – Hawaii, California, Washington and then to Great Falls, Virginia, where they’ve been based the past four years.

Chinn has a familiar caddie on the bag this week in Danel Neben, his swing coach at TPC Potomac, a club just northeast of Washington D.C. Neben has caddied in Chinn’s last two U.S. Junior runs.

What’s perhaps a little unfamiliar? The courses. Chinn has seen them plenty before, having played a fair amount of golf in Pinehurst in general, but not in a USGA setup.

“They grew up the rough a little more – I think they’re trying to get to 3 inches – which is pretty long for Bermuda,” he said. “I know the greens are a lot firmer. So I think the setup, USGA usually always makes the courses really tough.”

Chinn has never been bothered by the challenge.

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East Carolina’s Patrick Stephenson extends consistent record at CCNC Amateur with another win

Patrick Stephenson, a fifth-year senior at ECU, isn’t willing to declare his latest victory at the Country Club of North Carolina his last.

Patrick Stephenson isn’t willing to declare his latest victory at the Country Club of North Carolina his last. The fifth-year senior at East Carolina University has been competing at the private gem in Pinehurst, North Carolina, since the seventh grade.

“I played here a ton ever since I was a little kid,” he said. “It’s just one of those courses that always looks good to me. The greens are always light and fast this time of year, which kind of suits my putting because that’s kind of what I prefer.”

Stephenson, from Four Oaks, North Carolina, won his second CCNC Amateur title on Friday. He also won in 2017. But now, with one semester of college golf left and a Master of Business Administration in sight, he’s not quite sure what the future holds.

“I’m not going to say I’m the last time I’ll play in this,” said Stephenson.

SCORES: CCNC Amateur

The thought crossed his mind, but Stephenson said he wasn’t particularly preoccupied by it. Regardless, this would be a good way to go out.

Stephenson bookended rounds of even-par 72 with a second-round 70 at CCNC’s Dogwood Course, where the 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur will be played. He narrowly edged West Virginia’s Kurtis Grant and Wayne State’s Grant Haefner, who finished tied for second at 1 under.

Stephenson’s record is this event has been remarkably consistent. In addition to winning in 2020 and 2017, he finished T-3 in 2018, T-5 in 2019 and T-10 in 2016. In those five appearances, he has posted only one over-par round, which came in the first round in 2015.

The CCNC Amateur has been played since 2012. Cold wind and rain wiped out Wednesday’s second round this year, reducing the tournament to a 54-hole event.

“My short game kind of helped me through, I putted really well,” Stephenson said of his play. “I didn’t hit it as well as I’d like to but I kind of kept it in front of me. Didn’t have any huge misses, didn’t really make any big mistakes. I just played really consistent, made a lot of pars. On cold, windy days like these that’s kind of what it takes.”

Stephenson found out mid-summer that he’d have the opportunity to return to East Carolina’s golf team for a final year. Four other senior teammates moved on. Stephenson has never made the postseason as part of the Pirates team and eagerly awaits postseason. Still on his college-golf to-do list is advancing to NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championship.

“I think we have a really good chance this year,” he said.

East Carolina competes in the American Athletic Conference, which canceled fall golf. Stephenson teed it up at a handful of events over the summer – logging top-3 finishes at the Carolinian and the North Carolina Amateur. He’s played two Golf Coaches Association events inside states lines this fall.

It’s hard to keep your game sharp without competition.

“It’s more of the scoring,” Stephenson explained. “You kind of hit some shots you wouldn’t normally hit, hit some wayward shots you wouldn’t normally hit. It’s just a little sloppy when you don’t compete a lot.”

Stephenson was one of six East Carolina players who teed it up this week. A teammate lives off the driving range. Two others hail from Pinehurst. It’s been a relaxing week for Stephenson with his teammates.

A win makes it that much sweeter.

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