The new 10th course at Pinehurst Resort will have a distinctive name reflecting its unique setting and local history.
The resort announced the course would be known as Pinehurst Sandmines, though it is still also referred to as Pinehurst No. 10. The course, scheduled to open in May, is routed on more than 900 acres, most wooded and undeveloped.
According to a Pinehurst release, a variety of future developments are being evaluated, including an additional 18-hole golf course, a short course, clubhouse and guest cottages.
“A year ago, we were excited to announce that Tom Doak would begin carving a new era of Pinehurst golf on this exceptional property,” said Bob Dedman Jr., CEO of Pinehurst Resort. “Today, we take another step forward into our continued evolution with a nod to what came before.”
Beginning in the 1920s, the sandy soil proved useful to multiple mining operations, specifically Pleasants Sand and Supply, which was founded after World War II. Over the next half century, sand mined in Aberdeen was shipped along the adjoining railroad for building projects all over the United States, including the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Following Pleasants’ closure in the mid-1970s, rugged dunes, mounds and berms forged from mining excavations were left behind and reclaimed by nature. Doak’s No. 10 includes about 250 acres of the total property.
“There’s a lot of history at this place, and you just want to honor it,” says Angela Moser, Doak’s lead design associate on No. 10. “You want to have it be a part of what you’re building, so you’ll see reminders of it.”
The Pinehurst Sandmines logo (at top) is a rail car, dashed in railroad red color with features of subtle hints about the property’s past – and its future – within the car’s structure and design. The car carries a “matterhorn” shaped mound that resembles the 25-foot sand deposit framing No. 10’s dramatic 8th hole — a signature remnant of the commercial mine’s influence in No. 10’s routing.
“Pinehurst’s past, present and future is right here in the sand,” says Tom Pashley, Pinehurst Resort’s president. “We look forward to seeing what more can be mined in this area.”
