Everybody knows about Pinehurst No. 2. It’s the one on television, the one with the U.S. Open pedigree, the one your buddy won’t stop talking about. It’s also the one that comes wrapped in a resort stay-and-play package, and if you’ve priced one of those lately, you know it adds up fast.
Here’s what gets talked about less: three of the best public courses in the entire country sit within a short drive of downtown Southern Pines, and you don’t need a resort booking to play a single one of them.
When Golfweek published its 2026 ranking of the top 100 public-access courses in the U.S., the Sandhills showed up three times: Mid Pines, Pine Needles, and Tobacco Road. Not resort-only. Not members-only. Courses you can book a tee time at and go play, the same way you’d book any round back home. Here’s how they stack up, and why you don’t have to pay resort rates on lodging to enjoy them.
Mid Pines: Donald Ross, exactly as he left it
Most of the great old courses in this area have been renovated, restored, re-imagined, or otherwise fussed with over the decades. Mid Pines mostly hasn’t, and that’s the point. It’s a 1921 Donald Ross design that stayed close to original, with a Kyle Franz touch-up in 2013 that brought back the scruffy, sandy edges Ross intended rather than replacing them with something new.
The result is one of the most refined and honest tests of golf in the Sandhills. Rolling fairways hugged by pines, and greens that will politely reject a chip that isn’t struck cleanly. It’s open to the public, and outside players can reserve tee times up to 30 days out. Book directly through the course.
Pine Needles: the championship one, right across the road
If Mid Pines is the intimate one, Pine Needles is its bigger, championship-caliber sister, literally across the road. Another Donald Ross design, restored by Franz in 2017, it’s hosted four U.S. Women’s Opens and has arguably the best set of greens in the area after No. 2 itself.
It’s a genuinely big course, and it plays like a stage that’s hosted real championships, because it has. Same deal on access: public, outside tee times bookable up to 30 days in advance, straight through the course.
Tobacco Road: golf’s rock-and-roll thrill ride
Save this one for a day you want to be surprised. Tobacco Road is a Mike Strantz design carved out of an old sand quarry, with blind tee shots, vast waste areas, elevation changes, and a routing that feels like nothing else in the region. People describe it in ways they don’t describe other courses: “Pine Valley on steroids,” “a rock-and-roll thrill ride.” It’s polarizing, it’s unforgettable, and it books tee times directly online.
It’s about 20 minutes from our Southern Pines cottage and 30 from the Pinehurst side, the one course here that’s worth a dedicated drive-up-north day.
One tip, and we mean this: spend on the caddie. On a course this blind and this weird, a good caddie is the difference between fighting it all day and actually seeing what Strantz built. You won’t regret it.
(Planning note: Tobacco Road runs periodic maintenance closures, so it’s worth a quick check of their tee-time page before you build a day around it.)
Our pick: a local bonus
If you want to add a round with some history to it, Pinehurst No. 1 is our favorite. It’s the oldest of the numbered courses and the low-key one people overlook while chasing No. 2, a relaxed, forgiving round that’s a lot more fun than intimidating, especially if you’re not a scratch golfer. You don’t have to stay at the resort to play it: non-resort golfers can book a tee time starting 24 hours ahead by calling the golf reservation line. Snag one and you’re walking the same ground where American golf started.
Make it a trip
The golf and the lodging are two separate decisions, which means you can play world-ranked courses by day without paying resort rates by night.
Play one of the big three (Mid Pines, Pine Needles, or Tobacco Road) and if you’ve still got the legs, keep it easy in the afternoon with The Cradle or a relaxed loop around No. 1. Here’s the local tip: afternoon tee times are almost always open, because resort guests grab the early slots. Call the golf reservation line right when the 24-hour window opens and you’ll get on.
Where you stay depends on your round. Our Southern Pines cottage puts you minutes from Mid Pines and Pine Needles, walkable to downtown for dinner and a brewery after your round. Our Pinehurst cottage sits closer to the Village side, handy if No. 1 and The Cradle are on your list. Either way, you get a full kitchen, a fenced yard for the dog, and a nightly rate that spends on the golf, not the resort premium.
Book the courses direct. Book the stay direct →
Ready to stay local?
We have homes in both Pinehurst and Southern Pines — no resort, no crowds, just a real place to come back to after a good day.
