Pinehurst No. 2: Best Holes Ranked

Donald Ross spent 48 years refining Pinehurst No. 2, adjusting green contours, repositioning bunkers, and shaping the crowned putting surfaces that would define American inland golf architecture. The Coore and Crenshaw restoration of 2011 stripped away decades of accumulated rough and returned the course to its sandy, wiregrass-lined origins. What remains is a layout where the test lives almost entirely in the green complexes. The fairways are generous. The approaches are not.

What follows is a ranking of nine holes, chosen for architectural merit, the severity of the strategic question each poses, and the way Ross used convex green surfaces as his primary defensive weapon. Yardages are from the resort tees.

1. No. 5 — Par 4, 482 yards

The putting surface is divided into two functional tiers by a ridge that runs roughly through its center. The correct tier is determined by the pin position; the wrong tier produces a putt that requires more courage than skill, rolling across the ridge with no guarantee of staying on the green. The approach shot must land on the precise section or accept the consequences. A caddie earns the fee on this hole alone. Of the 18 crowned greens Ross built here, the 5th is the one that most clearly illustrates the principle: the green is the hazard.

The most demanding green complex on the course, and therefore the most demanding hole.

2. No. 18 — Par 4, 447 yards

The closing hole is Ross at his most quietly ruthless. The drive is straightforward, finding a generous fairway between pines. The approach, typically a mid-iron, plays to a green that falls away on three sides with false fronts that reject anything without sufficient carry and the correct line. The crowned surface tilts shots toward collection areas that leave delicate pitches back to pins set on the upper shelf. Payne Stewart's famous par save on the 72nd hole of the 1999 U.S. Open was made from exactly the kind of position this green creates. It is a finishing hole that asks for precision at the moment fatigue argues against it.

3. No. 2 — Par 4, 484 yards

The first genuinely difficult hole on the course, and a clear statement of what lies ahead. The drive must avoid waste areas that narrow the landing zone from both sides. The approach plays uphill to a green that is crowned in the classic Ross manner, rising to a central ridge and falling away at the margins. Shots that land on the correct side of the crown hold. Shots that miss roll into collection areas that leave awkward, downhill recoveries. The hole teaches the round's lesson early: at Pinehurst No. 2, the target is smaller than the green.

4. No. 15 — Par 3, 204 yards

The green is wide but shallow, defended by bunkers front and right, with the putting surface running away from the player toward the back edge. The long iron or hybrid required to reach the green must land with enough height to hold a surface that does not want to be held. Pin positions in the rear third are accessible only to shots of genuine quality.

Among the most severely contoured greens on the property, and one of the finest par 3s Ross ever designed.

5. No. 4 — Par 5, 565 yards

The risk-reward question on the outward nine. The second shot presents a clear choice: lay up to a preferred wedge distance, or chase the green with a fairway wood through a corridor of pines and sand. The green is approachable in two for longer hitters, but the entry angle from distance brings bunkers and the green's characteristic crown into play. Going for it and finding the wrong portion of the green often produces a worse score than a disciplined layup and a controlled wedge.

6. No. 17 — Par 3, 190 yards

The hole where Stewart sank the putt that won the 1999 U.S. Open, a moment preserved by the bronze statue that now stands beside the green. The setting is an amphitheater of pines and sand, the green framed by waste areas and deep bunkers. The putting surface is large enough to hit but shaped so that only a specific quadrant offers a realistic birdie opportunity. It is a hole where the history is inescapable, but the architecture would command attention without it.

7. No. 13 — Par 4, 384 yards

Short on the card but layered in its demands. The approach plays to a green that is partially blind from the fairway, the front edge obscured by a rise that makes distance judgment difficult. The crowned surface adds another layer of uncertainty. Without a caddie's guidance, the correct club and landing spot are largely guesswork. It rewards local knowledge more than any other hole on the course.

8. No. 8 — Par 5, 588 yards

The longest hole on the course, playing through a corridor of longleaf pines to a green set in a natural depression. The length is honest rather than punishing. Three well-struck shots reach the green without heroics, but the green complex punishes anything imprecise on the third shot. The crowned surface and surrounding collection areas make par feel earned and birdie feel stolen.

9. No. 16 — Par 4, 529 yards

The longest par 4 at Pinehurst No. 2 and one of the most physically demanding holes on the course. The drive must find the fairway to have any chance of reaching the green in regulation, and the long approach plays to a green that offers no forgiveness for distance miscalculation. It is a hole where par is a good score and bogey is not a disaster. The difficulty is straightforward rather than subtle, a contrast to the nuanced green complexes elsewhere on the course, but no less effective for its directness.