Without room for a long-game range, Caledonia offers a sizable
short-game, warm-up station. The tiny 9th hole, all of 118 yards
in length, borders the practice area, and might be mistaken for
belonging if it did not have a tee sign of its own.
Caledonia maneuvers its fairways amid the tall oak trees native to
the region, bending left and right, carrying a bit of water here and
a bit more sand there. At the end of each is an absolute treat of a
putting surface. Golfers are heard to exclaim with frequency, that
they could spend an afternoon on any of the courses greens and
never get bored, or have the same breaking putt. Is there a better
endorsement around than that?
The Pinehurst, North Carolina area is filled with examples
of Donald Ross’ vision of golf course architecture. From the
eponymous resort to Mid Pines and Pine Needles, the sand hills
of the south-central portion of the Tar Heel state are home
to the Scotsman’s magnificent use of topography. The most
enjoyable one of all might be the one that flies under the radar,
the Southern Pines course in the town of the same name, adjacent
to Pinehurst proper. Formerly owned by the Elks Club, Southern
Pines benefits from the same changes in elevation as found at Mid
Pines and Pine Needles, the ones noticeably absent from Pinehurst
#2, the most famous and flattest of all Ross courses. Southern
Pines tops out at some 6200 yards, so it will never prove to be
too long a course for anyone. That’s not to say that it is anything
approaching short. Let’s explain.
The clubhouse at Southern Pines sits high on a hill, overlooking
the golf course. Standard operating procedure, I’ll give you that,
but what happens next is scintillating. The first hole tumbles
downward to the green, shortening the opening par four. The
second rises and rises to a table-top putting surface. Measuring
490 yards from tip to tip, it plays a good fifty yards longer. The
third is a drop-shot par three of mid-iron distance, and the fourth,
another par four that rises from landing zone to green. Two things
jump out immediately: each hole plays in a different direction,
ensuring that sun and wind are unique for each shot. And, the tee
balls on two and four play directly into a rising fairway, causing
the ball to carom not forward, but up, reducing the roll out. Thus,
holes that seem quite manageable on the scorecard will prove to
elicit much more distance than anticipated from the golfer. It’s
genius, you know, and pure Donald Ross.
Southern Pines features two principal environs during its 18-hole
tour (an additional nine holes existed, bordering the present
course on the east, but it was allowed to go to fallow.) The first
is the central bowl that lies below the clubhouse hill. Open to
the elements, it offers the sensation of a sunken amphitheater,
allowing for views of adjacent holes for yards around. The second
is an interior ridge where the majority of the holes are located.
The ridge has a great deal of topographical movement as well, and
is highlighted by an incongruously-shaped lake that extends across
and into five of the holes. Along this back property, the golf holes
fit with ease between towering pines, gently moving this way or
that, never in a decidedly-angular fashion. This can be said about
Donald Ross dogleg holes: they are never abrupt, never jarring.
Volume 3 • Issue 36
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