Pinehurst Resort's next course is coming sooner than expected. Pinehurst No. 11, the first original design at the resort by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, will open for play on March 29, 2027. That is roughly six months ahead of the fall 2027 target the resort gave when it announced the project in April 2025.
The course sits at Pinehurst Sandmines, the 900-acre former mining property a few miles south of the main clubhouse, next to Tom Doak's Pinehurst No. 10. When No. 11 opens, Pinehurst will have 207 holes of golf, more than any other resort in the United States.
At a glance
| Course | Pinehurst No. 11 |
| Architects | Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (shaping by Ryan Farrow) |
| Location | Pinehurst Sandmines, near Aberdeen, N.C. |
| Site | 900-acre former sand mine, shared with Pinehurst No. 10 |
| Opening date | March 29, 2027 |
| Holes | 18 |
| Tee times | Taking reservations now: 855-235-8507 |
"Weirdly wonderful"
The land has a lot of history. Sand and gravel were mined at the Sandmines from the 1930s through the 1950s. The mining left behind ridges, spoil piles and man-made landforms, and pine trees have grown out of them over the decades since. Much of No. 11 is routed over ground that once held The Pit, a Dan Maples design that closed in 2010.
Coore and Crenshaw didn't flatten that ground. They built the course around it, and Coore has a name for the result.
"I call it 'Weirdly Wonderful,'" Coore said. "The landforms are so unusual, so unique. You walk among these landforms, and you feel the big trees that have grown out of these mounds for the last few decades since the mining occurred."
He has also called it "one of the most interesting sites that I have ever seen; it's so extreme, and I mean that in a very positive way."
Coore says the choppy ground reminds him of links golf. "We're far, far from the sea, but we have these contours and landforms that remind you of spots in Ireland or Scotland," he said. "It's this choppy, ridgey ground. … You're winding your way through trees and over old piles and across ridges."
A foil to No. 10
No. 10 and No. 11 share a property but play very differently. Doak's No. 10, which opened in 2024, has some of the biggest elevation changes of any course at Pinehurst. No. 11 has far less elevation change. It is tighter and more hidden, with tucked greens between the ridges and mounds, and some holes that open to wide views.
"The designs of No. 10 and No. 11 complement each other so well by contrasting so much," resort president Tom Pashley said.
Coore & Crenshaw's return
Coore and Crenshaw have been coming to Pinehurst since the 1970s. Their 2010–11 restoration of Donald Ross's No. 2 brought back the sandy waste areas and wiregrass. That work set up the 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open, played on No. 2 in back-to-back weeks. It also started the design revival that has since added No. 10, The Cradle and more.
No. 11 is the pair's first new course at Pinehurst. They drew an early routing for the Sandmines years ago, before the resort put its energy into other projects first.
"It's special anytime you get to Pinehurst," Crenshaw said. "The chance to do a golf course here with No. 11 is such, such an honor. This land is totally blessed by its character."
What golfers need to know
Booking. Pinehurst is taking tee-time inquiries for No. 11 now, through the resort at 855-235-8507 or with golf packages at pinehurst.com.
Pricing. The resort hasn't published a rate on its No. 11 page. Golf Travel Wire has reported a $125 premium for No. 11 on most golf packages. Check with the resort before you book.
Getting there. Sandmines is a short shuttle ride from the main clubhouse. The property already has its own pro shop, locker room, restaurant and bar, and on-site lodging is planned.
Walking. Pinehurst calls No. 11 "a walk of discovery as a test of golf," and it is best played on foot.
The bottom line
Pinehurst's courses get more attention from serious amateurs than almost any others in American golf. No. 2 hosts the North & South Amateur and USGA championships, and the resort's newer courses have become required stops for traveling players. No. 11 is designed by the architects who restored No. 2, on some of the strangest ground in the Sandhills, and it will be on a lot of 2027 golf trip lists. Coore puts it this way: "It's a course that golfers are going to have to experience to believe."
