This course is in our GSPro library — pull it up in any bay and play it wall to wall.

"Available in GSPro — the best-known community build circulates under the licensing alias 'DPC Pinehirt 2' (by runpuddrun), so tell members to search that if the real name doesn't show. A must-have given how often members reference 'the home of American golf.'"

Donald Ross laid out No. 2 in 1907 and tinkered with it until his death in 1948 — he lived beside the third hole. Its crowned 'turtleback' greens became the most imitated (and feared) putting surfaces in America. After decades of over-greening, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw's 2011 restoration ripped out 40 acres of bermuda rough and 550 sprinkler heads, restoring hardpan sand and wiregrass and cutting water use 73%. It hosted Payne Stewart's immortal 1999 U.S. Open putt, the historic 2014 men's/women's double Open, and the 2024 U.S. Open, and is a USGA anchor site with Opens booked through 2047.

Every serious golfer eventually. Architecture students, U.S. Open romantics, and short-game grinders who want the purest test of approach precision in American golf.

The par-4 5th, playing to a fiercely crowned green, is often called the hardest hole on the course. The 18th is sacred ground — Payne Stewart's 15-foot par putt to win the 1999 Open, now memorialized in a statue behind the green. But No. 2's genius is cumulative: eighteen straight approach shots where 'on the green' isn't good enough.

Off the tee it's friendly — wide corridors, sandy scrub instead of thick rough. The greens are the whole exam: crowned surfaces reject mediocre approaches, and a beginner will chip back and forth until they learn the putter-from-off-the-green trick.

In GSPro with strong community recreations, and it's one of the best sim tests anywhere: driving is easy, holding the turtleback greens is not. Perfect for Clubhouse's better players and approach-play practice; pair it with the Baseline Assessment crowd who want to see proximity numbers exposed.

Public through Pinehurst Resort — premium green fees (several hundred dollars, generally $400+) and tee-time priority for resort guests. A stay-and-play package is the standard route; take a caddie.