Country Club of Whispering Pines: The Pines Course
Alex Elias
Courtesy of Carolina Pines Golf (@carolina_pines_golf)
Originally designed in 1959 by Ellis Maples—a protégé of Donald Ross—Country Club of Whispering Pines: The Pines Course recently underwent a renovation by Kyle Franz, under the new ownership group of Rolling Pines LLC, a newly formed management company under the parent Mid Pines Development Group.
“There are very few people who really put a stake in the ground in the Sandhills and dedicated their careers to making this region a mecca,” said David McFarlin, Co-Founder of Broomsedge and Candyroot Lodge and a local member of the Pinehurst community. “On the architecture side, Ross, Maples, and now Franz are the Mount Rushmore. On the proprietor side, it’s the Bell family, now extending to the Millers, and the Tufts, who are the stewards of great golf properties and the visionaries behind these projects—Country Club of Whispering Pines incorporates Ellis and Franz under the Bell/Miller umbrella, making the project feel truly homegrown and personal.”
As Kelly Miller, Managing Partner, hired Franz to restore both Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, in 2013 and 2017, respectively, The Pines Course bears subtle resemblances to Pine Needles.
“There are elements that are reminiscent of Pine Needles, both in terms of the topography as well as the routing,” said McFarlin. “Portions of the golf course are played in a setting with longer sightlines, and parallel and intersecting corridors. Then, there are also portions of the property that integrate more heavily into the neighborhood—similar to what you see in the closing stretch at Needles.”
Over the years, the green complexes had shrunk significantly, and the bunkers had lost much of their original character. Now restored, the green complexes will remind golfers of Ross’, and the bunkers—similar in aesthetic to his other work in the region—are positioned to restore Maples’ intent.
“As Ellis worked for Ross for a number of years, Ross really rubbed off on Ellis,” said Franz. “The green complexes are crowned similar to Pinehurst No. 2, and the bunkers and sandscapes are natural and rugged, with native grasses in and around them.”
As Franz called Country Club of Whispering Pines the “hidden gem of the Sandhills,” he believes the opening hole is the best in the Pinehurst area.
A diagonal tee shot—to shorten the hole, golfers must challenge the bunkers down the left side of the fairway.
“Players who choose the conservative route must be aware that the farther right, the tougher your second shot, as the green complex is right out of Pinehurst No. 2,” said Franz. “You don’t want to be coming in with a long iron to the crowned green, though there is a pedestal out front that can help some—a clever feature by Maples.”
Described by Franz as a “departure from the rest of the golf course” that “didn’t look natural,” the Par-3 12th is now one of the finest holes on the property.
“I may be most proud of Hole 12,” said Franz. “As an architect, I tend to lean towards holes that proved to be the biggest challenge, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the finished product. With the right side raised, the native area has been re-introduced, and a bunker has been added short right, resulting in the entire landform really fitting together now.”
Although Country Club of Whispering Pines is near the other properties, it has traditionally served a different audience than the Resort Trio.
“There’s a goal of keeping Whispering Pines affordable and getting great architecture within the reach of more golfers, which is very important to the entire Miller family,” said Franz. “I’m as proud of Whispering Pines as anything I’ve achieved in my career. Our goal was to show off Ellis’ work, and we accomplished that through a perfect relationship with Kelly—aligned on goals—and on a shoestring budget, where we approached the project like the movie Moneyball—from myself to the shapers, we all knew we’d have to be better than ever.”
