My bucket list trip to Pinehurst Resort started with playing Pinehurst #4. Our tee time was at noon and we hired a caddie (Gary) and we were paired with a couple from Florida/Boston. It was perfect weather and I was excited because so many online reviewers said #4 was their favorite course (even placing it ahead of #2). You can read my comparison of the courses we played in my blog post “2023 Bucket List – Pinehurst” but for me #4 was my least favorite of the four courses we played (#2, #4, #8 and Tobacco Road); of course, #4 is a beautiful course but of the three we played at Pinehurst I rank it in third place.

Things that surprised me about Pinehurst #4: (1) Par 4 yardages were very long. (2) The waste area sand was softer/fluffier than I expected which made it more difficult to advance the ball a good distance. In comparison, the waste area at #2 was hard packed and easy to get a wood or hybrid on the ball to advance it. (3) I did not know the course had a lake and holes 13, 14, and 15 are the prettiest part of the course.

Tee to green I was hitting my clubs great and it was nice to feel so comfortable over the ball. I hit 86% of fairways and was only in sand twice during the round. Even with my game in great shape I was surprised how few greens I hit in regulation; but upon reflection, the length of individual holes were very long. My caddie told me on a number of par 4s, “these are long, you won’t get on in regulation,” and I was hitting my drives 170-180 yards and 3-wood 140. An interesting comparison – the USGA stated in a study that the average female bogey golfer (with a 24 handicap) will get on a green in regulation that is 250 to 280 yards long (assuming a drive of 150 yards). Pinehurst #4 has Par 4 yardages as long as 340, 356, etc. from the forward tees. Only two par 4 holes were less than 280 and Hole 3 was 278 yards.

Perhaps, the one thing I will remember most from Pinehurst #4 is that I left four par putts and one birdie putt on the lip of the hole! My putts were on line but I think I got it in my head that the greens would be really fast and perhaps gave the speed of the greens too much respect. It was also interesting that the holes I did have three-putts on were the hardest holes on the course (hole 5 -#1 handicap, hole 7- #3 handicap, and hole 18 – #2 handicap). I actually ended my round with three 3-putts (for a total of five 3-putts for my entire round) but some of these were very long putts (over 30 feet) so I didn’t expect to one putt but hoped for two putts on those holes.

Below are yardage book images of two of the three holes I parred playing Pinehurst #4.

Final thoughts on my game at Pinehurst #4 – Overall I was very happy with my game and I even felt good about my putting because I was rolling it on line to the holes but I just kept leaving putts short (a theme that will continue on #2 and #8). I will share that I worked very hard on my game this year to prepare for this trip and I am thrilled that my hard work paid off at Pinehurst. Scoring a 49 on the front and a 46 on the back for a total 95 which is four strokes over my target score of 91 (Par 72 plus 19 course handicap).

Gallery of Images from Pinehurst #4 – A selfie of me and my golf buddy (Donna), a shot of me hitting my approach on Hole 1 (I was actually in the fairway) but it shows the waste area with the clumps of “love grass” and the pine needles in the forefront. Shots of golfers on another hole, the area around holes 13, 14, 15 was the prettiest part of the course (Funny, everyone called it a lake but it looked more like a pond to me. Go to my Youtube channel to see a video and decide for yourself if it’s a lake or pond).