From the time Kelly Miller and business partner Haresh Tharani purchased Southern Pines Golf Club in late 2020 – making it the third piece of a sparkling North Carolina triumvirate with Pine Needles and Mid Pines – they have seen the original Donald Ross design not just for what it is but for what it can be.
With each passing month, that vision comes into sharper focus.
“It has always had kind of a cult following, a place that people said could be good if they did this or that,” Miller said. “Hopefully we’ve done that.”
The latest iteration of Southern Pines Golf Club, which is continuing to evolve under the keen eye of designer Kyle Franz, opened in late 2021. While work continued on the course last year, 2022 was a big success and word of mouth has spread the story of a course sitting on what many believe is the best golf site in Moore County, home to some of the country’s best layouts.
An aggressive tree-removal project is ongoing and new cart paths have been installed, a key upgrade on a layout where the hope of maintaining natural paths proved problematic.
“It was always a hidden gem, and real golf aficionados liked it,” Miller said. “Hopefully we’re making it really great.”
Built in 1906 and within walking distance of Southern Pines’ charming downtown, the club was owned by the local Elks Club for 30 years before Miller purchased it.
Franz redid the greens, retouched some of the holes by repositioning bunkers and restored the scruffy sandscapes that give the course its classic Sandhills look, accentuated by terrain that rolls 20-30 feet in elevation on many holes. Franz’s work with sandscapes at Pine Needles (site of the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open) and Mid Pines drew rave reviews, and he continued it at Southern Pines.
Six new back tees will be built in the coming months, adding to a course that can stretch to approximately 7,000 yards at par-70. The classic bones of what Ross designed remain while the course has been brought up to meet the demands of the modern game.
“This is a magic course, with no obvious shortfall. People will come to it in droves,” noted course-design specialist Ran Morrissett, a Southern Pines member, said last year.
The latest touches have been added around the course itself. In April, a new 25,000-square-foot putting course is scheduled to open. Modeled after the famous Himalayas putting course at St. Andrews and increasingly popular at resorts and clubs in the U.S., the sprawling complex created by Franz can support multiple putting-course layouts.
“His mind just thinks differently than most,” Miller said of Franz.
The putting course will have lights added to give guests another option once the sun goes down.
In mid-February, local government officials approved a plan for the construction of 10 golf cottages that will sit near the existing clubhouse, which will also get some upgrades.
The cottages will vary in size, with a total capacity of 52 guests. The cottages will be for sale, though Miller said he expects his organization to keep some of the units. There was some pushback from local residents when the idea originally was submitted for approval.
“What we’re doing is the right thing. It’s not on a big scale,” Miller said. “It enhances our property and the area. We are mindful of our neighbors and what we need to do for Southern Pines.”
In a golf-rich area, the renaissance of Southern Pines Golf Club has added another stripe of color to the rainbow of options in the Pinehurst area. It’s a region that has continued to thrive as golf’s popularity has surged and travel has increased post-pandemic.
“We had a great year last year, and golf is still going strong,” Miller said. “We’re fortunate to be where we are.
“The whole Pinehurst area, with the USGA’s commitment here, the (2024) U.S. Open, the Women’s Open we had, there’s a lot of good stuff going on.
“We’re bullish on our area.”
Top: Southern Pines Golf Club renovation
photos courtesy of Home of american Golf