Pine Needles or Dormie Club

[jwellefson1]

Alright gents, just booked a quick weekend in Pinehurst but I'm not playing the resort. Gonna do Mid Pines Saturday in the AM, Tobacco Road Sunday in the AM, so I am looking for recs for Saturday Afternoon. I'm stuck between Pine Needles and Dormie Club, but I'm open to anything! I'm also looking to do the Cradle Saturday evening, so my concern is Dormie is further out, but it won't be public for much longer. Just looking for your recs WRXers!

[Lithovt]

If it's in good condition, Dormie Club is my second favorite course in Pinehurst area (Mid-Pines being favorite and disclaimer that I have not played Pinehurst #2 or #4). Logistics are a bit tougher but my vote would be to do Dormie. You certainly would not be losing anything by going with Pine Needles though (that is my 3rd fav behind Dormie Club).

 

Is your trip this coming weekend? Check the maintenance schedules if so. That may help make the decision for you.

[NCgolf135]

Both are great, dormie is farther out, but not by any significant distance. I'd vote dormie if conditions are the same only because it is going private soon. Really is a coinflip. Mid pines is my favorite of all of those courses too. Tobacco road is great fun, but nothing like the other courses (I assume you probably already know that).

[CDM]

I would say Dormie also but mainly because the rumor is it will be private next year so play it while you can. Pine Needles you can always go back and play.

[scottc25]

I have played both. I choose Dormie as well.

[WJLIII]

Both are good choices. I like Pine Needles better than Dormie mainly because of conditions, flow and staff but also partial to Donald Ross courses. Same resort as Mid Pines so you will get a replay rate at PN. Check out NC Golf Panel, it gives a fairly objective rating for top NC courses.

[Cwing]

I’d go pine needles. I played both Nov of 18.

[Bucken77]

Both are awesome options. I am a little biased as Dormie is my favorite course here. Plus it's going private so you may not have the option next time

[jwellefson1]

Yeah I've decided to do Dormie, thanks everyone! I figure I can always go back to Pine Needles, if Dormie really does go Private this year it may be out of the realm of possibilities.

Thanks!

[spineshank]

Dormie is going private Jan 1st. That is official.

[tiderider]

> @WJLIII said:

> Both are good choices. I like Pine Needles better than Dormie mainly because of conditions, flow and staff but also partial to Donald Ross courses. Same resort as Mid Pines so you will get a replay rate at PN. Check out NC Golf Panel, it gives a fairly objective rating for top NC courses.

 

what was the replay rate? ... thinking about the weekend before t'giving when the rate is $95 ... didn't see anything about a replay rate on the website ...

[dpb5031]

Pine Needles if you're the type that enjoys lunch and a beverage in a nice setting after the round. Pine Needles has a great sunken bar, very good food, and some real old-school charm. Both courses are fun, so if it's golf only I'd try to choose the one in better condition that time of year.

[WJLIII]

> @tiderider said:

> > @WJLIII said:

> > Both are good choices. I like Pine Needles better than Dormie mainly because of conditions, flow and staff but also partial to Donald Ross courses. Same resort as Mid Pines so you will get a replay rate at PN. Check out NC Golf Panel, it gives a fairly objective rating for top NC courses.

>

> what was the replay rate? ... thinking about the weekend before t'giving when the rate is $95 ... didn't see anything about a replay rate on the website ...

Give the pro shop a call, replay rate is usually 1/2 what you paid for first round. Don’t advertise it and will book it on morning of play.

 

[jjthomp2]

My vote would be for Dormie. I love Mid Pines but Pine Needles left me underwhelmed

[httr]

I completely agree with jjthomp2. Dormie is Coore & Crenshaw with a fantastic staff. Mid Pines got a great update. Pine Needles is underwhelming and somewhat Donald Ross frustrating when he spits your ball off the green from the grave.

[jwellefson1]

Yeah Dormie was the right call, I loved it. Thanks everyone!

[httr]

Dormie is planning to build a bunch of cabins and a new clubhouse. It will be a gem.

[davep043]

As of Thanksgiving, there was no sign of new construction at Dormie, as far as I could see. They guys in the clubhouse said that off-the-street play would be ending at the end of this year, but they'd continue to take bookings from a number of travel services, including Talamore. It was in really good shape, and I enjoy playing it, so I'm torn between hoping to be able to continue to play, and hoping for the overall success of the venture.

[jjthomp2]

^ can it not be successful and still be open to public play? I just love Dormie and was bummed when i heard it was going private. Honestly would've loved to join if it was a stand alone membership but the structure of the Dormie Network doesn't allow a la carte memberships (they should!)

[davep043]

My concern is that they will indeed go fully private, and fail financially. If my memory is correct, Dormie was originally planned as a private club, suffered some financial hardships, had to accept outside play to survive, conditions suffered, and then was purchased by the Dormie Network. Right now they're spending money, the conditions were very good, but if they don't get enough national members, and refuse to accept outside play, they'll suffer. I have a hard time picturing "high rollers" coming to Pinehurst to stay 5 miles away from the Village, and not playing the other big names. I think Dormie would need to establish a relationship with Pinehurst to allow Dormie guests to pre-book #2 and #4, but in turn they'd have to allow PH guests onto Dormie, which eliminates some of the exclusivity that Dormie Network is marketing. I could be completely wrong, but I won't be surprised if Dormie ends up much like Pinewild and MidSouth, private but with limited (but still significant) outside play. Or maybe it will get gobbled up by Pinehurst, like the Nicklaus-designed National Golf Club (now #9) was.

BTW, I was pretty sure that Dormie was going to offer a limited number of local memberships at each of its clubs. Of course, that wouldn't help if you weren't fairly close to Pinehurst.

[jjthomp2]

unfortunately i cannot claim Pinehurst as "home". Even still if you were a local member the idea of paying for the other clubs some of which are incredibly difficult to travel to would be bothersome

[davep043]

I agree, and this is one of the reasons I can't be confident of the success of the Dormie Network. The list of "major cities" on the Dormie Club website doesn't seem very major to me, and these golf clubs aren't really all that close to even these semi-major cities.

I apologize to the readers, we've probably strayed off of the original topic a bit, so I'll try to get back to it. I played both MidPines and Dormie over Thanksgiving week. Both are outstanding courses. MidPines is my favorite in the area, but assuming the Dormie Network plans go through, I'd suggest that people play Dormie before the gates are closed to outsiders. Mid Pines will probably be open to us all for a long time.

[httr]

Still off topic. A friend of mine is a member of Dormie Network. We did a weekend trip to Ballyhack in Roanoke, VA (Dormie Network). They built cabins there and I'll tell you they are amazing! Each foursome gets a cabin. There is a common room and four separate bedrooms with on-suite bathrooms attached. They are building a dozen or more at The Dormie Club. My assumption is Dormie will go full-private but one can play if they book through an agency and stay. It should be a great place to stay while in Pinehurst.

Again, off topic. I much prefer MidPines to Pine Needles. The 2013 restoration was amazingly well done.

On topic. 1. Dormie 2. MidPines 3. Pine Needles

[jjthomp2]

ha i can't help it... discussing the dormie network is more entertaining sorry. There are also about 12x threads discussing the Dormie vs. xyz

 

Not denying they're throwing some serious coin at their clubs but i've also heard the due's have shot up immensely over the past few months. Know of a few guys that have already dropped because the rates increases were so high.

 

in my fact finding call with them they said for every new club added to the network it would go up $1000 a year. Again, probably never going to end up at a place like Briggs ranch which is why i wish they offered an a la carte model. Just want Dormie not anything else from a repeat play standpoint in their portfolio

[jwellefson1]

Honestly I have the same concerns about Dormie financially. I thought it did open as a private and failed so they went public. My other concern is there's no dearth of great public courses in Pinehurst. I'm concerned for the future of the Dormie Network honestly. I played Ballyhack in October and I liked it i guess but I wouldn't drive 3.5 hours just to play it. If i lived in Roanoke I'd consider it, but I mean I don't think I'd get the time to visit any of the other courses.

[jpbova]

Dormie did a membership drive a year ago with a 2 year incentive with reduced rates. The person I know that joined is probably going to quit when they raise his rates. He lives in Raleigh, and there are so many great courses between here and pinehurst to play. A lot of courses raising rates and making decisions based on the good economy around here. I think they will be in for a rude awakening when recession hits.

[birdiebarrage]

Dormie. Pine Needles is a solid course, but not in the same class imo.

As of this month, there was construction equipment there for the new clubhouse but looks like it is in the very beginning stages.

[CCtrey5]

Dormie is top notch.. played a few years ago before I realized what a great golf course is suppose to be. Still my favorite

[MaxBuck]

I agree that Dormie and Pine Needles are in different classes, but regard Pine Needles much more highly than Dormie (which nonetheless is pretty good).

[birdiebarrage]

I'm interested in that take. Probably hard to find two people who would agree on how to rank all the Pinehurst courses. The land, routing, greens are superior at Dormie, for me. I did enjoy Pine Needles and would definitely play it again, but of the grouping I last played — Mid Pines, Pine Needles, Tobacco Road and Dormie — it would be the one I return to last.