The Next Mountain at The Sandmines

The Next Mountain at The Sandmines

Pinehurst Resort’s satellite golf operation south of the main campus known as The Sandmines has evolved over two years in phases.

The Tom Doak-designed course opened in April 2024 with a golf shop in a trailer and lunch served from a food truck — albeit a very good lunch with a brisket sandwich with blueberry habanero sauce on the menu.

The clubhouse and golf shop opened in June 2025.

An upscale Southwest-themed restaurant named Station 21 followed in September.

And now ground has been broken on a lodging facility and a “golf cabin” with eight bedrooms that are due online in the fall of 2027 — about the same time that the Coore & Crenshaw designed No. 11 will be open for play.

“I feel like we’re constantly climbing a mountain,” says Tyler Yancey, the head golf professional. “With a new facility, you’re always adding the next big thing. You open the golf course. You open the golf shop. You open the restaurant. Now comes the lodging. You reach the top of the mountain, and you take a breath and gather your thoughts.

“What’s working? What can we improve? Then you get ready for the next ascent. Each step is so important to get just right. We’re building something really unique and different and it’s been fascinating to watch it unfold.”

Credit: Pinehurst Resort

The No. 10 course has been embraced for its visual interest and shot-making challenges and for its emphasis on walking golf. Outside the hottest summer months, golfers are required to walk — they can lug their bag, take a trolley or hire a caddie.

“It’s important to have that purist walking experience,” Yancey says. “We have a lot of guys who walk their home course with their MacKenzie bag or Sunday bag and go for a walk here and love it. There are really not as many as you would think who want to ride even in the summer. Most folks have the mindset that they’re coming here to walk the golf course, and that’s what they’re going to do. We recommend if you are able to walk and you stay hydrated; it’s by far the best experience.”

The No. 10 course is routed on the western portion of some 900 acres that Pinehurst acquired more than 15 years ago. Both courses have vestiges of the land’s early history as a mining operation. Pleasants Sand and Supply was founded after World War II and through the mid-1970s shipped sand over the adjoining railroad for building projects all over the United States, including the Blue Ridge Parkway.

When the mining operation shut down, rugged dunes, mounds and berms forged from mining excavations were left behind to be reclaimed by nature. Now, decades later, that land and the untouched surrounding areas are being reimagined among the towering pines that restored it, the first expression of which is Doak’s No. 10 — which comprises about 250 acres of the total property.

“There’s a lot of history at this place, and you just want to honor it,” says Angela Moser, Doak’s lead design associate on No. 10. “You want to have it be a part of what you’re building, so you’ll see reminders of it.”

Golfers the first two years of No. 10’s operation have marveled at how the course unfolds and evolves:

Caption: Pinehurst No. 10

Early holes gently flowing through the native pine trees and hardpan sand.

Holes seven and eight sitting atop the rugged and dramatic remnants of the mining operation, with features on the eighth likening it to the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

Holes nine through 14 with expansive views and big, bold elevation changes.

And 15 through 18 playing around water features and the volume lessening on the home stretch.

“The routing is phenomenal,” Yancey says. “Doak and Moser have brilliant minds and used those talents to find a special golf experience. It’s been very well received. Now we’re anticipating No. 11, which will have a totally different look and feel to it.”

The chapters keep flowing at The Sandmines. Stay tuned.

Lee Pace is a freelance golf writer who has written about Sandhills area golf for four decades and is the author of club histories about Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Mid Pines, Pine Needles and Forest Creek.

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