“What a change! This went from boring pot-bunker wannabe-Augusta to a super-cool mix of sandy wasteland and sandbelt-type stuff…An awesome experience…Loved the redo. Really put some bite into No. 4. Visually, much more stunning. This greatly improved the Aesthetics for me… Gil Hanse did a superb job in redesigning this course…Some of the routing has stayed the same, but the end result is much more natural and pleasing. The course seems to meld itself into the landscape. There are times where you see Course No. 2 next door; the two look like they belong together…”
Those are just a few of the Golf Digest golf course rating panelists’ comments regarding the Gil Hanse redesign of Pinehurst No. 4. You can read them all here.
The rating comes from Golf Digest’s 2019 Best New Courses lists for both Private and Public courses, which were revealed this week. On the Public list, No. 4 comes out as the second-best New Course behind Ozarks National by Coore and Crenshaw. (We know a little about Coore and Crenshaw’s work here at Pinehurst.)
Hanse had a big impact on the lists. His Ohoopee Match Club was voted Best New Private Course.
It’s been a notable few days for Pinehurst courses recently. Pinehurst No. 2 rose to 16th on Golf.com’s 2020-21 World’s Top 100 list. No. 4 continues its hot stretch with Golf Digest’s newest ranking, which comes about a year after Golf.com named No. 4 as “The Best New Course You Can Play.”