Bill Coore's new design at Pinehurst joins Tom Doak's No. 10 at the Sandmines development. Here's what we know about No. 11 and what it means for planning a trip to Pinehurst.
September 9, 2026
Pinehurst Resort just announced that Bill Coore's new course, designated No. 11, is in its final stages of development at the resort's Sandmines property. It will join Tom Doak's No. 10 at the Sandmines site — a few minutes from the main resort campus — and is expected to open in spring 2027.
For anyone who plans golf trips to the Pinehurst area, this is significant news. Here is what we know and why it matters.
Bill Coore is a North Carolina native who grew up about an hour from Pinehurst and visited the resort as a kid. He is now 80 years old and sits on the short list of the most important golf course architects of the modern era. He and his longtime partner Ben Crenshaw performed one of the most celebrated course restorations in recent memory when they returned Pinehurst No. 2 to its original Donald Ross character in the late 2000s — removing fairway rough, restoring the native sandy waste areas, and giving the course back its natural identity before it hosted the 2014 US Open.
A new Coore design at Pinehurst is not a commercial project. It is a personal one. He has described the opportunity as having a special place in his heart precisely because of his history with the resort and the region.
The Coore and Crenshaw design philosophy is worth understanding before you play anything they have built. They are minimalists. They route courses to follow the natural land rather than reshaping the terrain dramatically. Their greens reward thoughtful, ground-level play rather than aerial approaches. Their courses look quiet and natural until you actually try to score on them, at which point the subtlety reveals itself as genuine difficulty.
Golf Digest got an early look at the site with Coore and a group from the American Society of Golf Course Architects. The description that came back is worth noting for anyone used to the more open, expansive character of Tom Doak's No. 10 next door.
No. 11 is described as intimate. The routing moves through tall pine trees and over naturally sandy land — the legacy of mining operations on the site in the 1930s that left behind sand spoils that look, in Coore's own words, like something you might find in Ireland if not for the tree cover. The feel is classic walking golf, close quarters with the land, subtle rather than dramatic.
This is a direct contrast to No. 10, which features stark elevation changes and expansive views. The two courses will complement each other rather than compete. Playing both in a single trip will give you two completely different experiences of the same property.
The greens will be classic Coore and Crenshaw. Contoured, firm, running fast, and demanding enough precision on approach that most golfers will leave the course thinking about two or three putts they misread.
The practical implication of No. 11 opening is straightforward. Demand for Pinehurst tee times is already high enough that last-minute booking is difficult for the most coveted courses. Adding another top-tier course to the Sandmines development will not reduce competition for tee times — it will increase overall interest in the resort and make early booking even more important.
If you are planning a Pinehurst trip for 2027 and want to play No. 11 in its opening season, the right move is to start that planning now. Opening-year tee times at high-profile courses get claimed quickly by golfers who have been watching the development closely.
No. 10 by Tom Doak, which opened to significant acclaim, is already difficult to access on short notice. No. 11 will likely follow the same trajectory once it opens and earns its first round of reviews.
Pinehurst already had a stronger case as a group golf trip destination than most people outside the Southeast realize. The resort operates nine courses. The surrounding area adds another dozen or more legitimate layouts within 30 minutes. Tobacco Road, Mid Pines, Pine Needles, Southern Pines Golf Club, Tot Hill Farm — the concentration of quality is unusual for anywhere in the country.
No. 11 adds another anchor to a destination that did not need more reasons to visit, but now has them anyway.
The one constraint that has always existed at Pinehurst — that the most desirable tee times require advance planning — is only going to become more true as the course inventory grows and the resort's national profile rises.
Plan accordingly.
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