Ask golfers to describe America s greatest courses and they ll weep about Wow holes like the seventh at Pebble Beach Pinehurst No 2 has no signature hole and no breathtaking aesthetics but it proves that a course can be much greater than its individual holes You can land a jumbo jet on the generous fairways without dislodging a pinecone but No 2 is the toughest course on the planet from within 50 yards of the greens which are tougher to hold than a nervous turkey on Thanksgiving It takes only one chip shot rolling back to your feet to have confidence replaced by doubt and despair So what if it lacks the scenic splendor of other top courses No 2 might be the finest test of championship golf anywhere a course that defends itself through greens that gently draw blood in 18 different ways and not by having to bastardize the fundamental design every time the pros come to town Eamon Lynch The resort established in 1894 offers eight outstanding courses With the opening of the Centennial Course in 1996 Pinehurst now has more holes than any other resort in the world The No 1 Course is the most scenic and picturesque No 2 was renovated during 1996 and has been a mainstay of GOLF Magazine s course rankings The No 3 Course is a typical Donald Ross design featuring dome shaped greens No 4 got a complete makeover by Tom Fazio in 2000 but many of the original Donald Ross features are still evident including more than 140 pot bunkers No 5 is very tight and has numerous out of bounds stakes lining its fairways No 6 is extremely long and has many elevated greens No 7 is a modern design laid out on undulating terrain with lots of natural vegetation coming into play When Rees Jones was walking through the woods in 1984 and laying out the holes he came across several ancient bunkers of a long abandoned golf course He ordered the bunkers restored and today they sit on the fourth hole No 8 Centennial which opened in 1996 is a traditional Fazio design This course covers 125 acres of wetlands and freshwater marshes The greens have some of the characteristics of the greens on No 2 but are larger