Donald Ross, Master Architect, Changed
The Face of American Golf 

“Donald Ross left behind a legacy of 413 courses, including such gems as Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina, Seminole in Florida, and the site of the 1996 U.S. Open, Oakland Hills outside Detroit. … Small wonder his name still resonates among the game's aficionados.”
– Bradley Klein, author of “Discovering Donald Ross.”

     You can't play our courses at Mid Pines and Pine Needles without thinking about Donald Ross, the man who created our layouts and who played such a key role in spreading the popularity of golf in the United States in the early 1900s.

     Born in Dornoch, Scotland, Ross was a golfer and club maker before coming to the United States in 1899 at the age of 27. He soon began to design and build courses up and down the East Coast and in the Midwest. In his lifetime, he laid out more than 400 courses, including Seminole, Oak Hill, Oakland Hills, Inverness and Scioto.

     He was based in the resort area of Pinehurst, North Carolina, where the mild winters lured visitors from the East Coast and Midwest who were looking for relief from harsh winters at home. Pinehurst was an ideal location for golf courses, and by 1919, Ross had designed and rebuilt four of them at Pinehurst Country Club.    

     He was then asked to lay out the two courses that now make up our resort in an area called Knollwood, between Pinehurst and Southern Pines. Mid Pines opened in 1921 to be followed by Pine Needles in 1928.   

     Ross was particularly known for layouts that required only a short walk from greens to tees, for his domed and crowned greens and for his challenging grass and sand bunkers. His courses have a way of fitting the lay of the land as he found it, and you'll find that same respect for the landscape as you play at Pine Needles & Mid Pines. Click here for more of our History.

     Ross, who died in 1948, was a founding member and honorary president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. And of course, you can also find him in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

     Our goal at Mid Pines and Pine Needles is to keep Donald Ross's legacy alive on his beautiful courses.

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