The Sandhills area of North Carolina, in the 1920's, was a bustling resort enclave with golfers from the Atlantic Seaboard and points 
beyond visiting to enjoy its Donald Ross-designed courses and soothing way of life. Ross, a native of Dornoch, Scotland, came to America in 1899 to forge a career in golf – a game in its infancy in a new land. Throughout his career, Ross would design nearly 400 golf courses and become one of the preeminent course architects in the history of the game.
Two of his finest pieces of work were erected just four miles from Pinehurst, down Midland Road in Southern Pines. Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club opened in 1921, and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club followed in 1928.
Today, couples and families, corporations and championships are drawn to both Pine Needles and Mid Pines' gracious hospitality, personal touch, professionalism and the challenge of two Donald Ross masterpieces – gems that have been maintained to the original challenge Ross envisioned.
The Sandhills area has been a haven for competitive golf since the days when luminaries like Ben Hogan, Walter Hagen and Byron Nelson were winning the North and South Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Pine Needles has helped carry that mantle into modern times with three U.S. Womens' Opens in 1996, 2001 and 2007, won by Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, and Cristie Kerr, respectively.
While Pine Needles retains the classic routing and design elements from Donald Ross' original work in 1928, agronomic advances the last 10 years have significantly improved the quality of putting surfaces. In 2004, Pine Needles underwent an important restoration project. Under the watchful eye of Ross aficionado, John Fought, the greens were rebuilt, bunkers were dug out and fresh sand was installed. Contours and dimensions of greens were restored to their original forms as shown by a series of vintage aerial photos of the course. Through this restoration, the shot values and challenges that Donald Ross intended have truly been recaptured.
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