Must See: Mid Pines Restoration

We've all heard about the stunning transformation of Pinehurst No. 2 and after seeing it this week while in town for the USGA Annual Meeting, the Coore-Crenshaw revitalization lives up to the hype. Long term, even more exciting may be No. 2's influence in seeding other restoration and redesign work in the Sandhills.

I'm hardly the first to suggest you add Mid Pines to your Pinehurst itinerary, several have written about Kyle Franz's outstanding restoration of the Donald Ross original.

Ran Morrissett's review on GolfClubAtlas.com is the most comprehensive. Alex Miceli also raved about the work for Golfweek.com and Dave Droschak gave a big thumb's up for Cybergolf.

Franz worked on Pinehurst No. 2 with "The Boys" of Coore and Crenshaw fame, and is currently in Rio working as part of the team building the Olympic course. You can bookmark his under-construction website here.

Some photos from February when things are about as barren looking as they can be, but they still convey just how sensational the place looks and plays./