Pinehurst No.8

Pinehurst; No.8:  Opened in 1997, this is the last course commissioned for the Pinehurst Resort complex and celebrates the 100th anniversary of their existence.  The architectural honors went to Tom Fazio, born in 1945 and the designer of the highly rated Barton Creek, Black Diamond Ranch and Pelican Hills.  Mr. Fazio states that he was attempting to emulate the pure golfing experience as defined by Donald Ross with the classic No. 2 Course.  There Mr. Ross defined classic play with no forced carries and multiple routes to difficult pin placements on crowned and undulating greens.  Mr. Fazio says that he attempted to use bunkers not so much as penal hazards, but as visual elements to confuse perceptual judgment of distance and elevation to target areas.  Whether the course measures up to Old No.2 will be judged by time, but clearly Mr. Fazio had a more varied and equally prime area of land to work with.  The additional elements of water and more exaggerated elevations make the New No. 8 a top addition to the modern era of course design philosophy and an interesting contrast to the classical design of Donald Ross.

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Artists' Golf is a conceptual work of art Copyright 1995 - 2008 by David B. Lewis and all original paintings, drawings and art works are Copyright by David B. Lewis. All rights reserved.  Maps of existing courses are original artistic interpretations and impressions from a variety of sources and are not intended to be accurate renderings or representations of the actual courses.  They indicate my interest and study and are intended purely for the pleasure and information of the viewers and are not for sale or profit.