Pinehurst Resort & Country Club - No. 3

I've lived in the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area for around 35 years and have literally played every course within a 100 miles to include every Pinehurst Course, except this course, No. 3 (I avoided because of it's short/"senior" distance (5155)).
To give the reader some insight as to the golfer I am, I try to play at least twice a week and currently have a 9.5 GHIN handicap. i am writing this review in an effort to educate visiting golfers who might want to know what they are getting into.
In as short as possible fashion, here is the skinny on the experience:
if you are not a resort guest, you can ONLY get a tee-time for the "non-premier" courses - No. 1, 3, 5. You CANNOT schedule that tee time more than 24 hrs prior (understandable, resort guests get priority) I called for 2 days, receiving an automated message that said to leave my information for a call back which I never received. So, decided to drive to the clubhouse and made reservations in person. I was the first in the clubhouse and the staff were kind and accommodating. Paid $120 pp for our group of 8 on course No. 3. After overhearing that the driving range was closed due to the wear and tear it experienced during the US Open played there 9 MONTHS prior, I asked when it would open and was told "it should be open tomorrow" before our round. We all showed up an hour or more prior to warm up for our Saturday round and was told, "it should be open tomorrow." Ugh.
Putted around on the Thistle Dhu (fun as always) and did some chipping off mats at the chipping green.
Went to the 1st tee where there was a little chaos between the starters of courses No. 3 and 5, both starting at the same location. No big deal, got through it teed off about ten minutes later than scheduled - it's Saturday, got it.
Now the round - course conditions were...average at best. Typical for sandhills, there were barren areas but, this is Pinehurst right? We weren't informed by staff and It wasn't wet but, many of the holes were cart path only-which obviously, did NOT help with the pace of play and was strange because the fairways looked fine (I'm sure it bc of the traffic these courses get but c'mon, that's why you pay right?). Additionally, all par 3s, you had to hit from mats! Not large or well conditioned mats but, worn, 4x4' mats you barely had the room to stand on, setup for right-handers to tee, not lefties, of which we had two.
Finally, made it to the half-way house where we purchased domestic beer for $38 a six-pack. I just had to laugh. There are a literally a dozen other courses nearby you can play for half the price, are in better condition, and that have holes that will actually give you pause to take in the beauty of the layout.
I shot a decent 79 this day and was glad for the experience...because without it, I may have never known how right I was to never had played a round of golf on old No. 3. The choice is yours.

Pinehurst has so many golf holes, so it's not surprising that a few of them may be sub-par. #3 has a lot of those holes. Everywhere else we played was excellent. This course just did not hit.

Conditions at 3 were far below the standard set by other courses on our trip. The routing felt congested. There were houses everywhere and it felt like they were right on top of us.

If you have to play a Ross course and can't play #2, play #1, that's a cool golf course. If you want a short course, play the Cradle. I guarantee you will have more fun there than on 3.

Don’t let its short layout turn you away. This course is an absolute blast.

We were told the greens would be perfect after being aerated two weeks earlier. They were terrible. The course is 5100 yards. Often playing like a muni pitch & putt.. It’s simply not worth it, whether you’ regularly shoot scratch or 100.

I would rate this a strong 4.5 stars. It's not the beast that #2 or #8 can be, but as far as fun golf on a beautiful layout... #3 delivers! Perfect Donald Ross greens and great overall turf conditions. At 5100 yards there is a fair number of short holes, but each has character and the overall experience is just fun. The last 4 or 5 holes can surprise you as the course gets tougher on the home stretch. A wonderful walk on a perfect late May day!

When I was told that the course was only 5100 yards after the redesign I was a little bummed out that it would have no character. I was first off the tee at 726 the day I played and alone so it made for a quick round. Since checkout was at 1200 from The Carolina quick was good. I was done by 940 and headed back to pack up my room with plenty of time to spare. So the course is short but I had a blast playing it. The two par 5's on the back were completely different from each other which was nice to see. All the par 3's will test either your iron play off the tee or your putting game on the shorter par 3's. They have taken out the rough in certain areas letting the sand and natural grasses grow back reminiscent of #2. The greens were awesome with their turtle back style. Come up short or go long and off the slope you go. I enjoyed the round and the course a lot. The value was not in line with what the course is though in my opinion. $75 for an executive style course is steep even for Pinehurst. If you want a quick round and great conditions then give it a shot. I'm glad I did.

The information on this course is wrong, It is a 5,155 yard (executive) course from the tips. To call it a Ross course is not fair to Mr. Ross. most of the holes are considerably different from his original layout and the recent additions are cramped and, occasionally, dangerous when you are standing on the next tee.

Sad to see such bad things done to such a great place.

Pinehurst No. 3, along with No.1, are often over looked. Even though the course plays short it can play bey difficult. The greens are turtle backed and are very hard to hit. Hole 11 has one of the most difficult greens at the resort.