Pinehurst No. 9

Few addresses in American golf carry more weight than Pinehurst, North Carolina — a village purpose-built around the game in the Sandhills, where the longleaf pines, sandy soil, and mild climate have made it the country's most concentrated collection of serious golf. Course No. 9 is one of the resort's newer additions, designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1987, rounding out a routing that spreads across the property's quieter, more wooded corners. It plays as a complement to the celebrated older courses rather than a competitor to them — less scrutinized by the broader golf world, which gives it a certain ease and breathing room.