Designed by third-generation course architect Dan Maples, the Longleaf Golf and Country Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina is a course that offers each golfer an exceptional playing experience. This 18-hole, par-71 golf vacation destination was built on Starland Farms, a former horse farm, stable and race track, in 1998. This semi-private golf facility has recently been hailed as “The Most Playable Course in Pinehurst”, according to Golf Digest magazine.

Longleaf offers one of the strangest, but most interesting course layouts. Since it was built on what was once an old horse farm and race track, Dan Maples and his team of course designers kept parts of the old horse farm in place. The 6,600-yard course features a links-type front nine layout with an open feel to it.   The back nine is also very nice, as it offers great elevation changes and plenty of club selection. The course also presents rolling hills, tree-lined Bermuda grass fairways and bent grass greens. Although this golf vacation getaway may not be the toughest course in the Pinehurst area, it truly offers a great warm-up mode before you head for serious golf play.

Longleaf Golf and Country Club truly shines with Dan Maples’ love for tradition. Much of the area’s original features have been carefully preserved and retained, to pay tribute to the original site. The white fences, hedgerows and rail posts can still be prominently found by golfers and other visitors.  This splendid golf vacation getaway also offers an excellent membership package, a well-appointed club house, a fully-stocked pro shop, swimming pool, fitness center, lawn bowling green, tennis courts, and practice facilities. With a course rating of 71.0 and a slope rating of 123, the Longleaf course opened to the public in 1988. Designed with subtly-rolling Scottish-style fairways and impressive elevation changes, Longleaf Golf and Country Club certainly lives up to its moniker as the most playable course in the Pinehurst area.