Video: Pinehurst No. 2's Finishing Holes
/Pinehurst finishes beautifully with the par-5 16th converted to a par-4 because that's what the USGA does, leaving the longest par-4 of the round to one of the toughest landing areas to hit. A right-to-left shaped play gains a huge advantage here in playing to a tough green to hit.
The sixteenth will play 528 yards for the men, 458 for the women.
I'm not sure Donald Ross would have meant for this to be 202 for the men and 156 for the women, but he also never could have imagined 202 as a 7-iron shot as we are seeing more and more these days. The smallish green received some massaging to get another hole location option. It's been a hole that sits in the landscape quite artfully, yet seems to favor a right-to-left shot because of the green tilt left and prevailing wind in the same direction, even though the bunker placement would seem to suggest a left-to-right shot.
The flyover:
The finishing hole will most likely force a lay-up off the tee based on what the flyover is showing and what I saw in February. The reward just isn't there for hitting driver and getting a better view into what may be the most difficult green on the course to hit an approach close to.
At 461 for the men and 419 for the women, the hole is very short by modern standards, but because of the green, remains very tough.
The flyover:
