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By Gregg Dewalt

Bob Farren climbs into the all-terrain vehicle and cranks it up, noting that it will be a somewhat more comfortable ride around Pinehurst No. 10 than in a regular golf cart.

For Farren, the director of golf course maintenance at Pinehurst Resort, it’s a ride he has taken countless times around the new course that is scheduled to open in April 2024. He’s watched No. 10 take shape since the project was announced, and as its opening nears it seems as everybody wants to get the tour of the latest Tom Doak offering.

With Doak protégé Angela Moser overseeing the construction, Farren, who has been at Pinehurst since the 1980s, said he has enjoyed seeing No. 10 blossom into what is sure to be another gem in the resort’s portfolio.

“It’s been exciting to see it take shape,” Farren said during a stop at one of No. 10’s holes. “There were different times when I would be down here every day but now it’s to the point where I might be a week without coming down here and it’s really exciting to see the difference.”

Although it’s just a short drive from his office, Farren said his visits to No. 10 are different from when the iconic No. 2 and No. 4 were undergoing renovations. Those courses are just across the street from his office and easily accessible to the affable Farren.

“When I do come down here, I’ll spend a couple hours instead of just riding

through it in a golf cart,” he said.

Farren is the go-to expert when it comes to all-things Pinehurst Resort golf. He was there when No. 7 was built and also from the initial walk-through to the completed project of No. 8.

The process never fails to disappoint Farren.

“It was exciting here when you see the timber work and start seeing the corridors and the view lines take shape,” he said. “To be walking in the woods one month and you come back a month later and you have this.” More