Why it matters
Tobacco Road is Mike Strantz's 1998 design 30 minutes north of Pinehurst — a quarry-and-dunes mind-warp of blind shots, giant waste areas, and false fronts. It is the most divisive public course in the Sandhills: half of /r/golf calls it the best green-fee value east of Bandon, the other half calls it gimmicky. Almost no one walks off neutral. If you like Pacific Dunes you will love Tobacco Road.
How to play it
Walking encouraged; carts available. 30 minutes north of the Pinehurst village. Pair with Pinehurst No. 2 for the most polar-opposite 36-hole comparison day in American golf — the classic and the contrarian back-to-back.