Tobacco Road’s Matchbox gives golfers a different question from the first tee: how much flight does this little shot need? The distance may look modest, but the trees, slopes and synthetic putting surfaces keep a wedge from becoming an automatic answer.

Birdogey’s tour, published September 3, explores the 12-hole short course through its design and the people who built it. The course opened August 1 beside Tobacco Road’s established layout in Sanford, North Carolina. The film is a chance to understand what makes it unusual before walking into the same decisions yourself.

Small holes with several possible answers

The official course description places the holes in the forest, and the tour makes the setting central to the experience. Players have to consider branches overhead as well as the ground around the target. A high shot may solve one problem while introducing another.

In the video, designer Mark White talks through shaping the site and finding holes among its existing features. White also helped shape Mike Strantz’s original Tobacco Road course. Here, his explanations show how a much smaller piece of ground can offer its own sequence of choices.

Forbes’ opening report identifies Carlton/Marshall Golf Design and White as the design team. It lists holes ranging from 40 to 105 yards and describes synthetic teeing areas and green complexes. Those short distances leave room to experiment with trajectory, landing spot and the route into a target instead of measuring the outing by its longest shot.

The surface becomes part of the shot

The artificial turf is the obvious conversation starter. In Birdogey’s tour, the different playing areas make the golfers consider how the ball will respond once it reaches the ground. Watching an actual shot gives the discussion more substance than simply debating whether synthetic grass belongs on a course.

The tour also shows how trees can shape a choice before the ball ever reaches the putting surface. That combination gives the Matchbox a personality beyond being a compact practice facility: the golfer still has to choose a shot and live with its result.

LINKS Magazine’s recent post brings the course to another audience. Its September share is a useful invitation to look closer at a course already open, rather than a new opening date.

A short-course walk worth studying

Some of the film’s most engaging passages concern small variations: a different pin, a bank beside a green, a route around an obstacle. The details give repeat visitors something to argue about and something else to try.

For golfers used to working on a screen, that is a familiar pleasure. A session becomes more interesting when the target calls for a particular flight instead of another stock swing. The Matchbox offers a physical version of that challenge, with trees and terrain making the choices visible.

Tobacco Road lists the Matchbox as walking only. Watch the tour for the design conversation, then check the club’s current booking information before planning a visit. The attraction is the chance to play several ideas in a small space—and discover which ones survive contact with the ground.