The golf courses, numbered 1-8 are among the highest ranked courses anywhere.  Venerable Pinehurst No. 2, with its inverted saucer-shaped greens and unbelievable history is worthy of every award in golf and it has won most of them.  The impressive list of major championships held at Pinehurst No. 2 will be extended with the recent announcement by the USGA that both the Men’s and Women’s U.S. Open Championships would be held there in 2014, in consecutive weeks, no less.

The actual resort dates back to 1895 when Boston soda fountain magnate James Walker Tufts bought about 5,500 acres of timberland in the middle of North Carolina. Tufts hired Frederick Olmstead to design and plan the resort and accompanying village. Olmstead designed New York City’s Central Park as well as the grounds of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

As soon as Donald Ross began sculpting great golf courses here, great golfers followed–coming here for tournaments and other events or just for pleasure. You’ll see their names in the clubhouse. Palmer, Nicklaus, Snead, Hogan, Pavin, Love, Bobby Jones, Miller, Watson and Faldo are just a few of the greatest of the greats who have come for the challenge, usually on course no. 2–in Ross’s opinion the greatest test of championship golf he designed. Others must think so too: Pick virtually any golf publication, and Pinehurst no.2 is consistently ranked in the top 10 of all golf courses throughout the country.

Unless you’re a member of Pinehurst Country Club, you  need to stay at one of the Pinehurst Hotels to play here.  The historical Carolina Hotel is the centerpiece of Pinehurst hospitality, and it’s well worth the price of admission, which fluctuates seasonally. The hotel offers several packages, many of which are good values, especially in the evergreen season (winter).

Legacy opened in 1991 and was the first design for Jack Nicklaus, Jr.  I’m sure his famous dad provided valuable input, but on his first try, “Jr.” created one of the most challenging and exciting courses in the area.   Legacy offers a very interesting mix of holes with a variety of lengths and challenges.  Most of the par 5s are reachable for the long hitters and the beautiful par 3s require patience and accuracy.

This is a fun golf course to play at a very reasonable price.  The variety of short and long holes leaves you thinking you hit every club in your bag at the end of the round.  The 8th hole is a short par 4 requiring a layup off the tee to a small landing area, leaving you a short to mid iron to a thin green that runs away from you and is downhill some 30-40 ft from the fairway.  You will probably remember every par 3 on the Legacy course, with water in play on all 4 par threes.   The 18th hole is a beautiful par 4 playing uphill to a mid iron approach shot that must be played over a lake to a large green.  Even here on the tough #18, “bailout areas” are provided to the left of the green for the more conservative approaches.

A small, but very functional clubhouse is staffed with  service-oriented professionals who will make sure your day at Legacy is an enjoyable memory.

Day 1:  October 21, 2009

Since several of our group drives into the Pinehurst area from Charlotte, Concord and Statesville, we decided to meet at Old North State Golf Club in New London, NC for our first round.  Old North State is a private club, but fortunately one of the members of our group was able to get us on this fantastic golf course, currently ranked #2 in North Carolina.  This is Tom Fazio “Eye Candy” at its best with Lake Badin providing a backdrop  for some of the most picturesque golf holes on the east coast.  There are several holes directly on the water with several more giving you a peek at the lake through richly forested corridors.  Most great golf courses finish with a strong sequence of holes and Old North State was no exception with 16-18 playing as some of the prettiest and most challenging we have ever played.

After an hour drive to Carthage, we reached our lodging headquarters, Little River Resort, located 6 miles north of the Village of Pinehurst and Pinehurst Resort.  Comfortable 2BR/2BA golf villas, located adjacent to a beautiful clubhouse and golf course made this a perfect spot to stay.  Daily full breakfast buffets (think Shoney’s), a short walk from our units were included in the very reasonable villa fee.  In fact, the villa fee was so reasonable that we opted for single occupancy and enjoyed the privacy of private bedrooms and bathrooms-all for around $60 per person per night.

Day 2:

We played Forest Creek North on Day 2.  Located  just 10 minutes south of Little River Resort, Forest Creek is a private Tom Fazio course and once again we were fortunate to have a member in our group to get us on.  Everything at Forest Creek was perfect, from the carefully manicured greens, tees and fairways to the most unique men’s locker room we had ever seen, designed similar to a horse barn complete with fireplaces, steam rooms and bar. 

After golf, we retreated to Pinehurst and the world-famous Pine Crest Inn, once owned by Donald Ross and now under the strong leadership of Innkeeper Peter Barrett.  If you visit the Pinehurst area, do not miss the Pine Crest Inn.  Mr. B’s Lounge, the bar located in the Pine Crest Inn is ranked as the #1 19th hole in the country.  The food is very good (try the pork chop) and enjoyable entertainment is provided by local legend Clarence Levine on the keyboard each Thursday-Sunday.  We even talked him into singing “Rocky Top” out of pure disrespect for one of the SEC fans in the group.

Day 3:

After the quality of our first 2 golf courses, day 3 was a challenge, but did not disappoint.  This was our day for 36 holes with the morning round starting at Mid Pines, another Donald Ross masterpiece.  Though relatively short, this venerable design had the feel of a time warp with small elevated greens and if you love golf, you will love Mid Pines.  After finishing the morning round and grabbing a quick bite in the historic Mid Pines Inn Bar, we visiting Mid Pine’s big sister across the street-Pine Needles.

Another Donald Ross design, Pine Needles is probably most famous for hosting US Women’s Open championships in 1996, 2001 and 2007.  The greens and several holes were redone just prior to the 2007 Open and the results are extraordinary.  The 18th hole is a beautiful dog-leg left Par 4 that requires a well hit and precisely aimed tee shot.  The approach shot to the big elevated green with multiple tiers is one of the most challenging you will ever play.  We finished our long day at dark and crawled back to the safety and comfort of our golf villas at Little River.

Day 4:

The rain held off for 3 days, but we had scattered showers when we played Little River Resort’s Dan Maples course on Saturday.  Recent improvements by the new owner, Oceanico are obvious everywhere you look.  Three of the holes have been redone and the overall look  and feel of the course is one of quality.  Particularly enjoyable were the GPS yardage units on each cart, which not only helped with club selection, but provided information about approaching weather problems and even College Football scores.  We all agreed that we would like to play Little River again on a nicer day!

Day 5: (Final Round)

We woke up Sunday morning to chilly weather in the high 40′s and a stiff wind out of the north, but we were still excited to play another Donald Ross gem in nearby Southern Pines.  The Southern Pines Golf Club, also known as The Elks’ Club course was very enjoyable and finished off a great 5 days of golf in the fashion that only Donald Ross courses can provide.

We agreed to meet again next August in North Myrtle Beach for outing number 31.  I’m sure we will play some great courses, but Little River Resort and the awesome lineup of courses we had for number 30 in Pinehurst will be a tough act to follow.

The Dining Room is a time-warp to earlier times with antique furnishings, relish trays, fine food at reasonable prices and probably the best pork chop you will ever eat, if you can finish a 20 ounce chop that you can eat with just a fork!  Ambiance is everywhere at the Pine Crest and if you are lucky when you visit, you might walk into a chipping contest into the fireplace of the lobby.  If the weather co-operates, and it usually does in Pinehurst, you will want to sit on the front porch and enjoy a cocktail before dinner.

Live entertainment is provided by local legend Clarence Levine, who presides on the keyboard Thursday-Saturday evenings.

If you’ve never slept in a room at the Pine Crest Inn, you’re in for a treat. If you’ve been a Pine Crest Inn guest before, you know what we mean.  There’s the Telephone Cottage, so named because this building was once a telephone switching station at the inn. This large room helps make your stay at the Pine Crest Inn so enjoyable. It’s very roomy and comfortable – a separate cottage nestled in the trees next to the Inn with its own driveway. You’ll enjoy the extra single bed in its own little room next to the master bedroom – ideal for children. The Telephone Cottage offers privacy but all the amenities of the hotel which is only a few steps away.