No gas stations.
No stoplights. No fast-food outlets. No franchise restaurants, chain motels or malls.
The less there is about the Village of Pinehurst , the more there is to like.
About 70 miles south of Raleigh and 90 miles east of Charlotte, Pinehurst reduces life to three basics: golf, luxury and history. Little else is allowed to intrude on this quaint time capsule so lovingly and carefully preserved.
One of America’s great golf meccas, Pinehurst consists of eight golf courses, named simply No. 1 through No. 8. The revered No. 2, designed by transplanted Scotsman Donald Ross, was the site of the 1999 U.S. Open and will host the tournament again June 16-19.
The Pinehurst Resort and the Village of Pinehurst’s historic district are separated by a road but are inseparable through history, each having been created in the final decade of the 19th century through the vision of Boston millionaire James Walker Tufts.
As the story is told at Pinehurst, Tufts was passing through the region on a train when the aroma of pine captured his attention. The scent was so invigorating, it convinced him the area would be ideal for a health resort. Pinehurst opened in 1895 as a middle-class getaway where visitors could cure their afflictions through the restorative powers of pine. A couple of years later, after the spread of disease became a problem, Pinehurst shifted its focus to golf.
The impetus for this transition was a dairy farmer. Tufts owned nearly everything in Pinehurst, including a dairy farm. One day the dairy farmer complained to Tufts that production was being jeopardized by resort guests who were hitting little white balls into the pasture and scaring the cows.
So, in 1897, Pinehurst began construction of a course. In 1900, Ross was hired as the golf pro. The Scotsman’s credentials included serving an apprenticeship under legendary golfer Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews in Scotland.
Over the next 20 years, Ross designed four courses at Pinehurst, including No. 2, which opened in 1907. Ross eventually would design more than 400 courses, but he always considered No. 2 his masterpiece. (In Denver, Ross designed Wellshire Golf Course, built in 1926. He also designed the original nine holes at The Broadmoor Golf Course in Colorado Springs in 1918.)
Ross remained at Pinehurst until his death in 1948, and through the years he continually tinkered with No. 2. His original design was less than 6,000 yards; by the time of his death, Ross had lengthened the course to more than 7,000.
Payne Stewart’s dramatic victory over Phil Mickelson in the 1999 U.S. Open rates as one of Pinehurst’s shining moments, made even more poignant by Stewart’s death in a Lear Jet crash a year later.
All about golf
Pinehurst also has had some not-so-lustrous moments. The resort stayed in the Tufts family until the 1970s, when it was sold to Diamondhead Corp., a New Jersey-based company that sank Pinehurst into bankruptcy in 1980.
“Diamondhead wanted to modernize the resort,’ said Pinehurst spokeswoman Janeen Driscoll. “They built homes and condos. They emphasized real estate over golf. They took a historical resort and made it modern.’
Dallas-based ClubCorp. bought Pinehurst in 1984 and shifted back to golf.
“Pinehurst is and always will be golf,’ Driscoll said.
Driscoll said ClubCorp has spent $100 million on the resort, much of it in renovations to historical properties such as the Holly Inn, an 80-room hotel that opened on New Year’s Eve, 1895, in the center of what is the Village of Pinehurst. ClubCorp owns the Holly Inn as well as Pinehurst’s glorious, 220-room Carolina Hotel, which opened in 1901, and The Manor, a 45-room hotel that dates to 1923 and is home to the Hackers Bar & Grill.
Pinehurst’s newest addition is the Spa at Pinehurst, which opened in 2002 next to the Carolina Hotel.
Although modern homes now lie on the outskirts of the Village of Pinehurst, the centerpiece is the tiny enclave of historic, Colonial-style buildings just a block or two from the resort. The original village was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, whose credits also include New York’s Central Park. Hardly more than a dozen businesses make up the village. The buildings virtually are unchanged since Tufts drove a stake into the ground across the street from the Holly Inn and declared the village would grow from that spot.
Heavenly music
The possibility that golf is next to godliness at Pinehurst is the kind of hyperbole that never would have occurred to me if not for something that happened one day last summer. I was near the end of a round on Pinehurst No. 2. I had hit my tee shot into the fairway on the long, uphill closing hole, and I had thought back to the 1999 U.S. Open, when Stewart and Mickelson came to the 18th with Stewart holding a one-shot lead.
Just as I was addressing my ball, church bells from The Village Chapel, across the road from the resort, rang out with a lilting rendition of “America the Beautiful.’
Considering the emotional state I was in – an avid golfer having made this pilgrimage to one of the country’s great golf meccas – I couldn’t help but pause for a bit to savor the moment.
The music wasn’t over, though. “Abide With Me’ followed and then, after I had reached the green, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.’
Although I three-putted on roughly the same line on which Stewart sank his 12-footer to win the 1999 U.S. Open (inspiration can boost my game only so far), I couldn’t have asked for a more uplifting finish to my Pinehurst experience.
Stewart’s victorious gesture – raising both his right fist and right leg – is memorialized in a bronze statue that overlooks the 18th green.
Open to the public, but…
Pinehurst No. 2 is one of only three U.S. Open venues that are accessible to the public – the others being Pebble Beach and Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in New York. (Torrey Pines, in La Jolla, Calif., will host the Open for the first time in 2008, and it’s also accessible to the public.)
Like Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2 is neither easy to get on nor cheap to play. Only guests staying at Pinehurst properties can make tee times, and the greens fee ranges from $290 to $345 – second only to Pebble Beach’s $395.
Just as at Pebble Beach, however, anyone can try his luck by showing up at the course and hoping for an opening.
Most visitors (95 percent, according to the resort) buy their golf at Pinehurst in packages that include accommodations. For some, it’s worth the extra bucks ($290-$345) to play No. 2 just so they can say they did it. But the reality is that if not for its history, No. 2 wouldn’t be Pinehurst’s most popular course. It’s not the resort’s most visually appealing layout.
While its wide, generous fairways are lined with lovely longleaf pines, No. 2 is surprisingly plain and flat, with lots of similar, straightforward holes and nary a water hazard in sight. But it’s far more challenging than it appears at first.
Our shuttle driver gave us fair warning.
“You look at No. 2,’ he said, “and it’s wide open, and at the end of the round you say, ‘How did I shoot that score?’ It’s all about the greens.’
Those Donald Ross greens are nothing short of dastardly – fast, crowned and full of ridges and mounds. In effect, the greens play much smaller than they appear, because shots that land near the edges usually roll off into deep swales.
On No. 2, if you don’t have a short game, you might not think old Donald Ross was such a swell fellow.
Ron Cobb is travel editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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The details
Getting there: Pinehurst is 48 miles from the Fayetteville (N.C.) Regional Airport; 112 miles from Charlotte (N.C.) International Airport; 87 miles from Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C.; and 74 miles from Raleigh/Durham International Airport.
Travelers can rent a car at one of the region’s airports. Pinehurst also offers transportation starting at $65 each way.
Lodging: Although Pinehurst has no budget hotels, several can be found in the area, including the nearby towns of Aberdeen and Southern Pines.
In addition to its historic hotels, Pinehurst offers numerous home and condo rentals.
Dining: The top of the line restaurant is the 1895 Room at the Holly Inn, followed closely by the Carolina Dining Room at the Carolina Hotel. The Carolina’s breakfast is said to be the best in Pinehurst. Less expensive options are available in the surrounding area.
Best time to go: The most favorable weather occurs in the peak seasons of spring and fall. Rates drop in summer and winter. Golf is generally played year-round at Pinehurst, with average daily highs in the mid-50s in winter.
Beyond Pinehurst: The surrounding area in south-central North Carolina, known as the Sandhills, offers more than 30 golf courses. Go to www.sandhillsgolf.com.
Information: Call 800-487-4653 or go to www.pinehurst.com for rates and packages. For broader information, go to www.homeofgolf.com, the Pinehurst Convention & Visitors Bureau site.
Splurge: With the U.S. Open headed back to Pinehurst this year, extra care will be taken to make sure course No. 2 is at its best for the tournament June 16-19. Even so, the course will be open until the end of May.
In the meantime, for the princely sum of $2,005, a golfer can treat himself to ultimate Pinehurst golf experience. The three-day, two-night package includes:
First-class transportation to Pinehurst from the airport in Raleigh
Unlimited golf on the championship courses, including at least one round on No. 2
An amenity package including U.S. Open balls and tees
A $100 gift card
Golf clinic with Pinehurst golf pros
Personalized locker with the golfer’s name on it
Caddy with the golfer’s name on his back. The caddie also will take photos of the golfer, including a shot next to the Payne Stewart statue
An announcement of the golfer on the first tee
The golfer’s score will be posted on the scoreboard at
www.pinehurst.com
A golfer’s massage at the Spa at Pinehurst
– Ron Cobb
