PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA
To serious traveling golfers, the very name "Pinehurst" conjures up images of reverence and awe, on a par with the apex of golf destinations, St. Andrews and Pebble Beach. Of course, most of this reverence applies to a spring visit, when the dogwoods and azaleas are blooming in full force. If you're on a budget and are willing to brave the elements a bit, many area resorts offer midwinter packages, when courses are at their least crowded and green fees at their lowest. Prepare to bundle up, however, as average daytime highs are mid-50s for December through February.
Pinehurst Resort (No. 2 course)
7,335 yards, par 72; Green fees: $299-$359
910-295-6811, pinehurst.com
Following in famous footsteps doesn't get much better than at historic Number 2. For starters, it's a really easy walk, especially with a caddie lugging your sticks and second, every golf legend in this century and the last has made the same journey. Payne Stewart and Michael Campbell have won recent U.S. Opens here, but there's so much more. In 1940, Ben Hogan won his first pro tournament at No. 2, the starred in the 1951 Ryder Cup here. Jack Nicklaus won the North and South Amateur here in 1959; 26 years later, his oldest son won the same event.
To be fair, you'll pay for all that history, but at least in winter, you'll save $60 off peak spring rates to tackle the fiercest short game test in the U.S.
Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club
7,015 yards, par 71; Green fees: $115-$240
910-692-7111, pineneedles-midpines.com
Pine Needles played host for the third time in 2007 to the U.S. Women's Open, which witnessed so much rain, perhaps they should have scheduled it for January. Trading rain gear for sweaters seems fair so long as you can tackle this 1927 Donald Ross when it's playing firm and fast, the way it should play.
Premier shotmakers Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Christie Kerr have triumphed here, which proves you've got to have some game to conquer the sloping fairways and crowned greens at holes such as the petite par-3 3rd, the dogleg-left par-5 10th and the formidable par-4 18th, where getting the ball to the green is easier than keeping it there.
Pinehurst Resort (No. 8 course)
7,092 yards, par 72; Green fees: $189-$239
910-295-6811, pinehurst.com
Considerable debate exists as to which Pinehurst course is second best. Not only does Number 8 garner a majority of votes, but many whisper that it's even better than Number 2. Them's fighting words in Pinehurst, but it's undeniable that Tom Fazio's modern interpretation strikes a chord. Its clever Ross homages-swales and crowns and chipping areas-please the purists, as they frustrate even highly skilled short game practitioners while the rolling terrain and healthy carries over wetlands and dune ridges makes you appreciate your game-improvement clubs that much more.
Thrilling but brutal back-to-back expressions of Fazio's skills are the 238-yard, par-3 8th with its forced carry over scrub-filled wetlands and the 441-yard par-4 9th, with an uphill drive over a veritable desert, followed by an approach to a green large enough to house three little greens. If the course and weather beat you back come January, at least you've saved $50 for your troubles from what you'd pay in spring.
Great Value: Tobacco Road Golf Club
6,554 yards, par 71; Green fees: $49-$124
919-775-1940, tobaccoroadgolf.com
Towering sandhills, remarkable variety in landscape shaping and bunker design and plenty of alternate routes to get from tee to green characterize this 1998 Mike Strantz design. Or, put another way, Tobacco Road at times resembles golf on acid, so warped are some of the landforms and putting surfaces. Blind shots, mounds in incomprehensible places and greens that list like a ship in a storm explains how a 6,500-yard course can boast a slope of 150. The Road isn't suited to everyone's tastes, but chances are good you've never experienced anything like it, which makes it a must-play, especially for winter prices that top out at $59.
To serious traveling golfers, the very name "Pinehurst" conjures up images of reverence and awe, on a par with the apex of golf destinations, St. Andrews and Pebble Beach. Of course, most of this reverence applies to a spring visit, when the dogwoods and azaleas are blooming in full force. If you're on a budget and are willing to brave the elements a bit, many area resorts offer midwinter packages, when courses are at their least crowded and green fees at their lowest. Prepare to bundle up, however, as average daytime highs are mid-50s for December through February.
Pinehurst Resort (No. 2 course)
7,335 yards, par 72; Green fees: $299-$359
910-295-6811, pinehurst.com
Following in famous footsteps doesn't get much better than at historic Number 2. For starters, it's a really easy walk, especially with a caddie lugging your sticks and second, every golf legend in this century and the last has made the same journey. Payne Stewart and Michael Campbell have won recent U.S. Opens here, but there's so much more. In 1940, Ben Hogan won his first pro tournament at No. 2, the starred in the 1951 Ryder Cup here. Jack Nicklaus won the North and South Amateur here in 1959; 26 years later, his oldest son won the same event.
To be fair, you'll pay for all that history, but at least in winter, you'll save $60 off peak spring rates to tackle the fiercest short game test in the U.S.
Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club
7,015 yards, par 71; Green fees: $115-$240
910-692-7111, pineneedles-midpines.com
Pine Needles played host for the third time in 2007 to the U.S. Women's Open, which witnessed so much rain, perhaps they should have scheduled it for January. Trading rain gear for sweaters seems fair so long as you can tackle this 1927 Donald Ross when it's playing firm and fast, the way it should play.
Premier shotmakers Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Christie Kerr have triumphed here, which proves you've got to have some game to conquer the sloping fairways and crowned greens at holes such as the petite par-3 3rd, the dogleg-left par-5 10th and the formidable par-4 18th, where getting the ball to the green is easier than keeping it there.
Pinehurst Resort (No. 8 course)
7,092 yards, par 72; Green fees: $189-$239
910-295-6811, pinehurst.com
Considerable debate exists as to which Pinehurst course is second best. Not only does Number 8 garner a majority of votes, but many whisper that it's even better than Number 2. Them's fighting words in Pinehurst, but it's undeniable that Tom Fazio's modern interpretation strikes a chord. Its clever Ross homages-swales and crowns and chipping areas-please the purists, as they frustrate even highly skilled short game practitioners while the rolling terrain and healthy carries over wetlands and dune ridges makes you appreciate your game-improvement clubs that much more.
Thrilling but brutal back-to-back expressions of Fazio's skills are the 238-yard, par-3 8th with its forced carry over scrub-filled wetlands and the 441-yard par-4 9th, with an uphill drive over a veritable desert, followed by an approach to a green large enough to house three little greens. If the course and weather beat you back come January, at least you've saved $50 for your troubles from what you'd pay in spring.
Great Value: Tobacco Road Golf Club
6,554 yards, par 71; Green fees: $49-$124
919-775-1940, tobaccoroadgolf.com
Towering sandhills, remarkable variety in landscape shaping and bunker design and plenty of alternate routes to get from tee to green characterize this 1998 Mike Strantz design. Or, put another way, Tobacco Road at times resembles golf on acid, so warped are some of the landforms and putting surfaces. Blind shots, mounds in incomprehensible places and greens that list like a ship in a storm explains how a 6,500-yard course can boast a slope of 150. The Road isn't suited to everyone's tastes, but chances are good you've never experienced anything like it, which makes it a must-play, especially for winter prices that top out at $59.
