Listed by Golf Digest as number 19 of the 100 greatest golf courses in the United States and named by that same publication as the number one golf destination on the East Coast, Pinehurst No. 2 and the other fifty-some golf courses in the Sandhills have made the area a major center for golfers and golfing fans.

Nostalgia linksters who remember Payne Stewart’s last colorful 1999 Open round before his untimely death or recall Ben Hogan’s first tournament win in Pinehurst, or you care most for golfing today, the Pinehurst-Southern Pines area combines memories and excitement enough for all.

Pinehurst # 2, designed by the legend Donald Ross, has played host to the U.S. Open several times while nearby Pine Needles hosted the Women’s Open in 1996 and 2001, and other courses regularly host special events.

It is not accidental that this small golf mecca has grown up around the unique village of Pinehurst, a remarkable recreational and living spot designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, creator of New York’s Central Park. The locale was sufficiently appealing that Donald Ross dropped by at the turn of the 20th century to re-design a golf course and stayed for forty-eight years to design a handful of local courses and a hundred plus courses around the country, always calling Pinehurst #2 his “home course.”

These courses are accessible via Amtrak, airport limo from Raleigh, Greensboro, or Fayetteville, and several interstates. The Sandhills’ benevolent weather makes them playable almost daily throughout the year, and the area offers an array of remarkable restaurants and shopping for hours not spent on the course.