Virginia Golfer May/June 2014 | Page 35

The Village of Pinehurst offers a variety of shopping options. your time. It’s like going to 31 Flavors and ordering vanilla.” From the clubhouse you travel an avenue called Carolina Vista through a canopy of pines and holly trees to the Carolina, the majestic century-old hotel looming in the distance with its signature copper cupola glistening in the sun. There’s fine food galore at nearly every turn at the resort and at cozy restaurants in town. PINEHURST RESORT (3); TOP RIGHT: JOHN MUMMERT/USGA PHOTO ARCHIVES “Turning down Carolina Vista headed to the hotel, it was like going back in time,” says May Wood, a top amateur in the early 2000s and a regular participant in the North & South Women’s Amateur Championship conducted annually at Pinehurst. “It was electrifying. I almost teared up the first time I saw it. It was the most beautiful place I’d ever been.” A golf mecca, the venerable Pinehurst No. 2 highlights the course offerings. OLD-TOWN TONE The Carolina Hotel harkens back to yesteryear with afternoon tea served in the lobby and one of the cherished recreations being sitting in one of the white rockers along the expansive porch, enjoying a cocktail, a cigar and a rehash of the day’s exploits on the golf course. The day begins with an expansive breakfast buffet in the Carolina Dining Room and continues with lunch or dinner in the Ryder Cup Lounge, a lively bistro adorned with photos and memorabilia from the 1951 Ryder Cup Matches held on No. 2. A spa facility that opened in 2002 is a wonderful respite for nongolfing spouses or for golfers to get their tired muscles loosened and massaged after a long day of walking and twisting around a golf ball. White wood siding, red brick and forest green accents dominate the color palette in the Village, a National Historic Landmark keeping company with some our nation’s most treasured locales. At the center of the Village is the Village Green, an oval staked out by architect Frederick Law Omsted in 1895 with the Village Chapel at one end and a library at the other. At various intervals throughout the day, hymns from the Coe Memorial Carillon in the chapel emanate throughout the Village. T ownsfolk and visitors shop for golf artifacts at Old Sport Gallery, enjoy thick deli sandwiches at The Villager Deli or quaff a pint at Dugan’s Pub. The Holly Inn, the original lodging establishment dating back to 1895, has been restored and now offers a luxurious haven for couples and houses the town’s only FourDiamond restaurant, the 1895 Grille. Next door is the Pine Crest Inn, which in 2013 celebrated its centennial and is renowned as one of the most convivial watering holes in all of golf. “Each day you spend in Pinehurst, you escape the real world,” says Chris Dalrymple, who owns Gentleman’s Corner in the Village of Pinehurst. “You mark it off as a day you succeeded.” Adds Fazio, who’s designed three courses at the resort: “T me the words ‘golf’ and o ‘Pinehurst’ are synonymous. Why go to Pinehurst? T play golf. It’s a community o that lives, breathes and loves golf.” Author Lee Pace is a writer from Chapel Hill, N.C., and a regular contributor to Virginia Golfer. He is author of the book The Golden Age of Pinehurst—The Story of the Rebirth of No. 2. The Spa at Pinehurst’s pool makes for the perfect place to unwind. w w w. v s g a . o r g Master_VSGA_MayJune14.indd 33 M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 4 | V I R G I N I A G O L F E R 14 33 5/1/14 12:45 PM