Pinehurst North Carolina

By BRAD KING

Headed into 2023, there’s a palpable buzz pulsing throughout North Carolina’s Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen area — or as it is more globally recognized, the “Home of American Golf.”

Golf around Pinehurst boasts a storied legacy unlike any other place in the country, offering a variety of memorable sporting experiences on layouts created by the most renowned names in the game including Donald Ross, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Gil Hanse, Dan Maples and many others.

With nearly 40 golf courses in the Tar Heel State’s Sandhills region, all concentrated within a 15-mile radius of each other, there are a host of memories to be made. In addition to North Carolina’s best collection of golf courses, the area also serves up world-class dining and shopping, outdoor adventures, equestrian facilities and more.

The USGA is in the process of constructing its second headquarters — called Golf House Pinehurst — while the Pinehurst Resort’s legendary No. 2 course will host the 2024 U.S. Open and will serve as the USGA anchor site for future championships in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.

In addition, Pine

Club hosted the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open, the fourth time the storied Donald Ross layout has played host to the prestigious championship.

Golf House Pinehurst is an active construction site. The two-building facility will include an equipmenttesting center, a visitorfriendly USGA Experience and an educational landscape feature to be completed by the end of 2023.

Another previous USGA championship venue is Legacy Golf Links in Aberdeen. The Nicklaus Design now features Mini Verde greens and is beautifully routed around five lakes. The collection of par 3s at Legacy may be the best in the area, while the 18th hole nicknamed “The Bear” was rated as the best finishing hole in the Sandhills. In Southern Pines, Talamore Resort recently debuted its new Toptracer Range. The Toptracer technology uses highspeed cameras, coupled with sophisticated computer algorithms, to provide instantaneous ball tracking information to guests using the range that features 10 hitting bays.

Meanwhile, Golf Pride has opened a first of its kind Retail Lab in the company’s 36,000-square-foot Global Innovation Center (GIC) Pinehurst, which opened in 2019. It is located next to the Tom Fazio-designed and highly acclaimed Pinehurst No. 8 golf course that recently received a host of upgrades, including new TifEagle greens, bunker restoration and fresh bunker sand, improved drainage throughout the course and the removal of invasive trees limiting views and inhibiting sunlight. Aside from Golf Pride, the USGA, U.S. Kids Golf and the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) have moved portions or their entire headquarters to the area in recent years.