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Pinehurst Offers
Wonderful Choices
By TODD VASEY
Traveling to Pinehurst for golf is a lot like traveling to
Florida for spring training baseball. There are so many options
it’s hard to know where to start. The region is home to some 50
golf courses, including a handful of the best layouts in the
United States, so where do you begin? One good place is National
Golf Club that hosted a recent International Network of Golf (ING)
conference.
Designed by Jack Nicklaus, National provides a nice blend of
quality and accessibility. It consistently receives four and a
half stars from Golf Digest, so the quality is there. And there
is accessibility for the general public, too, even though it is
a secluded, gated community. Construction began in 1987, just a
year after Nicklaus won his coveted sixth green jacket at The
Masters. He came to the Pinehurst area to build a masterpiece
and was mindful of his location. “Mr. Nicklaus knew the
importance of golf in this area so he placed a premium on
building a great golf course that was both appealing to the eye
and challenging,” says Tom Parsons, National’s long-time
director of golf. “Obviously I am biased, but I think he did a
wonderful job of achieving both.”
 The
18th hole at National C.C.
Although the property at National has its share of the sandy
pine forests that make the region famous, it also features
ponds, streams and a lake, which is where aesthetics come into
play.
“Aesthetically the water does make the course look more
pleasing, but the water was incorporated into critical parts of
the holes for a reason,” Parsons says. “I call it aesthetic and
strategic.”
The first indication this is not just a stroll through the long
leaf pines comes quickly. The second hole, a par-3, is carved
around wetlands. There are nine tees to allow a variety of shots
across the pond to an undulating green. There is beauty here as
rustic tree trunks rise from the water in the distance, but, as
Parsons says, there’s also strategy.
The fifth hole is quite memorable as well. The green is not
visible from the tee of this par-4. Only after hitting a drive
to the top of a hill are you able to look down upon a two-tiered
green protected by a creek. Nicklaus hired an English stonemason
to build a rock wall along the creek bank, adding a touch of
beauty and danger to the hole. Several other greens are fronted
by the stonemason’s work, including the ninth, tenth and
eighteenth.
It is the greens at National that determine a golfer’s success.
Nicklaus devised the putting surfaces in unique fashion. They
are not flat ovals; instead these greens are contortionists who
meander about with slope and undulation. Merely reaching greens
in regulation is not a guarantee of par. Golfers must target
their approach shots to distinct areas. Shots that miss the
putting surfaces often roll into collection areas, adding
another level of challenge.
National has a reputation as a real test. It’s hosted the first
stage of PGA Tour qualifying twice in recent years, as well as
serving a qualifying site for the U.S. Open. The course measures
7,122 yards when stretched to the tips, but that distance isn’t
always needed to test professional golfers.
The natural beauty of the course, the topography and the way it
is laid out and the many sets of tees makes this a great place
for all levels of golfers to play. The club has several rental
villas and condos on site, not to mention an excellent
restaurant in the clubhouse that is open to guests.
The staff at National will even sort through the multitude of
golfing options in the area and customize a package just for
you. However, don’t be surprised at the end of the visit if
National Golf Club was the highlight of your trip. Make sure
that you play one or more of the great courses at the Pinehurst
Resort and try to fit in Tobacco Road that is about thirty
minutes away.
For information on golf and accommodations at National Golf
Club, call (800) 471-4339, or visit
www.nationalgolfclub.com.
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