Golf Travel

Taking A Members Trip or Buddies Trip

Pinehurst, Talamore And Mid South Accommodations Are A Trifecta That Should Be On Your List

By Joe Burkhardt, Publisher

Talamore’s Mid South Course

Ihadn’t been to Pinehurst, North Carolina in several years. So when I got an email back in January about a members’ trip to Talamore golf Resort and the Mid South Club this spring, I jumped at the chance to return Coming down from the peak of the pandemic, after being cooped up and masked up for more than a year, after golf was shut down for six weeks in the early stages and after being unable to travel at all, I needed to get away. Thankfully, it became apparent that golf was one of the few activities that people could do safely and I was one of those golfers - those new to the game, those who had always played, and even some who hadn’t picked up a club in a while - who helped this great game suddenly boom bigger than during the Tiger era.

It was a no-brainer for me, especially since I hadn’t taken advantage of one of Talamore’s great members’ trips yet. I knew it would be a great way to get to know some of the other guys I hadn’t teed it up with yet. You learn there is a certain camaraderie on these trips, not to mention the banter, laughs and characters you always find in a group of guys. Good ones, I might add. My first day down south we checked in and stayed at the Talamore Golf Resort Villas. These are beautifully-constructed brick condominiums that have grown to be able to accommodate over 400 golfers. The two- and three-bedroom villas are known as one of the most successful condominium accommodation programs in the Village of Pinehurst area thanks to an impressive list of amenities. Inside, there’s everything you could ask for including a full kitchen, full-sized beds, spacious living and dining rooms and multiple bathrooms. Outside, there is direct access to Reservoir Park, which features 165 acres of open space including a lake with fishing and boating, disc golf, and picnic tables, as well as the Moore County Greenway Trails that are available for that early morning run, walk or bike.

All of that put me in a good frame of mind going into our time on the golf course, where I was treated to a trifecta to come back to for years to come. I had recently read (in these very pages mind you) that the New Course at Talamore golf Resort had just been listed in Golf Advisor’s annual Golfers’ Choice rankings as the #1 public course in North Carolina, the #9 public course in the U.S. and the #22 public course in the U.S. for Course Conditions. Talamore’s sister club, the Arnold Palmer designed Mid South Club, was ranked as #16 in North Carolina.

Really? I thought to myself. I had to see this for myself. Afterward, I can without a doubt tell you that both golf courses give their guests everything you want and then some. The course conditions at the New course were some of the best I had ever seen, especially the greens that were completely redone as part of a multimillion dollar remastering of a 1991 Rees Jones design in 2016.

The highly-acclaimed project focused heavily on increasing playability, accomplished by converting those greens

The New Course at Talamore

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from bent grass to Champion Bermuda to provide consistently pristine putting surfaces while expanding them by 20 percent to fill “The Open Doctor’s” original pads and adding 60-inch TifEagle Bermuda collars. In addition, 62 bunkers were removed and landing areas both off the tee and around the green were widened. I also loved the Scottish golf-style bunkers, 12 of them in all, that were added in an effort to continue to help Talamore stand tall among its neighbors in the golf-rich Pinehurst region.

The Mid South Club, a private club just down the road that opens its doors to the public who book certain golf packages, has been a favorite since opening in 1993. The beautiful course set among towering longleaf pines didn’t disappoint. It’s the only Arnold Palmer signature design in the Sandhills and it has benefited from a similar facelift in 2017, that included the expansion of its greens by 40 percent and the conversion of its putting surfaces from bent to Champion Bermuda.

Overall, the trip was just what we all needed: a chance to escape to a resort that offers everything a golfer (and even a nongolfing spouse) could ever want: fantastic golf and fantastic accommodations all at a fantastic value. I highly recommend you put this trifecta on your golf trip bucket list. And if you do, send a story about your trip to me at tristategolf@gmail.com and you may just see it in print here. TSG