Dateline: August 19, 2021 – Pinehurst

We traveled down to the Pinehurst Resort from Raleigh for the North/South Championship, a redo of last year. We decided to stay at one of the Pinehurst Resort properties, the Holly Inn. It was a lovely place a very nice room with a separate sitting room and we had lots of fun learning the history of the Inn which is situated next to the picturesque Pinehurst Village. Since we have posted about Pinehurst before we thought we might focus a bit on the history.

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Street Views of Pinehurst Village

Holly Inn of Pinehurst Resort

The Holly Inn was the first hotel built by James Walker Tufts, the founder of Pinehurst in 1895.  He originally founded it as a retreat from Northern winters, Pinehurst’s season ran from November 1 to April 30

On New Year’s Eve in 1895, The Holly Inn welcomed its first guests. For $3 a piece, 20 people celebrated sending out the old and ushering in the new at this hotel in the pine barrens of North Carolina’s Sandhills.

The prices have certainly gone up since then, but based on inflation about the same!  $3.00 per person or $6.00 per couple is approximately $195.00 today, pretty close to what we paid, and we even got a “to go” breakfast bag for the golf course!

Located in the heart of The Village of Pinehurst, the Holly Inn mixes architectural styles including Queen Ann Revival, Arts and Crafts, and Art Nouveau. All of it!  It all goes together.  We would just refer to it as Victorian today. The surrounding property has abundant foliage and winding pathways with a pool in the back.

The Holly has been enchanting guests since that first New Year’s Eve in 1895. In those days, the hotel boasted all of the modern amenities of the time: electric lights, steam heat, telephones, a solarium, billiard room, and the “best hair mattresses.” In the country.  Thank God, now that the golf season is year-round, they have A/C!

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Although much has changed since Holly’s founding, it remains a Village focal point.

Through the years, the inn evolved. Perhaps its most unexpected role came in the mid-’40s. In 1943, it was home to officers and their families when Camp Mackall was short on housing. 

Then in the summer of 1944, The Holly was the site of an Army-conducted study of the common cold. Conscientious objectors from Fort Bragg, who had religious objections to war, volunteered as guinea pigs for the experiment.  Here are the links to the study called the Pinehurst Trials. 

There were no Covid-19 studies being conducted at the hotel during our visit that we know about!

The inn struggled in the 1970s as newer, more modern accommodations caught the eye of travelers. The Holly closed for a period, and its future was uncertain — but after extensive renovations, it reopened in 1986. The meticulous restoration preserved the inn’s finest features, and it was designated a National and State Historic Landmark.

It was such a pleasure to stay at the Holly and would do it again in the future.

Dugans Pub

We have continued to return to Dugans Pub for various meals over the years. Great pub with reasonable pricing. We caught up with two friends, Liz and Pat from the Jacksonville area, they were both playing golf in the Veterans Golf Association National Championship in Pinehurst. We enjoyed a beer at Dugan’s and the next evening had a fantastic dinner at Theos Taverna in Pinehurst Village.

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Golf in Pinehurst – Is it Just One Course?

We had an interesting conversation recently with a relative about Pinehurst golf. He was from California and was not aware of the size of golf in Pinehurst, thinking it was only one course. The Pinehurst Resort has nine courses. The famous course at Pinehurst is Number 2 where the USGA Open has been played 3 times since 1999. The first four courses at Pinehurst No 1, 2, 3, and 4 were designed by Donald Ross with the other courses designed by other reputable architects.

There are about 20 additional courses in the Pinehurst area that range in quality, but most are very good to excellent. Many were also Donald Ross courses.

The Pinehurst Resort courses are fantastic with many ranked in the top 100 “playable courses” (not private) in the United States by Golfweek and Golf Digest. Pinehurst No. 4 was just renovated and taken back to the original Donald Ross design.

We had the pleasure of playing three great Pinehurst Resort courses in the North/South Senior Amateur. Number 2, Number 5, and Number 8. What a great experience.

Pinehurst Bronze Statues Around the Clubhouse

There are a number of bronze sculptures outside the main clubhouse that are memorable.

The Putter Boy

Donald Ross

Payne Stewart

John was unable to complete the 3rd round of the tournament (he was not feeling great) and Janice finally had a decent round of golf the last day and was not DFL… We completed the tournament on Wednesday and immediately started our trip North to visit Janice’s Aunt and Uncle in Harwich Massachusetts (on the Cape), and Janice’s sister Connie and Lee in New Hampshire. More on that later.