Tar Heel Travels

Pine Needles Ready to Host 
U.S. Open Women's Golf Championship

By Bill F. Hensley

Christmas will come early to Southern Pines this year for Peggy Kirk Bell and Kelly Miller. In two years their Pine Needles Resort will again host the U.S. Open Women's Golf Championship, and the event already is nearly sold out in tickets and corporate tents.

“We have had a tremendous year preparing for the Women's Open,” says Miller, the resort's general manager and son-in-law of Mrs. Bell, the owner. “Our goal was to sell out the tournament before the end of the year, and we are almost there.”

Pine Needles hosted the Women's Open in 1996, and that experience has made planning for the 2001 event much smoother, Miller says. Plus, “the entire state has backed our efforts to put on the best Open ever,” he adds.

The 144 top women players in the world will find a classic Donald Ross course in superb shape, as more than 60 members of this magazine's golf course ratings panel can attest. Pine Needles hosted the panel's annual outing in October, a two-day event which demonstrated that the resort offers two of the state's best courses — Mid Pines on one side of Midland Road and Pine Needles directly across the street — as well as some of the best food, most comfortable rooms and impeccable service.

“Our maintenance program has been most effective,” Miller says. “Dave Fruchte and his staff have worked hard, and the course keeps getting better all the time.”

The Bell family, which has owned Pine Needles for many years, purchased the neighboring Mid Pines three years ago and began a successful renovation restoring its original Ross design, says Miller, himself a fine amateur player and a member of the Golf Panel. “It needed some tender loving care when we bought it, and we have worked diligently to get it back into top-notch shape,” he says. That will be important during the 2001 Women's Open at Pine Needles because it will be Mid Pines that will host many championship practice rounds plus corporate outings and other VIP play.

Both courses and their separate lodging and banquet facilities are open to the public and also offer tennis, swimming and other amenities. In this magazine's 1999 golf course ratings, Pine Needles ranks sixth in the state and Mid Pines 15th. Both were designed by Donald Ross in the 1920s soon after he completed the nearby Pinehust No. 2 course, where this year's U.S. Open was played and won by Payne Stewart.

The golf is great but perhaps the best surprise about Pine Needles and Mid Pines is the food, particularly in the formal dining rooms where gentlemen still must wear jackets. It's a unique experience to play a challenging round of golf at one of these classic courses, then repair to the dining room for fine wine and a five course meal.

“We try hard to give our guests the ultimate in a golf and travel experience,” Miller says.

It will be difficult but not impossible to get tee times or make room reservations at both courses in the run-up to the 2001 U.S. Women's Open. But it's an experience I highly recommend because having been there will make watching the event on TV or seeing it in person all the more rewarding. For reservations, call Pine Needles at 910-692-7111 or visit the web site at www.golfnc.com/pineneedles.

Travel Notes

u Speaking of golf, two popular courses have reopened following extensive remodeling. Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, Carolina's home course, recently reopened after a complete makeover by Tom Fazio. Fazio also was the architect who redesigned Pinehurst No. 4, which was closed for the past year. Pinehurst No. 4 was built by Donald Ross around 1920 but had major changes suggested by Robert Trent Jones in the 1960s and again in the 1980s by his son, Rees Jones. Finley was designed by George Cobb and opened in 1950.

u The popular Smoky Mountain Railway in Dillsboro has been sold to American Heritage Railways, which operates a narrow-gauge scenic train in Durango, Colo. “Joining forces with American Heritage is an opportunity for us to grow bigger and better,” said owner Malcolm MacNeill. The Smoky Mountain train ran more than 800 trips this year between Dillsboro, Bryson City and Andrews.

u Listen next month for the sultry sounds of jazz around the state. Pinehurst will host its annual Jazz'n January the 28th and 29th, while Wilmington's festival is set for Feb. 4-5. Other jazz festivals are on tap at the Biltmore House and at the Grove Park Inn, both in Asheville.

u Bent Creek Lodge, a six-room country inn, has opened in Arden, an Asheville suburb. Accommodations in the 7,000-square-foot facility have various North Carolina themes. Innkeepers are Doug and Jodee Sellers.

u Did you know that there are more than 50 heritage gardens in North Carolina that welcome visitors? A complete list of them, with addresses and other information, is available by calling 1-800-VISIT-NC.

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. This article first appeared in the December 1999 issue of the North Carolina Magazine.