Pinehurst is not just a place to which you travel and play golf. Pinehurst is a place where you come under a spell. Maybe it's the fresh, pine and honeysuckle-scented air, or the friendly nature of the people you pass on the narrow streets or meet in the quaint shops. Then again it may be the feeling of history that envelopes you as you stand on the first tee of No. 2, the golf course referred to as "favorite"ore than one golf legend. Whatever it is, if you're never had the Pinehurst feeling, you must, at least once.

Golf began at Pinehurst 100 years ago with nine original holes known as Pinehurst No. 1. With the recent addition of Pinehurst No. 8, constructed to mark the centennial of the resort, this comfortably first-class property now boasts 144 holes of golf-more than any resort in the world.

The 1999 US Open Championship was played here, needless to say, on No. 2, which underwent an extensive restoration of its greens two years earlier.
Once the world's eyes are trained on the fairways and front porches of this genteel Southern burg, you can expect the competition for prime-season bookings to heat up. The recently acquired, 102-year-old Holly Inn, which was the Village of Pinehurst's first hotel, adds additional lodging space that should prove helpful.

There's some bragging to be done about celebrities who have visited this winter getaway-Annie Oakley, for example, whose musical biography "Annie Get Your Gun" has been enjoying a successful revival on Broadway, and Amelia Earhart, who once landed her plane at the Pinehurst airstrip. And there are, of course, other amenities besides the fairways and greens-convention space, tennis courts, pools and the 200-acre Lake Pinehurst.