It has been a whirlwind of travel for me over the past several months! Have you missed me? Well I’m back with lots to talk about and places to see! First, lets get a relaxing game of golf in! Let’s see, that would best be played at Course #2 at the famous Pinehurst Golf Club, Pinehurst, North Carolina! Now for the background of this famous course and then on to the doors of the villages! How could I bring you to Pinehurst and not show you the famous Course #2?

In 1895, James Walker Tufts of Boston, was a successful business man in silver plate tableware and the inventor of the Arctic Soda Fountain, (more about him in a future post) when he bought five hundred acres at $1.25 per acre and eventually added five thousand acres more, to develop a resort for people of modest means in the Carolina sand hills. He wanted a spa, where people from the North could pursue outdoor sports through the extended mild temperatures of the South. He hired Frederick Law Olmstead to design the village, which features curving lanes and a central green. The village was dubbed Tuftstown originally, but eventually the village became a municipality and the name was changed to Pinehurst, one of the names not chosen when deciding on a name for Martha’s Vineyard! Who knew? And who was Frederick Law Olmstead? He was a famous American landscape architect who co-designed many well know urban parks such as Central Park in New York City, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and the Vanderbilt Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. So Tufts was going all out from the very beginning. So lets look some more at Pinehurst #2. 

The first golf course at Pinehurst Resort was laid out in 1897. The first championship held at Pinehurst was the United North and South Amateur Championship of 1901. Pinehurst #2, the best known course and the one we see on TV during the U.S Open Golf Tournament, was designed by Donald Ross and completed in 1907.  In 1915, the Pinehurst Race Track was developed. The resort now has 9 golf courses, three hotels, a spa, and extensive sports and leisure facilities.

And here are Donald Ross and James Tuft still enjoying their game of golf!

And who can forget Payne Stewart who won the 1999 US Open and his third major title on the final hole for a one stroke victory?

The Pinehurst Historic District is just one of many sites here listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today the village of 16,000 is listed as one of the best places to live in North Carolina! So let’s look at some of the doors of Pinehurst and sister village, Southern Pines………….

Many beautiful, old homes can be seen on the road to Pinehurst #2. I’m giving you the Southern Charm Tour!

There are oodles and oodles of shops and eateries, all with there own distinct look…………and pine needles everywhere!

I hope you have enjoyed the village of Pinehurst and it’s neighbor Southern Pines.  If you are in the area stop by and see this great North Carolina treasure! This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0!   Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors?

PS And if you have an old dough mixer around be sure to put flowers in it!  See you next week with more doors from around the world!