At the Dixie Cup, I made a spur of the moment call to Pinehurst after learning about this deal. My original plan was to head to the Pinehurst area, stay at a Hampton Inn and play Tobacco Road. However, this seemed to be a better alternative for the money. With single occupancy at the Carolina, the whole tab was around $320. Since I ate at the Pinecrest Inn on Sunday night, the breakfast buffet got off fairly easy.
The last time I played #2 was in the mid-1980's. At that time, it was three days and two nights with breakfast and golf (including #2) for $189...sigh. I cannot remember if the Diamondhead Corporation still owned Pinehurst or had sold it off, but I do remember the old World Golf Hall of Fame sitting behind what I believe was the 4th green.
My impressions of #2 remain what they were some twenty plus years ago. For a very fine test of golf, it is about as painless a round as you can play if you accept par as a good score and acknowledge that some bogeys are inevitable.. The corridors of play are very wide (even though the mowing patterns still come inside the majority of fairway bunkers), the challenge is all in the approach shots and around the greens. Anything over the greens is practically dead (or at least a one shot penalty due to the difficulty in getting it close to a back pin given the steep drop off and the greens sloping away from you). One of the things I did not remember is how deep some of the greenside bunkers are and how intimidating shots are from some of them (I found the bunker to the left of the first par three and could only see the top half of the flagstick).
The temperature was 75 degrees on the Monday after the Dixie Cup with brilliant sunshine. I was in the second group off at 8:10, finished by 12:30 and was back home in Ohio by 9:00 that evening. It was an enjoyable way to finish my Dixie Cup travels. Also, after playing Palmetto, Aiken and Camden, the greens at #2 almost seemed tame by comparison. I would estimate they were running at about 10 and were in beautiful condition.
It's hard to say that $222 is a bargain for a round of golf but with a rack rate close to $400 a round and the lodging and breakfast thrown in, it is definitely worth checking out...especially if you have never played #2. I think the deal expires on February 25.