Carl...
I would love to hear you expound upon your post. I was a recent visitor to the Pinehurst area and was simply blown away. Truly great golf courses available to play with the greatest of ease. Most public so that added to the feeling of welcomeness. Statue of Donald Ross in the center of town, the amazing information in the Tufts archives, the sand green in the middle of town, Pine Crest Inn, etc. It felt like the entire town was committed to golf as a way of life, not just the resort being committed...the entire town.
Been there and seen that. I've spent the good part of an afternoon in the Tufts archives, stayed at The Carolina, eaten at the Pine Crest Inn, visited the shops and so on, but honestly don't recall seeing the sand green. The Village of Pinehurst itself is without a doubt committed to golf (more about that in my general response below).
But here is the kicker, I played #8 right before I left town and headed back to Atlanta. I had a great round, enjoyed the course, and was in a state of euphoria when I struck up a conversation with one of the people working for the golf course. I told him I thought it was a great town and I wanted to move there. His response was, "yeah, we get that a lot. The town is ok I guess."
So with that and your comment about how the town appears to visitors, I am interested to hear more about what I might be missing.
Thanks in advance.
FYI...Chris B. posted while I was typing and I haven't had a chance to read it yet.
Mac (and Chris),
I'll try again.
In the first place, understand that I'm not knocking Pinehurst or the sandhills golf courses as a golf destination. In fact, this discussion has got me thinking (always a useful outcome) that I need to take an extended (five days or so), golf vacation to the sandhills to really try to get into it. I've never taken an extended golf vacation to the area. It's all been daytrips or three nights at most as best I can recall, and never all about playing golf. Sometimes when you live so close to something and you know you can easily go there most anytime you want to, you put it off.
The original question had to do with "spend a summer." Regarding a couple of my specific remarks, I said "the experience is still a little bit faux for me." The key words are "experience," "little bit," faux" and "me." "Still" may be confusing -- not a good word to use in this position. I meant it to have the meaning of "contrast," but there is nothing to contrast it with. I also talked about my sense of how golf fits into the greater community.
The word, "me," is the most important. I've lived in North Carolina as an adult since 1965, four years as a law student and graduate student in the Triange area of Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill, and then in Charlotte. During those years I've visited the sandhills any number of times, for a variety of reasons, not all having to do with golf. So, it's hard for me to get rid of my personal history and how it influences things I see today. Go back to my earliest impressions, which can be the strongest, in the late 1960s. Beyond that, yes, I will admit I'm originally a Yankee. There are plenty of good things in the history of the rural south and some not so good and I'll leave it at that.
Second, "experience." Not just the golf, but the entire experience, bringing together my history, such as it is, with the area and thinking about living there for a summer and playing golf. In spite of its growth, the sandhills is still a little too rural for my taste, which is not to say it shouldn't or wouldn't fit others perfectly. So what I see is a rural old south on which a golf environment has been developed and I don't see the cultures mixing all that well. Recently I believe the sandhills region has become somewhat of a retirement destination, and it will be interesting to see how that affects the social and cultural enviroment.
"Little bit." That modifier is important.
The "faux" part has to do with a couple of things. First, as alluded to above, is the imposition of a golf community on top of a rural southern community. Remember that the Village of Pinehurst and the Pinehurst resort were developed as a destination for wealthy northerners, mostly, for vacation in the winter. Golf was added fairly early, but not right at the beginning, as an activity for guests. The golf did not develop locally. Second, the Village itself appears to be very tightly controlled to maintain someone's vision of a "quaint" golf town. I'd rather see a little more diversity. Of course, the Village is only a small part of the area, but beyond the Village I don't get a significant golf vibe. As I mentioned at the outset, maybe I need to update my experience. I could go on, but don't want to belabor the point. I hope you can see where I'm coming from.
A couple of references on the local "politics."
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PressReleases1998_3rd/July98_PinehurstNameLawsuit.html and
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2008/02/11/story10.html. I do not know how the issues raised by these lawsuits have been
finally resolved or settled.