Though the Pinehurst area includes about 40 golf courses, visiting golfers really don’t have many options for an upscale golf trip featuring spacious, luxurious accommodations, a choice of multiple top-tier courses and on-site dining — all only a mile or so from the historic Village of Pinehurst.
Of course, there’s Pinehurst Resort with its 10 (soon 11) courses, including the world-renowned No. 2 layout. There’s also Ross Resorts, which have added five courses to tradition-laded golf and lodging favorites Pine Needles and Mid-Pines in recent years.
So, two groups now control 18 courses. Another five courses are strictly private.
But there’s one other great, golf/lodging option — Talamore Golf Resort. Located only a few minutes from the village, Talamore offers spacious, luxury accommodations, three upper-tier courses and on-site dining at more affordable prices.
Talamore Golf Club and Mid-South Club, each with an active property-based membership, have large clubhouses with food service, impressive practice areas and adjacent upscale golf package housing. Both courses are meticulously maintained with speedy, Champion Bermuda greens.
Meanwhile, at Legacy Golf Links, a recent acquisition in nearby Aberdeen, also with Champion greens, major restorations have been made to bring it up to the same level.
The golf is outstanding — and different in style from the famous, older designs at Pinehurst and Ross Resorts. All three opened in the early 1990s as upscale, modern alternatives to Pinehurst, Pine Needles and Mid-Pines.
Talamore Golf Club has a hilly, challenging Rees Jones design with a Scottish feel. Mid-South, an Arnold Palmer design, has spectacular, boulder-lined water hazards. Legacy Golf Club in Aberdeen, a recent resort addition, was designed by Jack Nicklaus II with several scenic hazards.
“I think we have a pretty good 1-2-3 punch,” said Matt Hausser, Talamore Resort’s general manager. “All three courses are different and give golfers a different style. Condition-wise, I’d put our greens up against greens anywhere else.”
Opened in the early 1990s with llama caddies as a gimmick, Talamore now allows the South American animals to roam in a large, fenced-in area adjacent to the 14th hole. Though the llamas no longer carry bags, they remain the main feature of the course logo, which resembles the iconic Augusta National logo.
Talamore’s new featured attractions are a dozen deep, sod-walled bunkers — redone in 2022 — that are as dangerous as they are eye-catching. Topping out at 6,641 yards with medium-size greens, the par-71 Talamore course carries a 73.3 rating and a 144 slope. Four other tee combinations range from 6,217 to 4,386 yards.
Talamore impresses early, especially at No. 2, a 196-yard par-3 guarded by two of the sod-walled bunkers. The par-5 18th is a picturesque, challenging par-5 stretching to more than 600 yards and requiring solid shots over water.
Sister course Mid-South opened to great fanfare in 1993 as “Pinehurst Plantation,” a name that was changed after a legal challenge. The Arnold Palmer layout features generous fairways, several beautiful boulder-lined water hazards, shapely bunkering, and like Talamore, speedy, undulating (though bigger) greens.
The course tops out at 7,003 yards with a rating of 73.8 and a slope of 146 with four shorter sets of tees ranging down to 4,700 yards.
Favorite holes at Mid-South include No. 2, a 400-yard dogleg right with five bunkers lining the left side of the fairway and water to the right; No. 16, a par-4 with boulder-lined water butting up against the front of the green; and 18, another long par-4 bending right to an approach over water and boulders to the putting surface.
A double green at the ninth and 18th at Mid-South are connected by a narrow neck. Like 18, No. 9 requires a precise approach over water.
If you’ve played Legacy, but not in the last two years (I had played in 2023), you should definitely give it another try. Though the course was kept in mint condition in its early years, maintenance deteriorated until Talamore Resort owners bought it in 2024.
Improvements have included 25 acres of new sod in the new fairways, better conditioning, clearing out of encroaching vegetation, redone bunkers, bridges and cart paths.
Stretching to 7,004 yards with a rating of 73.9 and slope of 133, Legacy offers rolling fairways and several water hazards.
Like its sisters, Legacy’s No. 18 is a watery, long hole requiring a long approach to a green above a stone-lined hazard. Rerouting has turned No. 16 into a dogleg right par-4 of more than 440 yards, while 18, formerly a par-4, became a par-5 with huge addition to the green that brings the pond more into play.
At the par-4 15th, a new artificial tee surface (you can place tees it in) was installed to provide consistent footing — the driving area sits atop a dam.
Due to open by the fall, an extra trio of par-3s, “The Cub,” was built in an area between the clubhouse and a centerpiece lake for practice and settling post-round wagers.
In addition to on-course housing options at Talamore and Mid-South, packages offer a variety of off-site cottages, condos and houses.
At Talamore, guests can stay in two- or three-bedroom, two-story villas within walking distance of the clubhouse. Each well-furnished villa has full kitchens, cable TV, wifi, daily maid service and washer and dryer. A pool and cabana is on the property.
Mid-South offers luxury Lowcountry-style condominiums in a compound near the clubhouse with spiral staircases, queen-sized beds, cable TV, wifi, washer and dryer and access to the community’s pool and tennis courts.
Golf packages with Talamore Resort include options to play at about two dozen other Sandhills courses, including Pine Needles, Mid-Pines, Southern Pines, Woodlake, Tobacco Road, Tot Hill Farm, Duke Golf Club and the two private courses at Pinewild.
Two-night, three-round on-site packages begin at $310 per person during the offseason. During the summer, the same package begins at $516 and increases to $646 during the peak fall season.
So that’s Talamore Golf Resort. Three outstanding modern golf courses with options to play others. Deluxe accommodations, on-course and nearby with today’s conveniences. And much more affordable than the big neighbor just down Midland Road.
“We have a good relationship with all the courses around here,” said Hausser. “Pinehurst is what brings people to this area. When they’re doing well, we’re also doing well.”
For more information on Talamore Golf Resort, call 800-522-6292 or go to www.talamoregolfresort.com
