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IT'S a question guaranteed to stop a travelling golf writer in mid-swing. "OK, Columbus: which is your favourite destination for a golfing holiday?"
In our line of business that's rather like being asked if you've stopped beating your wife. It's a no-win situation and you ponder the potential gaffes in ignoring Scotland and Ireland and certain European fleshpots.
You avoid these by replying: "Tough question, but if we're talking long haul I'd have to flip a coin. Hawaii, maybe, or Georgia, or Thailand."
A brief pause here for effect.
"No. On second thoughts I'd have to say North Carolina in general and Pinehurst in particular." That usually has the desired effect, of turning the questioner green with envy.
Because virtually anywhere in the world most folk of a golfing disposition will have heard of Pinehurst, the cradle of American golf. It ranks alongside St Andrews as the place most want to see.
They say in US golfing circles that you don't go to Pinehurst on vacation; you go there on a pilgrimage. To the fortunate such a trip is an annual event, as imperative as it is addictive. Some families have been going for generations.
Thousands flock each month to the place regarded as the home of US golf, pulse quickening as they turn into the arrow-straight driveway whose terminus is the regal Carolina Hotel, known as The Queen of the South.
Colonnaded, pristine white and with a gleaming copper roof, it oozes the style and the aura that is the very essence of Pinehurst and yet it is as homely and welcoming as your granny's parlour.
To many, indeed, each visit is like going home. They'll have their favourite suite and their special table in the gracious Carolina Dining Room where dinner is almost a family gathering of familiar faces and friendly staff, where a piano gently counterpoints the quiet buzz of conversation and the clink of crystal and china.
A highlight is taking afternoon tea in the lobby, in arm chairs arranged in conversational clusters. Nearby is a large half-finished jig saw puzzle, a diversion for passing guests who will take a moment or two to place a piece and chat with others of similar mind. It's symptomatic of the pace of daily life, where the only need for a watch is to check on an imminent tee time.
Ah, yes, the golf! Some say that if Pinehurst had only one golf course worthy of the name the world would still beat a path there, week in and week out. As the great Bill Campbell has it:
"Pinehurst is more than good golf courses. It's a state of mind."
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