10 nice issues to do in and round Pinehurst, in accordance with our native skilled

Welcome to Pinehurst. You’ve picked a terrific week to go to. However sorry. No. We will’t get you a tee time on No. 2. The famed course is booked strong for a modest get-together referred to as the U.S. Open, and the resort it anchors is hopping-busy, too. 

To not fear, although. There’s lots else to do round these elements, golf included. Ran Morrissett, GOLF Journal’s structure editor, has lived in neighboring Southern Pines greater than 30 years. Listed below are his 10 suggestions for consuming, ingesting and enjoyable within the space — that may nonetheless depart time for spectating at No. 2.

1. Reservoir Park

There isn’t any water on Pinehurst No. 2. However there’s loads of it at Reservoir Park, a 165-acre swath of greenery with a lake at its middle. The 2-mile strolling path round it’s a scenic approach to get your steps in. The park is open each day from daybreak to nightfall, and entrance is free.

2. An unbeatable breakfast

Because it first opened, in 2010, in a comfortable house in downtown Southern Pines, Betsy’s Crepes has grown in dimension and repute. Immediately, it ranks as an area establishment, best-known for its fresh-made candy and savory crepes (although it additionally serves terrific soups, salads and panini at lunch). The ambiance stays as heat and welcoming as ever, identical to proprietor Betsy Markey, who has run the place since day one.

3. Swing tips from a guru

Golf is a endless quest, and I don’t know a greater information than Doug Thompson, at Hyland Golf Membership, a great-value public course in Southern Pines. Thompson retains issues easy, and his observations are spot-on.

4. A fantastic spherical of golf

Woodlake Nation Membership, house to a newly renovated Ellis Maples design, is a personal facility. Nevertheless it’s open to exterior play throughout U.S. Open week on the cheap fee of $125 for walkers. When you rating inside 4 photographs of your handicap, Morrissett says he’ll purchase you a beer.

5. Killer cocktails

It’s 5 o’clock someplace. And even when it weren’t, Morrissett would nonetheless counsel you stomach as much as the bar at Chapman’s Meals & Spirits, in Southern Pines. Ask for a Marytini, made by none aside from Mary herself, with blue cheese, olives and Tanqueray gin.

6. Finest burgers and canine

Finest scorching canine on the flip? That’s a toss up, Morrissett says, between Pine Needles and Southern Pines Golf Membership. Attempt them each and determine for your self. The burger class brings in wider competitors. However Morrissett’s brief checklist consists of Ashten’s, Southern Prime Steakhouse, Chapman’s and 195 Southern Fusion.

7.  The proper pie

For the perfect pizza this facet of Naples (Italy, not Florida), Morrissett factors to Vito’s Ristorante & Pizzeria, the place the cellar is stocked with hard-to-find Italian wines in any respect value factors. 

8. Out-of-this-world al fresco eating

For that, seize a seat on the patio at Ironwood Restaurant, which serves spot-on fashionable American delicacies within the coronary heart of historic downtown Pinehurst.

9. A primo picnic

Getting up-and-down at Pinehurst No. 2 is not any picnic. If that’s what you’re after, Morrissett recommends stocking up on meats, cheeses and crackers at Southern Whey, in downtown Southern Pines, after which heading to Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Protect, the place miles of climbing trails wind via a sandy panorama that lends the area its title.

10. An immersion in Americana

In our go-go fashionable age, it’s onerous to discover a industrial middle that extra approximates Mayberry than downtown Southern Pines. For the total Opie expertise, all inside a one-block radius, seize a scoop on the Ice Cream Parlor Restaurant, take pleasure in a glass of wine on the porch at The Wine Cellar (yeah, we all know, Opie wasn’t of ingesting age, however you might be), after which soak up an indie film on the Dawn Theater.

Josh Sens

Golf.com Editor

A golf, meals and journey author, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Journal contributor since 2004 and now contributes throughout all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Finest American Sportswriting. He’s additionally the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Enjoyable But: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.