By Doug Neumann

If an avid Asian golfer is has asked which area of the world has the most golf holes per square mile their selection would most likely be China’s Mission Hills with its 12 courses. For an American, however, it would most likely be the US resort of Pinehurst in the Southeast portion of America in North Carolina.

The resort, which was born in 1895 when Boston philanthropist James Walker Tufts purchased 5,800 acres of timberland, offers 144 golf holes on eight full-size layouts. The most famous of the group is Pinehurst No. 2 that as designed by one of the sports most famed architects Donald Ross who spent his winters in the sand hill country of North Carolina away from his summer residence in the Northeast portion of the US until his death in 1948.

Golfers are drawn to the area to play this course that has a history that includes the late Payne Stewart’s 1999 win of the US Open over Phil Mickelson and has been the site for the 2005 US Opens, the 1951 Ryder Cup Matches, and the 1936 PGA Championship. The tract is also scheduled to host the 2014 US Open.

Traveling golfers, however, who are looking for a more non-traditional, and less costly golf have a worthwhile option that is a mere 10 minutes away.

While Pinehurst No. 2 is over 100 years old the unique The Pit Golf Links is a little over 25 years old, but was in the making for over 80 years.

In the early 1920s the Norfolk Corporation began commercial sand mining near the then tiny, sleepy town of Pinehurst. These operations were active until 1975 and the excavation of the sand carved a canyon of pits and mounds and single deep pit that is now filled with water to form a good size lake.

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