Club Memberships around Pinehurst

[IUBB]

Gang - I'm moving to Pinehurst and want to find a good club to join.  I spend most of my free time golfing and love to practice - so I'm less interested in the social aspect.  Does anyone here have suggestions of where I could get the most value in terms of ability to play and practice.  I've been told to stay away from the actual Pinehurst memberships, but I know within 30 miles or so there are some fantastic tracks.  Does anyone have any insight into what membership would entail in terms of cost?  I know it'll be somewhat expensive, but I'm not will to shell out anything over say 10K in terms of an initiation fee.  Thanks for any help!

[Looper34]

CC of NC and Forest Creek are top notch but big, big money.

Pinehurst resort has 10 courses, the best practice facility and if you buy a house that has an existing membership you can transfer it without a wait for I think about $12/13K. If not, the waiting list at PH is years long (and you need to live in PH) and I think it's $25K to join. I've heard the PH membership is a great deal once you're in. 

Pine Needless/Mid Pines/Southern Pines are affiliated but also has a membership waiting list that is years long and the initiation is $25K but again, I'm not positive on that number. The three are all great courses.

Talamore and Mid South are affiliated, are very nice courses and have great practice facilities but I'm pretty sure they cost over $10K to join plus you need to live there. Both are nice communities.

Pinewild has 2 nice courses plus a 9 hole track, nice practice facilities and nice houses but IDK what it costs to join. You need to live there as well but it's a nice area. The courses were also just sold to new owners (not PH) but it seems like it's not a big deal.

Independent courses close by with practice ranges and memberships but may be considered lesser to those above (by no means are they goat tracks) include Longleaf, Hyland, Legacy and a little further north, Quail Ridge may be more inline with your price point. 

There are other golf communities/courses a little further out from Pinehurst like Foxfire and a couple near Sanford that might also by worth a look.

Good luck in your research.

 

[IUBB]

Thank you so much.  I know the company I work for has a corporate membership at one of the PH courses - but I don't wanna abuse that.  I mean I do, but I probably can't 😅.

 

I've still gotta figure out the living situation so that may play a factor.  I don't need anything outrageous, and I may be content just finding a range pass somewhere for the first few months.  I guess the good news is there are a ton of great tracks within an hour.  The bad news is I'm probably gonna go broke trying to play them all.  Appreciate the time you took to help me out - have a great Saturday.  

[ChrisSP]

As a former resident, Pinehurst doesn't have much to offer in the way of affordable private golf. And the public/semi-private golf isn't all that affordable either, which isn't surprising given that it's a resort town. You can do memberships at places like Whispering Pines or Foxfire but you're going to get crowded courses and poor practice facilities.

 

One outside-the-box option you could look into is to join Pinewood Country Club in Asheboro. That's what I did when I lived in Pinehurst. I would hit balls in town at Knollwood when I wanted to practice, occasionally play locally at daily fee courses, and go up to Pinewood (about 50 minutes from Pinehurst) couple of times a week. I found Pinewood to be fun to play with some challenging holes, and there was a regular game to get into on Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

 

The advantage, at least when I was there (2014-15), was that by living in Pinehurst I qualified for a non-resident membership at Pinewood, which was really, really inexpensive and didn't include any round restrictions or F&B minimums.

 

Anyway, that approach might not appeal to some but I found that it worked well for my needs and was a better deal financially than anything that I explored in Pinehurst.

Edited November 18, 2023 by ChrisSP

[bill.ig]

4 hours ago, ChrisSP said:

As a former resident, Pinehurst doesn't have much to offer in the way of affordable private golf. And the public/semi-private golf isn't all that affordable either, which isn't surprising given that it's a resort town. You can do memberships at places like Whispering Pines or Foxfire but you're going to get crowded courses and poor practice facilities.

 

One outside-the-box option you could look into is to join Pinewood Country Club in Asheboro. That's what I did when I lived in Pinehurst. I would hit balls in town at Knollwood when I wanted to practice, occasionally play locally at daily fee courses, and go up to Pinewood (about 50 minutes from Pinehurst) couple of times a week. I found Pinewood to be fun to play with some challenging holes, and there was a regular game to get into on Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

 

The advantage, at least when I was there (2014-15), was that by living in Pinehurst I qualified for a non-resident membership at Pinewood, which was really, really inexpensive and didn't include any round restrictions or F&B minimums.

 

Anyway, that approach might not appeal to some but I found that it worked well for my needs and was a better deal financially than anything that I explored in Pinehurst.

Along those lines Siler City Country Club 45 minutes north of Pinehurst. No idea what the initiation fee would be but can’t imagine it’s too bad considering it’s open to public play. Not a bad track.

 

[caniac6]

23 hours ago, Looper34 said:

CC of NC and Forest Creek are top notch but big, big money.

Pinehurst resort has 10 courses, the best practice facility and if you buy a house that has an existing membership you can transfer it without a wait for I think about $12/13K. If not, the waiting list at PH is years long (and you need to live in PH) and I think it's $25K to join. I've heard the PH membership is a great deal once you're in. 

Pine Needless/Mid Pines/Southern Pines are affiliated but also has a membership waiting list that is years long and the initiation is $25K but again, I'm not positive on that number. The three are all great courses.

Talamore and Mid South are affiliated, are very nice courses and have great practice facilities but I'm pretty sure they cost over $10K to join plus you need to live there. Both are nice communities.

Pinewild has 2 nice courses plus a 9 hole track, nice practice facilities and nice houses but IDK what it costs to join. You need to live there as well but it's a nice area. The courses were also just sold to new owners (not PH) but it seems like it's not a big deal.

Independent courses close by with practice ranges and memberships but may be considered lesser to those above (by no means are they goat tracks) include Longleaf, Hyland, Legacy and a little further north, Quail Ridge may be more inline with your price point. 

There are other golf communities/courses a little further out from Pinehurst like Foxfire and a couple near Sanford that might also by worth a look.

Good luck in your research.

 

Last time I checked it was over 40 to join Pinehurst, and 22.5 if you could transfer the membership with a home purchase.

[oneunderbogey]

Not a member, but from what I have read and seen I would be very careful about  becoming a member at the resort.  It is absolutely a resort first, resort guests are the priority.  Not the type of place I would want to be a member 

[PeteNC]

If 10k is your limit there's probably near zero options.  

[allparz]

the Elites are expensive - However...

 

Whispering Pines has 2 very good courses that they have recently invested money in - Membership there maybe $2k (OK Range)

Foxfire has 2 very good courses - membership also short money.  (Driving Range OK)

 

Get a part time job at Pinehurst, can then play #1,#3,#5 for $5.  I think $35 to play #6,#7,#9,#8 - and 1 Month ask to play #2/#4 

(And of course use the range at any of those places)

Tee times are made the day before - but they are always some available - need to make friends with other employees or you can bring a guest for short money, like $35.

 

Longleaf is a decent course with very good Range - short money membership, 18 hole course and 9 hole par 3

 

Lots of other great courses that are accessible (Deercroft, Hyland, Legacy, Quail Ridge - further west is 7 Lakes and Beacon Ridge)

Join the Golf Week Am Tour and play every Saturday for $100 at good courses within 50 miles.

 

Luckily I joined Pine Needles/Mid Pines 5 years ago - $15k initiation then - $5k/yr now -- and of course they bought and restored Southern Pines and added to the mix -- Wait list is long - 2 friends of mine on it now for 2.5 years

 

[Florida Gator]

This is pretty recent as I am investing in the area, likely joining Pinehurst CC at some point in the next year or two.  

 

Pine Needles, Southern Pines and Mid-Pines membership wait list is now closed, there are 50 waiting and not enough turnover/attrition.

 

Pinehurst Signature is $60K, Premier Golf (doesnt include 7 & 9) is $35K, Classic Golf is $35K with a lower monthly but is only 1-6.  Wait list is estimated to be 1-1/2 years to get from the entry level Sports/Social to Classic or Premier, then another 6-12 months to get to Signature.  ALSO:  This really does irritate me a bit, but Pinehurst #10 is only going to be available for resort guests.  It “may change” in the future. 

 

Forest Creek is the other one that I have considered, haven’t met with them yet, but it is an option right now.

 

Hope that helps.

[IUBB]

Just wanted to say thanks for those who gave me some great intel.  I think I'll be able to find something within my price range.  I don't need a lot - I like to practice more than play - and should have some good hookups through my employer.  I just need to get down to the area and scope things out a little.  First order of business is finding a place, and subsequently putting a sim in the garage!  

[caeye0710]

On 12/2/2023 at 9:39 AM, IUBB said:

Just wanted to say thanks for those who gave me some great intel.  I think I'll be able to find something within my price range.  I don't need a lot - I like to practice more than play - and should have some good hookups through my employer.  I just need to get down to the area and scope things out a little.  First order of business is finding a place, and subsequently putting a sim in the garage!  

Feel free to DM me when you get down here! I live near Tobacco Road and frequent the PH area to play.