Arg's Travel Log

[Argonne69]

My lucky week with the weather. Didn't look good at the start of my stay here, but turned out great. Cooler temps this morning and the few clouds turned to clear skies. Got extremely lucky with the pace today. Teed of early as a single walking behind two members with their own carts. Made the turn in 1:20 and came to a crashing halt. Turns out the course uses split tees on the weekend, and it was looking like a 40 minute wait before continuing play behind several foursomes. Ugh. The #10 starter saved the day, though. Looking at his teeshot, he asked me if I minded jumping to the 14th. No problemo. He drove me out to the 14th, and I had clear sailing the rest of the way. I was able to head out on the 10th, and then joined a twosome on the 11th for my final three holes. Disaster avoided. Lol. 

 

Talamore Golf Resort today. The Llama course at Talamore is a Rees "Open Doctor" Jones design. Beautiful piece of rolling sandhills terrain with tall pines lining most holes, and only a few homes visible behind the trees. Looks like it's undergoing a bunker renovation project, as most of the bunkers have been converted to (nasty) sod faced ones. Expected more bunkering from Rees, but the ones out there are brutal if you're up against the face. Water in play on just five holes. Eight holes with left/right movement including three doglegs. 

 

Despite a couple of short forces carries, I thought it was fairly easy off the tee. Minor misses were no problem catching the low cut rough. Big misses were generally big trouble in the dense trees/junk, but there were a few holes were one could play from the pinestraw. 

 

Approaches were also straightforward. Fairly big greens with only a handful of front bunkers. Always seemed to be a safe option away from trouble. Greens had gentle contouring and slope, but were very speedy. Putts didn't break a lot, but speed control was the order of the day. Up and downs were a mixed bag. Had plenty of easy chips, but there were plenty of raised greens that could result in a tough uphill pitch from an uneven lie. 

 

Par 3s were OK. Nothing really stood out. The downhill 5th was good. Nice variety of length ranging from SW to mini driver. The three par 5s were meh. Nothing reachable. The long 1st was tough with a marsh coming into play on the 2nd shot. The pair of short 4s were benign. Can't believe a tough/fun short 4 is so difficult to design. 

 

Conditions were very good. Teeboxes and fairways had a few iffy areas, but were generally decent. Rough was cut low and very consistent. Bunkers were excellent. Plenty of nicely groomed sand. Greens were firm and fast. Speed was at least 11. 

 

Played a Blue/White combo at 6270 yds on the par 71 layout (69.4/125). One of the better days ballstriking in recent weeks. Putting was very tentative on the slick greens. One birdie and four bogies. Shot of the day was the 7i approach on the par 4 18th. Didn't risk trying to bite off a big chunk over the water, so I bailed right. Pin was front left behind the bunker, and hit my patented low draw that landed short of the green and rolled to 6' to set up the solo birdie. It's funny how I average one birdie a round with the majority coming on the 18th hole. Lol. Of course the Golf Gods were sleeping today, and didn't realize that I jumped to the 14th. Highlight of the day was once again being out on a scenic course moving at my own pace. Seriously, I don't quite understand how I'm able to play so many early morning rounds on empty courses, especially in this area on a holiday weekend. 

 

Tough call here, but I'm going stingy with 5 cows. Rees needs a few more bunkers, a risk/reward par 5, and a fun short par 4. Appreciate that they allow walking, but no walking rate. The $239 weekend rate is pure Pinehurst gouging. A hundred dollars would be reasonable. Despite the well known name on the scorecard, this one can be bypassed. 

 

[Argonne69]

Talamore (Llama) Golf Resort, Southern Pines, NC 

 

Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, joy 

 

 

 

 

Lol. Always nice to make the turn and see this 

 

 

#14 

 

 

Nice lie. Oy. 

 

 

Fun tee shot on the 18th 

 

 

Ugh. 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/8ehf4q8j22svhen1s43da/ADawUGfGYOzmaVwQjrTuCEU?rlkey=tl0fhs57ndcvs6s83zs8yxl1e&st=wyzy23s8&dl=0

 

Edited May 23 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Nothing open "early" on a holiday weekend Friday, so it was back to Southern Pines Brewing for a tasty Liquid Aloha Friday imperial stout. 'Was so caught up in writing my review that I didn't snap a pic of the full pour. Lol. Enjoying sitting outside on a very pleasant morning in Southern Pines. 

 

 

[GowerND11]

I know pictures don't always do justice, but charging that price for what looks like a fine course is absolutely disgusting. 

[Argonne69]

Oy. Veh. Drove 20 minutes north to Pik N Pig for some BBQ, and find out that they're out of ribs and brisket at 1:30 pm. Here's an absolutely crazy idea. Maybe prepare a little more ribs and brisket? Last time I checked there wasn't a shortage of either. Can't sell what you don't have. Grr. Walked out without spending a dime. 

 

 

 

[stevopagolf]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

My lucky week with the weather. Didn't look good at the start of my stay here, but turned out great. Cooler temps this morning and the few clouds turned to clear skies. Got extremely lucky with the pace today. Teed of early as a single walking behind two members with their own carts. Made the turn in 1:20 and came to a crashing halt. Turns out the course uses split tees on the weekend, and it was looking like a 40 minute wait before continuing play behind several foursomes. Ugh. The #10 starter saved the day, though. Looking at his teeshot, he asked me if I minded jumping to the 14th. No problemo. He drove me out to the 14th, and I had clear sailing the rest of the way. I was able to head out on the 10th, and then joined a twosome on the 11th for my final three holes. Disaster avoided. Lol. 

 

Talamore Golf Resort today. The Llama course at Talamore is a Rees "Open Doctor" Jones design. Beautiful piece of rolling sandhills terrain with tall pines lining most holes, and only a few homes visible behind the trees. Looks like it's undergoing a bunker renovation project, as most of the bunkers have been converted to (nasty) sod faced ones. Expected more bunkering from Rees, but the ones out there are brutal if you're up against the face. Water in play on just five holes. Eight holes with left/right movement including three doglegs. 

 

Despite a couple of short forces carries, I thought it was fairly easy off the tee. Minor misses were no problem catching the low cut rough. Big misses were generally big trouble in the dense trees/junk, but there were a few holes were one could play from the pinestraw. 

 

Approaches were also straightforward. Fairly big greens with only a handful of front bunkers. Always seemed to be a safe option away from trouble. Greens had gentle contouring and slope, but were very speedy. Putts didn't break a lot, but speed control was the order of the day. Up and downs were a mixed bag. Had plenty of easy chips, but there were plenty of raised greens that could result in a tough uphill pitch from an uneven lie. 

 

Par 3s were OK. Nothing really stood out. The downhill 5th was good. Nice variety of length ranging from SW to mini driver. The three par 5s were meh. Nothing reachable. The long 1st was tough with a marsh coming into play on the 2nd shot. The pair of short 4s were benign. Can't believe a tough/fun short 4 is so difficult to design. 

 

Conditions were very good. Teeboxes and fairways had a few iffy areas, but were generally decent. Rough was cut low and very consistent. Bunkers were excellent. Plenty of nicely groomed sand. Greens were firm and fast. Speed was at least 11. 

 

Played a Blue/White combo at 6270 yds on the par 71 layout (69.4/125). One of the better days ballstriking in recent weeks. Putting was very tentative on the slick greens. One birdie and four bogies. Shot of the day was the 7i approach on the par 4 18th. Didn't risk trying to bite off a big chunk over the water, so I bailed right. Pin was front left behind the bunker, and hit my patented low draw that landed short of the green and rolled to 6' to set up the solo birdie. It's funny how I average one birdie a round with the majority coming on the 18th hole. Lol. Of course the Golf Gods were sleeping today, and didn't realize that I jumped to the 14th. Highlight of the day was once again being out on a scenic course moving at my own pace. Seriously, I don't quite understand how I'm able to play so many early morning rounds on empty courses, especially in this area on a holiday weekend. 

 

Tough call here, but I'm going stingy with 5 cows. Rees needs a few more bunkers, a risk/reward par 5, and a fun short par 4. Appreciate that they allow walking, but no walking rate. The $239 weekend rate is pure Pinehurst gouging. A hundred dollars would be reasonable. Despite the well known name on the scorecard, this one can be bypassed. 

 

Talamore has a private club near me outside of Philly that is according to a friend of mine very tough such so that he told his host  after playing it "So what do you guys do around here for fun?"

[imagine29028]

Talamore and places like that in the Pinehurst area are really best done as Package Deals....saves you big time money. Yeah those revetted bunker faces are new, I like them; different strokes. 

[caniac6]

I knew the assistant superintendent at Talamore when it first opened. He and the superintendent took the llamas out as caddies for a trial run . The llamas took off with their clubs, and it took over an hour and a half to catch them. They went to the course next door, and every time the guys were about to catch them, they took off, again.

[Argonne69]

Wound up at Casa Garcia in Carthage. It's not Saturday, so I wasn't looking for mole pablano. Lol. The pollo with grilled onions, mushrooms, and cheese sauce was excellent. The salsa wasn't bad, and the house margarita was very good. If you find yourself 20 miles north of Pinehurst, it's not a bad option. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Pleasant, boring morning. Nice to have a day off. Slept in an hour. Felt great. Washed the bedding and paid a few bills. The credit card continues to average $8000 a month. That covers basically everything, RV parks, golf, gas, insurance, food, beer, satellite, phone, and internet. 

 

Booked an RV park in Virginia Beach for mid-June. The place looks a little dumpy, but the alternative was a KOA down the road that would have cost $140 a night. Ouch. 

 

Booked a round at Springfield GC near Char for Tuesday. Also booked a round at Carolina Lakes for Thursday. I'm staying southwest of the city, and trying to avoid long drives. Plenty of private courses, but public golf seems lacking for such a large city. 

 

After a short midday nap it was off to Hatchet Brewing Company for a Death Machine Belgian Tripel. Very tasty with a nice fruity aftertaste. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

I thought I smelled an imperial stout two blocks away. Lol. Southern Pines Growler has 30 taps with a decent mix. I visited the taproom a few years ago. 

 

The Incendiary Brewing Company (Winston-Salem NC) Interception of Entropy (2025) imperial stout is a little sweet, but still quite boozy. 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

I thought I smelled an imperial stout two blocks away.

 

😄

[Argonne69]

Vaquera Bar and Cocina in Southern Pines.  Not a top 10 mole pablano, but better than average. Gotta remember to order the mole without sour cream. Lol. Love sour cream, but a good mole doesn't need it taking the bite out. Salsa and margarita were both very good. 

 

 

[Atwsc7]

19 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Pleasant, boring morning. Nice to have a day off. Slept in an hour. Felt great. Washed the bedding and paid a few bills. The credit card continues to average $8000 a month. That covers basically everything, RV parks, golf, gas, insurance, food, beer, satellite, phone, and internet. 

 

Booked an RV park in Virginia Beach for mid-June. The place looks a little dumpy, but the alternative was a KOA down the road that would have cost $140 a night. Ouch. 

 

Booked a round at Springfield GC near Char for Tuesday. Also booked a round at Carolina Lakes for Thursday. I'm staying southwest of the city, and trying to avoid long drives. Plenty of private courses, but public golf seems lacking for such a large city. 

 

After a short midday nap it was off to Hatchet Brewing Company for a Death Machine Belgian Tripel. Very tasty with a nice fruity aftertaste. 

 

 

Played Springfield some.  Solid course and some tricky greens. Fort Mill

is my favorite public course up there. 
 

I think PN might get 8 cows from you the 2nd time around. Best time of the year to play it 

[CanFred]

20 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Pleasant, boring morning. Nice to have a day off. Slept in an hour. Felt great. Washed the bedding and paid a few bills. The credit card continues to average $8000 a month. That covers basically everything, RV parks, golf, gas, insurance, food, beer, satellite, phone, and internet. 

 

Booked an RV park in Virginia Beach for mid-June. The place looks a little dumpy, but the alternative was a KOA down the road that would have cost $140 a night. Ouch. 

 

Booked a round at Springfield GC near Char for Tuesday. Also booked a round at Carolina Lakes for Thursday. I'm staying southwest of the city, and trying to avoid long drives. Plenty of private courses, but public golf seems lacking for such a large city. 

 

After a short midday nap it was off to Hatchet Brewing Company for a Death Machine Belgian Tripel. Very tasty with a nice fruity aftertaste. 

 

 

Visited Hatchet recently - great little brewery! Love checking in on this thread @Argonne69!

[Argonne69]

Lol. OK, now I know I'm dreaming. Gorgeous morning weatherwise. A little cooler, and mostly cloudy early, but after a few holes it started to clear up, and allowed for some very nice photos. Got ridiculously lucky with the pace. I'm so, so spoiled. Showed up over an hour early on a very busy holiday weekend, and I chatted with a player in the parking lot. His group of 20 players had the first five tee times. Well, so much for getting out early. Paid my greens fee in the pro shop, and they said to check in with the starter. It was 5 minutes before the first group was set to tee off. I told the starter that I was a single walking, and he immediately asked me if I wanted to head out immediately in front of the foursomes. Whoa! You don't have to ask me twice. Headed out on the beautiful, empty course, and finished in a leisurely 2:45 after snapping a hundred photos. What a day. 

 

Second visit to Pine Needles today. I played it three and a half years ago during my first month of the journey. My how time has flown by. Definitely a different feel in late May versus late November. The Donald Ross design ranks #63 on Golf Digest's Top 100 Public list. Can't really argue with that. 'Classic Sandhills golf with moderate elevation change, tall pines, and plenty of natural looking bunkers. 'Could use without the homes and the locals walking their dogs on the course, but that's a minor nit. Fairway bunkering was very good, but give me a Bobcat and I'd easily find a few more. Greenside was also a little light. Water in play on just three holes. Four holes with left/right movement including three doglegs. Overall it's a wonderful looking course, and the weather certainly didn't hurt. 

 

Pretty straightforward off the tee. A couple of short forced carries weren't a bother. The bunkers weren't really an issue unless you were crooked. Minor misses could result in a crummy lie off the fairway, as there isn't a ton of rough out there. Big misses were generally trouble with the dense trees. One might get lucky and find a ball in the pinestraw. 

 

Approaches were tough. Greens had a decent size, but 'ol Donald tossed in more than a few false fronts, sides, and backs. A number of holes had front bunkers that needed to be carried. The greens weren't as penal as I remembered, but they still had plenty of contouring and slope. Not the toughest Ross greens I've played, but they still required a delicate touch. Up and downs were mixed. Plenty of closely mown areas next to the raised greens, so options existed. Still managed a few tough shortsided pitches. 

 

Par 3s were very good with sufficient trouble. Variety of length wasn't bad for a Ross design playing PW to FW. Can't say one one really stood out. The three par 5s were meh. The dogleg 15th was reachable with a good drive, but none had any real risk. I guess the 15th could be considered a risk/reward hole due to the large bunker on the inside corner. No short 4s on the old school layout. 

 

Conditions were very good, but not pristine. Fairways had a few stressed areas. The light rough was very light. Bunkers were disappointing. Plenty of sand, but it was compacted with old footprints. For $300 I expected much better. Greens were near perfect. Firm and fast pushing 11. 

 

Played a Ross (Blue)/White combo at 6250 yds on the par 71 layout (70.9/135). Very good day off the tee. I adjusted my driver to lower the loft and open the clubface, so a little less draw and plenty of rollout. Irons were very good. Gave myself plenty of decent looks at birdie, but couldn't quite nail the breaks. One birdie, four bogies, and a double. The shot of the day came very early when I stuffed my lob wedge to 2' on the opening par 5 to start the day one under. Had a pair of very nice sand saves including one on the long par 4 17th after blocking my 9w into the front right bunker 20 yds from the green. Holing a 15' par putt on the 18th after missing the green long and left was a good way to cap off the round. Highlight of the day was walking the beautiful course with practically nobody to be seen besides a couple of workers watering the greens, a fox, and the locals out walking their pooches. Still can't believe I played a top rated course on a beautiful weekend morning. 

 

I so want to go with eight, but I'm sticking with the solid 7 cows. It's not a shock at this point that I prefer modern designs. Beautiful course with wonderful bunkering, and tough greens, but the lack of a risk/reward par 5 and short 4s knocks it down a notch. No walking rate, and while the $305 weekend rate wasn't crazy, it's still mighty high. Can't see myself playing the course again at those prices. 'Probably head to Southern Hills next time. Definitely worth a visit, though. 

 

Edited May 25 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

The Pines Needles Golf Course, Southern Pines, NC 

 

Go away, Clouds 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ezohdymdqmlfxeprl2j2t/ADZls87MxSGKEdfH1vK5ej0?rlkey=dk6bl5mt5lb57acc1dcac7kwn&st=gsnrqzsb&dl=0

 

Edited May 25 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Kicking back enjoying a Deth's Tar. Did a little planning looking for RV parks over the next month. I know Baltimore isn't a big tourist city, but there's basically no RV parks there. Looks like there's a state park, but it not at all satellite friendly. Probably wind up closer to DC near College Park. 

 

Same thing with Lynchburg, VA and Frederick MD. Will likely wind up 30 miles away. 

 

Booked a round at Fort Mill for Wednesday. 

 

[Argonne69]

Enjoying my morning coffee, and then packing up for the drive to Charlotte. Mostly state and US highways, so it'll be close to three hours.

 

'Definitely enjoyed my week here in the Pinehurst area. I do love sandhills golf. There are at least 30 public courses in the area, but unfortunately most cater to the tourist crowd, and are just too expensive for weekly play. I assume some of them have discounted rates for the locals, but during peak season they're probably hard to come by. Still looking for that unicorn place that has 20+ public courses with year-round golf for under $100 a round.

 

[Argonne69]

Fairly pleasant drive to Charlotte today. As expected, the initial stretch NC-73 was a little stressful due to the lack of shoulders on the state road. Once I hit I-74/US-74 it was better, although the US highway had way too many stretcher of bad pavement with whacked expansion joints. As one gets closer to the city the number of traffic lights increases exponentially. Lol. I did get lucky in that I caught most of the green lights. Should have stopped being cheap and taken the toll bypass. 

 

Small RV park at the Carowinds amusement park. Not a lot of sites with no trees, so I had to dig out the portable dish again. At least the asphalt site is fairly level. 

 

 

No big plans today. Might right out for an imperial stout later. Springfield GC tomorrow. Weather forecast looks crummy. Very likely to get rain mid round. 

 

Bah. Google Maps isn't always accurate. Drove to the nearest taproom that had "holiday hours", and it was closed. Decided that a Bourbon County back at the RV park was a better option than driving around risking the next "open" taproom. 

 

Edited May 26 by Argonne69

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

Did you play the "4 hole" practice loop at Pineneedles?

 

 

[Atwsc7]

8 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Fairly pleasant drive to Charlotte today. As expected, the initial stretch NC-73 was a little stressful due to the lack of shoulders on the state road. Once I hit I-74/US-74 it was better, although the US highway had way too many stretcher of bad pavement with whacked expansion joints. As one gets closer to the city the number of traffic lights increases exponentially. Lol. I did get lucky in that I caught most of the green lights. Should have stopped being cheap and taken the toll bypass. 

 

Small RV park at the Carowinds amusement park. Not a lot of sites with no trees, so I had to dig out the portable dish again. At least the asphalt site is fairly level. 

 

 

No big plans today. Might right out for an imperial stout later. Springfield GC tomorrow. Weather forecast looks crummy. Very likely to get rain mid round. 

 

Bah. Google Maps isn't always accurate. Drove to the nearest taproom that had "holiday hours", and it was closed. Decided that a Bourbon County back at the RV park was a better option than driving around risking the next "open" taproom. 

Wing king Fort Mill has great Wings and a few good beers on tap. Local spot. Duckworth is close to there and has a larger variety of beers. Food is okay 

[Dancin]

On 5/26/2025 at 5:35 AM, Argonne69 said:

Still looking for that unicorn place that has 20+ public courses with year-round golf for under $100 a round.

 

If you are willing to drive up to an hour and are willing to play in upper 40s temps, Denver meets all of that although the prices are creeping up. You might go 2 weeks without playing in winter, but it's pretty rare that you can't play at least 5 days or so in a month. There's also the option to drive 2 hours down to Four Mile Ranch in Canon City or Walking Stick in Pueblo which is usually warmer than Denver and melts faster. You would have to adjust your early morning start time in winter. Generally you don't want to tee off before 11 in winter or the greens are frozen and the ball bounces like it hit concrete. But with the high altitude the sun is a lot brighter and warmer and it is often 50s.

It was amazing out here with $50 or less golf for a very long time, but now the average is getting closer to $70s.

Edited May 27 by Dancin

[Argonne69]

9 hours ago, BEND OF THE RIVER GC said:

Did you play the "4 hole" practice loop at Pineneedles?

 

 

 

Nope.

 

[Argonne69]

Ugh. Might be a washout this morning. 

 

 

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

Fort Mill GC is pretty good we played it back in November. Lancaster GC isn't all that far away and was pretty good as well.

 

Be sure and eat at https://www.bossybeulahs.com/ after your round, it's within a a few miles of Fort Mill GC. Awesome food! Thank me later!

Edited May 27 by BEND OF THE RIVER GC

[Argonne69]

Looks like a washout today. I was hoping that the rain would stop by 10 am, but it doesn't look promising. 

 

Spending time looking for RV parks in Pennsylvania and Cumberland, MD. 

 

I was thinking about doing the stay and play at Nemocolin in early August to get on Mystic Rock and Shepherd's Rock, but the cheapest room is currently $1100. Wow. I though Lake Reynolds and Cordevalle were pricey. Don't think I'll be dropping close to $2000 for those two courses. 

 

[Argonne69]

Well, not a complete waste of a day. I spent an hour on the phone trying to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist in Charlotte or Raleigh. Seems most of the doctors only make appointments if you have a referral. Won't even look at the calendar to see if there's an opening with the referral. Kind of a wicked chicken and egg game. Don't really want to bother the doctor I saw last year in California when there's little chance of getting in on such short notice. 

 

I spoke with one person that recommended Raleigh Ophthalmology, as they're apparently a general eye center that wouldn't need the referral. I called them and they had a late afternoon opening next Thursday at their Clayton NC location. It's 30 minutes from Raleigh, but at this point I can't be choosy. 

 

Healthcare on the road can be tough. Most doctors are booked out months in advance. You have to be lucky to find one with a last minute cancelation. 

 

[dougieb42]

Arg - I know nothing about beers.  Would appreciate your educated opinion about "Duchesse De Bourgogne".  My son brought a bottle (looks like a green wine bottle) over tonight and raved about it.  It's a Belgian Ale and tasted very SOUR to me.  I found it unpleasant.

Have you encountered it and do you enjoy it?

 

Thanks,

Doug

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, dougieb42 said:

Arg - I know nothing about beers.  Would appreciate your educated opinion about "Duchesse De Bourgogne".  My son brought a bottle (looks like a green wine bottle) over tonight and raved about it.  It's a Belgian Ale and tasted very SOUR to me.  I found it unpleasant.

Have you encountered it and do you enjoy it?

 

Thanks,

Doug

 

It's a red ale. Almost like a wine. Haven't had that one, but I've had similar ones. Not my style. As noted, they're sour. Yuck. Lol.