THE MAPLES FAMILY - AFFORDABLE GOLF IN N.C. FOR EVERYONE

For decades Dan Maples has designed highly acclaimed courses throughout the Carolinas, most notably The Pit, which for years graced numerous top 50 lists. Now his daughter Jennifer has helped carry the torch of egalitarianism, designing and offering wonderfully inexpensive golf packages to a wide palatte of course designs all conveniently located in the Pinehurst region. Sure Pinehurst Resort is a seminal facility in the world of golf, but at $350 per round to walk on No. 2, $240 per round to walk on 4, 7, 8 or 10, it adds up for a family of four. Add that at minimum staying at the resort (including meals) and playing golf, each person per day will run up a $686 tab and it's priced out of most players' range. Luckily, there are two five star courses in the region that are about 1/5 the price (Tobacco Road and Tot Hill Farm) and several other wonderful courses that also are ranked highly by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest - the Stately Mid-Pines and the bucolic Pine Needles - both in the top 100 you can play and quintessential Donald Ross designs. These courses, plus the Maples family commitment to the games egalitarian roots means great affordable golf for everyone in the Pinehurst area.

MAPLES GOLF PACKAGES
P.O. BOX 1666
PINEHURST, NC 28370
1.800.889.5323
www.maplesgolf.com
Contact: Jennifer Maples

Course Selection: Four and a half Stars (over twenty-five courses to choose from)
Hotel Selection: Three and a half stars (six comfortable, if rustic chain hotels)
Affability and flexibility: Four and a half stars (you get treated like family)
Value: Four and a half stars

Three day two night packages including one round at The Pit and two rounds at any of twenty or more other courses should not exceed $400 in high season, but are as little as $137-200 most of the time. For example, last August I played Tobacco Road and Tot Hill Farm and stayed at the moderately confortable Residence Inn (complete with jacuzzi;) for a mere $133. That is five star golf for a song.

This spring packages where you stay and play before 3/1/05 are equally inexpensive. A package of The Pit, Tobacco Road and Mid-Pines or Pine Needles and two nights at the Residence Inn is a fantastic $203. That's less than two people spend on dinner, drinks and a movie in Manhattan in one evening. "A bargain all day long" sang one happy customer from Ohio while we were there last summer. Spring packages after March jump only $50-$80 total.

Acclaimed courses include:

The Legacy by Jack Nicklaus II (the same Nicklaus who did Boston's Pinehills)
Mid Pines by Donald Ross
Southern Pines by Ross
The Pit by Dan Maples
Mid South Club by Arnold Palmer, and many more.

Housing options include the comfortable and well stocked Condos at Longleaf, Little River Farm resort and various established chains.

The area is right in the town of Pinehurst, so all sightseeing and dining options are mere steps away. Walk ons are welcome at the Pinehurst resort courses for those wishing to splurge for a round or two, making a week stay much more affordable and offering a broad array of courses.