I could have led him point by point through its assorted homey charms—its chenille bedspreads, its sweetly bossy staff, that fabulous dining room, no chocolates on the pillow, no valet anything, a great piano bar, a hotel cat named Marmalade and a long-tenured staff that always seems to know your name. Did anyplace in the wide world of golf offer anything better than this?

In my book, not by a long shot. Scarce wonder Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus both sing the Pine Crest’s praises, and on any given night when something golf-wise is stirring in greater Pinehurst you’re likely to glance over and see Davis Love or Fred Couples rubbing elbows with the regulars. Payne Stewart loved the Pine Crest so much he once signed his name above the low entry door to the downstairs gents’ room—a bit of poignant graffiti protected for the ages by a square of Plexiglas. Early in his career, the story goes, after failing to make it through PGA Tour qualifying, Stewart offered to put the Pine Crest logo on his golf bag for $500 as he set off for the Asian Tour, but manager Peter Barrett politely declined. On the Sunday before Stewart captured the U.S. Open in 1999, he came to the Pine Crest for dinner and at Barrett’s request put his signature in that well-trafficked spot, where it’s become part of the legend and lore of the establishment.

“I’ve always said the Pine Crest is a third-rate hotel for first-class people,” offers Barrett, whose family has owned the inn since 1961. “The beauty of this place is it’s not the Waldorf-Astoria and everybody who comes here knows it. That’s part of the charm. We almost never hear complaints.” 

A town known worldwide for its spectacular golf courses and world-class resort accommodations, it’s exactly this kind of low-key presence and tradition on shady Dogwood Road, just a pitching wedge down the hill from the tidy main square of the village center, that’s always made the humble Pine Crest feel like a welcome harbor to generations of golf travelers.

Its doors first opened for business on Nov. 1, 1913, offering 50 modest guest rooms, 14 bathrooms, a sunlit dining room, and “good cheer and hominess,” according to an early newspaper advertisement. The original owner was Mr. E.C. Bliss of Edgewood, R.I., but the most distinguished owner became Pinehurst resident Donald Ross, famed architect of Pinehurst No. 2 and 600 other golf courses, who bought the hotel in 1921 with his good friend James McNab and owned the place until his death in 1948.   

Ross, who supposedly loved sitting on the porch of his inn greeting guests during busy times, added a new wing to the modest structure, including several suites with bathrooms. But by the time Erie, Pa., newspaperman Bob Barrett and wife Betty dropped in for a vacation around 1960 and found themselves completely smitten with the hotel’s easy charms and friendly staff, the Pine Crest was showing its age. After their fourth visit to the premises, the couple used Betty Barrett’s inheritance to purchase the property for $125,000.

“The rooms were small and only a few of the larger ones even had working bathrooms,” Peter Barrett remembers. “The inn needed a lot of work but my dad clearly loved what he found here.” Bob and Betty immediately began making upgrades and improvements to the Pine Crest, failing to break even for several years.