Pinehurst

For the Northeast golfer, two of the obvious early spring golf meccas to get your winter doldrums golf fix are either Myrtle Beach or Pinehurst. For me, it's Pinehurst, hands down. The bucolic atmosphere, the pine trees, and the charm of the place is so much better than the overdeveloped, tacky strip mall MB.

MB has many more courses to choose from, but there is more than enough in Pinehurst. Also, on less busier days, most courses allow you the option to walk. I've never been able to convince a course to let me walk in MB.

From New York, it's about a 10 hour drive to Pinehurst, an extra 1.5 hours gets you to MB, so Pinehurst is a tad closer.

You don't have to play Pinehurst #2 to make the most of your trip. I've heard people say a trip without playing #2 is not worth it. Hello? Not many folks, especially in this economy, have $350 to drop on one round of golf. There's a variety of courses, from old fashioned, classic Ross layouts, to newer, non-traditional Strantz designs. Most courses feature elevation changes, water, trees, chutes and minimal fairway condos.

Most of the courses are within a 10 minute drive from most hotels and condos and there is no traffic, unless you're there during a US Open.

An odd juxtaposition I noticed is nearby to the rarefied country club atmosphere of a golf mecca, to the east is a huge military base - Fort Bragg, home of the 101st airborne. Talk about opposite spectrums.