There’s not a day that goes by when we don’t wake up being thankful for being a sports fan in North Carolina. This November, the SportsChannel8 team and a panel of peers from NC media will be counting down to Thanksgiving with the top 25 things we have to be thankful for in this great state. 

Today’s installment written by Stephen Schramm, Fayetteville Observer

If you ever get the chance to see a major in person at one of our country’s classic golf venues, there are a few epiphanies you’ll end up having. First, you’ll find that watching today’s best players walk the same fairways as the greats of previous generations is really, really cool. You’ll also learn that, knowing you don’t need a logoed hat, shirt, head cover, towel and travel mug doesn’t mean you won’t end up buying a logoed hat, shirt, head cover, towel and travel mug. And at some point, it will hit you that, while everyone is happy to have you there during the week of the tournament, it’s temporary. The last putt will drop, someone will get a trophy and you’ll head to the shuttle. The gates will close and that legacy course you happily roamed will go back to being a private club, off limits to people like us. Here in North Carolina, we should be thankful that there’s nothing standoffish about our little piece of hallowed golf ground.

For more than a century, Pinehurst No. 2 has been the gem of the Sandhills. As one of the country’s first golf-centric resorts and the home of famed course architect Donald Ross, Pinehurst is where the Scottish game met Southern hospitality. It’s hosted three U.S. Opens, a U.S. Women’s Open, a PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup. Its signature event, the North & South Amateur, was created to help soothe the lingering hurt feelings of the Civil War, which had ended just 36 years earlier.

And all along, Pinehurst has wanted you to come. Continue reading What We’re Thankful For: #23 – Pinehurst #2 →