The pinehurst experience: Convenience and a rich tradition blend to create a meeting site like no other in the world.

• Position: Pinehurst, North Carolina

For more than a century, thousands of visitors who come each year to this tiny village tucked in the North Carolina Sandhills are touched by a wondrous, almost-palpable sensation. Site of ClubCorp's famed Pinehurst [R] Resort, the village cloaks each guest in a sense of calm and escape from the ordinary. Everyone who visits comments on how delightfully far from home they feel, no matter the distance traveled. Whether arriving as part of a large meeting group, with family or friends, they encounter what is known as the Pinehurst Experience.

Anchored by the historic Carolina, with its 210 rooms, 12 suites and 10 four-bedroom villas, Pinehurst is the destination of choice for many large corporate and association meetings. For years, meeting planners have recognized that Pinehurst offers a unique magic to its guests, something far beyond the resort's cutting-edge business-meeting technology, trained staff and functional meeting spaces.

Perhaps it's akin to what Massachusetts businessman James W. Tufts discovered in 1895 when he came to southeastern North Carolina seeking an escape from harsh New England winters. He paid $1 an acre for his 5,000-acre parcel of scrubby, sandy land near Southern Pines. Locals laughed at the high price.

Pinehurst's first visitors were Northerners of modest means. They basked in the mild winter weather, conducted music recitals, planted pine seedlings, danced and held discussion groups. We don't know if the retired soda-fountain manufacturer held business meetings here, but he managed to build a small hotel, some cottages and a power plant and began coaxing grass and shrubbery out of the barren soil.

Not long after the turn of the century, Pinehurst began its evolution into a fashionable meeting place. Drawn by the balmy sunshine and the attractions of golf, equestrian events and Annie Oakley's annual sharpshooting events, wealthy and accomplished Americans made Pinehurst one of the nation's great gathering places. Legends have grown around the important meetings held here, the liaisons formed, romances begun, matches won and decisions made. It can honestly be said of Pinehurst, "If only the walls could talk."

Tufts' first buildings have blossomed into more than 520 guest rooms; 55,000 square feet of meeting space in 28 rooms and a conference center; eight championship golf courses; and nine dining facilities. Pinehurst is famous for its golf, tennis, a variety of other recreational choices, fine dining and superb accommodations. These attractions, combined with a century-old tradition of elegance, make it a meeting site like no other in the world.

While visitors from the North once arrived after a 24-hour rail trip, Pinehurst is now served by Raleigh-Durham International Airport, an hour's drive away via U.S. 1. There is a general-aviation facility in nearby Southern Pines for corporate jets. Greensboro and Charlotte also offer quick...