Sandhills: golf isn't region's only treasure.

• Author: Brandon, Lynne
• Position: Special Advertising Section: Regional Focus - Advertisement

About 1.1 million tourists make pilgrimages each year to the Sandhills region of North Carolina. Many are coming to Pinehurst, mostly for the worldclass golf courses there and in neighboring Southern Pines and Aberdeen. But while golf gets them to the Sandhills, the region southeast of the Piedmont and west of the Coastal Plains, it is the exceptional service industries, educational institutions and excellent health care presented in a picturesque setting that often gets visitors to stay.

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Moore County, home to Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen, continues to be a leading location for tourism. For the 2002-03 fiscal year, it attracted $279.9 million in tourism revenue and was ranked ninth in the state. Over the past 10 years, revenue has increased 87%. The industry is the backbone of the Sandhills economy and provides more than 5,000 jobs and $24.6 million in state and local tax revenue.

Caleb Miles, president and CEO of the Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen Convention and Visitors Bureau, will be the first to say that tourism touches everyone in Moore County. "We have unique attributes. There are no mountains or ocean to attract visitors. It is the unique blend of topography--sandy soil, rolling hills, mild climate--and the rich golf-resort heritage combined with our quaint villages and towns. Not to mention that golf was ranked the best quality of any U.S. destination in 2002 by Golf Digest."

Miles admits there will always be work to do to ensure sustainable growth. Programs such as Partners in Progress combine efforts of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce and the CVB with those of economic developers to market a strong brand for the entire Sandhills. Last winter, the partners placed cooperative marketing advertisements in Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. It was a first, and the group plans other initiatives for the near future.

But no one will have to pay for the publicity the region will get in 2005 when the U.S. Open Championship men's golf tournament returns to Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst and in 2007 when the Women's Open comes back to Pine Needles in Southern Pines. Those events benefit not only the Sandhills but the entire state.

Pinehurst was so successful as the host of the 1999 U.S. Open that the tournament is returning in 2005, a nearly unheard-of quick turnaround. About 40,000 people...