The grandstands are up and Pinehurst is preparing itself for a busy golf season. The 2014 U.S. Open is being held in Pinehurst June 12th though the 15th. The Women’s U.S. Open will be played the following week. I had the good fortune to receive an invitation to a Pinehurst golf trip sponsored by the Women’s Golf Association of Blacksburg Country Club. It was my first overnight ladies golf trip. I am disclosing details of my golf game on my spa blog because, if you hit the ball as many times as I do, you would need a massage too! Besides, destination golf resorts and destination spa resorts go together like peanut butter and jelly. Rarely are pairings this good.
Day three of a four-day golf trip, I was able to find a few hours free from my group, and head over the Spa at Pinehurst. I was staying off property, but due to the scale of the spa, I had no trouble booking a massage. The spa has thirty treatment rooms! And, it offers a very large spa menu giving many options to explore. I had limited time after my round and before a group dinner, so I booked a quick massage on the fly, and spent some time in the indoor spa and lap pool area before and after my treatment.
Once I self parked at the spa, I was in, in a flash. I was super hot and pretty worn out from my most recent round of golf. It was not shocking to the staff to see me arrive right in off of the course, dressed in my golf attire. It was shocking to me, however, to be greeted by a spa staff member with the most amazing smile and a frozen smoothie just a few steps within the spa! I was welcomed with a frozen, strawberry goodness, handed to me before I even checked in. This is intuitive service!
My tight schedule only allowed enough time for a fifty minute massage with a little wiggle room on either side of the treatment to explore the spa. First thing, I had to grab a quick shower. I then wrapped myself up in the plush spa robe and took a look around before my treatment. They have a very serious fitness center with lots of cardio and weight training equipment. They also offer personal training and Pilates classes. Guests can even add Kinesio taping to treatments. It is a sports medicine taping method to help reduce pain and inflamation to sore muscles, while supporting a full range of motion during activities, like golf. Next, I found the salon. Normally, I do not book pedicures at destination spas, as I consider them part of my routine maintenance. I prefer to book treatments I can’t otherwise get at home. I must say that the pedicure and manicure area was extremely nice. They had multiple pedicure chairs and multipule manicure stations in the same area. It is obvious that they are set up for some large wedding parties and group outings. They also offered a full menu of hair care, at what I consider reasonable rates.
Guests are asked to meet up with their therapist in the lap pool area. This area also has a coed hot tub. The woman’s locker room offered its own hot tub, sauna, and steam rooms. Unique to this property, the spa offers services for children and teens. This spa has a separate treatment area where families can enjoy treatments in the same room with their children, and it has its own family lounge.
My therapist for today is Joyce. I booked a 50 minute massage. My therapist helped me adjust my treatment to my needs. Joyce recommended an aromatherapy massage with a scent to match my desired outcome. I was hoping this massage would help relax my sore muscles. I had been chasing a little white ball for days, and it had been exhausting. I was included in a tournament, so I was a little stressed out about following all the rules of play (my first match play tournament), new players, unfamiliar courses each day, and of course, I was mildly dehydrated. My dehydration was partly due to the heat, but mostly due to the very social evenings with friends (glug, glug). I needed to rally. I had one more fancy dinner scheduled at Southern Prime in a few hours. I also needed to be ready to play again the next day at a challenging course, Mid South. We chose the grapefruit essential oil. It did help perk me up while she worked on all my tired muscles. Joyce has a great touch. Deep tissue massage by request, yes, Ma’mm!
Once we finished up, I had just enough time to hang out in the most amazing whirlpool. What made this one so perfect at this resort was the amount of pressure the jets gave off. The coed tub also featured five mini waterfalls that are positioned just above your shoulders to deliver a powerful stream of water. The whirlpool was exactly what I needed after multiple days of golf. I was definitely getting a second wind. The spa offers all the hair care, body lotions, and shaving stuff that I needed to get ready for my dinner. I was all spuced up, refreshed, and ready to meet up with my friends for a great meal.
Like many visitors to the Pinehurst area, golf is the main reason to visit. I would imagine many golf widows are more than happy to stay at this reasort just for the spa. Knowing that you can book spa treatments without staying on property is key! Everything in the Aberdeen, Great Pines, and Pinehurst area is all very accessible and nothing seemed to be more than a quick ten minute drive. The Pinehurst resort is completely booked for PGA staff, players, media, and corporate guests during the 2014 U.S. Open. The Women’s Open, however, it is not! Packages are available to stay on site. Some packages include breakfast, passes to the tournament, and spa services, all the more reasons to love women’s golf.
When I return to Pinehurst, I will plan to stay on property with my husband, as so much has changed since our first visits, nearly 20 years ago. I also want to play #2, the course for this year’s Open. The treatment I wish I had had time for on my visit was The Heart and Sole treatment. It is a three-hour body treatment with a peppermint pine pedicure. Based on my golf experience, those are two areas that could have used some more tender loving care on this visit. Joyce also shared with me a sample of the Thero-marine mud ritual. She was explaining to me the self heating properties of this wild-harvested algae infused mud. She applied some mud on my arm to give me an idea of what the treatment is like. I will also be putting that treatment on my bucket list. The Pinehurst Massage includes a unique dry brush technique using pine straw. I first booked that treatment, but due to the quick hit I needed to get through my final round, we adjusted my treatment to include aromatherapy and deep tissue massage. Pinehurst may have redesigned the rough on the iconic #2 golf course to meet the needs of a challenging U.S. Open, but I assure you there is nothing rough about this spa!
Where was your best Golf/Spa trip?
No special treatment was given to me other than being a paying guest at this spa. A very special thank you to my friend and BCC member, Leigh, the professional golf staff, WGA committee, and members of the Blacksburg Country Club. The bar has been set!!! This is my life!
