Talamore Golf Resort continues to provide a “touch of the old country” by adding more stacked, sod wall EcoBunkers, which give guests the feel of playing an Open Championship venue in the British Isles. The additional EcoBunkers are just part of the popular Pinehurst-area resort’s on-going, multi-million-dollar enhancement.
The on-going, multi-million-dollar enhancement at Talamore Golf Resort — which includes the addition of a Toptracer Range and a massive new practice putting green — continues with the addition of more EcoBunkers around the Rees Jones-designed Talamore course. The distinctive-looking, revetted sod wall bunkers bring to mind the legendary golf courses of the British Isles. EcoBunkers are now featured on nearly half of the holes on the course, including all four of the bunkers on Talamore’s famed finishing hole. Some stand as high as 7 feet.
The popular resort — which also features neighboring Mid-South Club, designed by Arnold Palmer — was one of the first golf resorts in the country to install EcoBunkers. The innovative, sustainable, low-maintenance solution provides a permanently safe resilient edge, significantly reduces sand contamination from bunker sides, prevents damage, and eliminates the time-consuming greenkeeping practice of bunker edging. EcoBunkers do not require as much maintenance and they last for decades.
Plus, says Talamore General Manager Matt Hausser, the EcoBunkers provide something “different” around the Pinehurst area that golfers don’t otherwise experience when they’re in town — something memorable that they continue to talk about after their round.
“The feedback has been great,” Hausser said. “The funny thing is, what we hear a lot is, ‘Oh, the bunkers are great. I didn’t hit into any hitting any of them, but they’re great — they look cool.’ Or you get people who hit into them and they’re like, ‘I hit into the one on No. 2, the one’s 7-and-a-half feet tall, and I got out.’
“So, it does give people something to talk about.”
Hausser said the EcoBunkers quickly add a natural look, as well. “Some of them are growing moss on the face, so it doesn’t look artificial at all. It looks real.” He added that there are plans to add more around the golf course as well as others at the resort’s front entrance. “I could see by the end of (the project), almost all the bunkers on the golf course (converted to EcoBunkers). We’ll have some form of it. You don’t have to do the whole bunker. You can do like a horseshoe at the end of a long bunker or something like that. Or you can do the entire thing.
“We’ve also talked about doing EcoBunkers at the front entrance to Talamore as well, just to catch the golfers’ eye, so they say, ‘What are those? We gotta go check those out.’”
EcoBunkers have been added at Talamore Country Club in the Greater Philadelphia area, which joins nearby Applecross Country Club to make up the Talamore Golf Resort portfolio. “A lot of our bunkers from the renovation ended up more of that round, saucer-y look, where the ones up in Pennsylvania are your traditional bunkers,” said Hausser. “Those look real cool the way the lines move.”
The installation of the stylish new EcoBunkers is one of numerous projects being completed at Talamore Golf Resort. The Toptracer Range allows Talamore guests to be able to experience interactive golf entertainment powered by the same technology that viewers enjoy during televised PGA Tour events to track the shots of the game’s best players. Guests compete against friends, play a virtual round at some of the world’s top courses and receive instant shot feedback on interactive game screens. The technology uses high speed cameras, coupled with sophisticated computer algorithms, to provide instantaneous ball tracking information to guests using the range.
In addition, the Talamore practice range has been upgraded and a new, 15,000-square-foot putting course has been installed between the driving range and the 10th tee boxes. Guests can warm up or practice on the putting course while waiting for Toptracer Range, or simply settling some bets after their round.
In more than a quarter century since the Talamore Resort first debuted — offering llamas as caddies — the popular Sandhills golf getaway has remained on the cutting edge of resort innovation. Talamore was named the “Course of the Year” by the Village of Pinehurst Area Chapter of the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) after a major restoration was performed on the golf course in 2016. In Golf Advisor’s annual Golfers’ Choice rankings of the best golf courses in the U.S., Talamore was named the No. 1 public golf course in North Carolina and No. 22 in the “Top 25 U.S. golf courses for course conditions.”
For a quality stay-and-play experience and value around “The Home of American Golf,” Talamore Golf Resort sets the pace and keeps getting better. The resort’s long-term roster of alumni says it all – many guests have been staying and playing at Talamore for decades.
“We have so much repeat business, so for them to keep coming back and finding something else here,” Hausser said. “It’s just nice to give people something more to enjoy.