Pine Crest Inn is still an old favorite

PINEHURST, N.C. -- The Pine Crest Inn sits tucked in among the trees on Dogwood Road, within a good tee shot of what passes for downtown Pinehurst. It turns 90 years old on Nov. 1 and has a wrinkle here and a creak there but that is part of the charm that has endeared it to its guests, who have ranged from internationally famous stars to workaday folks on a holiday.

Pinehurst has hosted hundreds of golf tournaments, including a Men's U.S. Open, two Women's U.S. Opens, a PGA Championship, a Senior U.S. Open and a large number of PGA Tour events. The heart of Pinehurst, one of America's great resorts, is the country club with its eight golf courses, and the elegant Carolina Hotel. If you're looking for the soul, though, you might find it at the Pine Crest. It has been praised by guests and the media for its "traditional flavor and hospitable charm," and as "a comfortable place, not too stuffy, yet formal enough to carry on a little business over dinner. You can dress up or dress down. The food is good. No ifs, ands or buts."

In its May, 2003 issue, Golf Magazine rated the Pine Crest, along with such others as the 16th hole at Cypress Point, the Tap Room at Pebble Beach Golf Links and St. Andrews, Scotland, as one of the 50 Coolest Places In Golf. In the book "1001 Reasons To Love Golf," the popular bar at the Pine Crest is listed.

Peter Barrett, who manages the inn and whose family owns it, smiles and says, "Dad (Bob, who bought the inn in 1961) always called it a third-class hotel with first-class guests. That kind of tells the story, I think. We get wealthy people here and people who are not so wealthy. We have a different mindset from the standard hotel.

"The beauty of this place is that our guests know it's not the Waldorf Astoria and because of that, we're cutting out a large group of people who might annoy you. We rarely get a guest who is difficult to deal with.

"When someone comes in, they know what they're getting, that it's not going to be a cookie cutter hotel. Here, it's all personal."

Which is partly explained by the fact that some of the Pine Crest's employees have stayed around for much of their lives. The head housekeeper Mary (Tiz) Russell spent almost 50 years on the job and her sister Josephine (Peanut) Swinnie has stayed long enough to retire this year. Carl Jackson was head chef for more than 50 years until his death. His position of prominence has been taken by David Raff, a Culinary Institute graduate who spent 16 years at the Pinehurst Country Club before taking over as chef at the Pine Crest in 1999. Jackson's nephew Peter, who works the breakfast shift, has been there for more than 40 years.

In his travels, Bob Barrett would gather recipes, sometimes paying for them. He would bring them back to the Pine Crest and give them to Carl Jackson. Jackson would prepare them but add in his own little touches. A crab dish might become a crab casserole with cheese, and did, to the pleasure of guests who ordered it. (A favorite on the menu is a thick-cut pork chop.)

At breakfast, the waitress might admonish you to "eat your cantaloupe" or "drink your orange juice" because "it's good for you."

Whatever it is that distinguishes the Pine Crest, it has attracted such guests as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Payne Stewart, Davis Love III, Ben Crenshaw and a large number of other golfers who have played the PGA Tour, and the inn annually hosts a week-long golf outing for basketball notables including Michael Jordan, Dean Smith, Larry Bird, Jerry West, Rod Thorn, George Karl, Doug Moe, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, Billy Cunningham and Bill Raftery. It's rare that you walk in during the late afternoon or evening and not see someone famous or important there.

It is a quiet place by day, the guests having headed off to one of the many golf courses in the vicinity, including the famed Pinehurst No. 2, but in the early evening, the lobby, bar and dining areas often become what one person described as "ordered chaos."

Locals and guests gather in Mr. B's bar (so named for owner Bob Barrett) to quench their thirst or take their glasses into the lobby or onto the spacious veranda that is almost always decorated with a resident cat, available for petting.

The bar was manned for almost two decades by the late Bill Jones. He became an attraction himself. One newspaper described him this way:

"Bill Jones could talk on the phone, crack jokes and insult guests, mix and serve drinks and pick up a hand of gin or whatever card game guests at the end of the bar may be engaged in." Famous writers Dan Jenkins, Bob Drum, Dick Taylor and Charles Price have spent many an hour on barstools there.

Mr. B's remains a lively gathering place, with Carl Wood and Scott Paterna presiding behind the bar.

In the small lobby, decorated with photos, plaques and paintings of the great golf course architect Donald Ross, who once owned the Pine Crest, there is a piano which is frequently put to good use, surrounded by anyone moved to burst into song.well, not just anyone. Clarence Levine, the regular pianist, has some say about who sings and Peter Barrett says, "Thank God, he only lets the talented ones sing." In 1996, some of the "talented ones," Levine and tenor sax player Bill Doughton produced a CD entitled "An Evening at The Pine Crest Inn." It has not yet reached the Top 40.

There is one bathroom serving the first floor of the inn. It's a men's room. The ladies' room is at the top of the stairs. The wallpaper in the men's room is adorned with graffiti. It's a tradition. Among it is the autograph of the late two-time U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart.

Stewart played in a PGA Tour qualifier in Pinehurst in 1976 and failed to make it. Before setting off to play the Asian Tour, he told Peter Barrett that he would be back because he knew he could beat those guys. He also offered to put the Pine Crest logo on his bag for $500 but Barrett didn't see the merit in advertising in Asia.

In 1999, Stewart won the U.S. Open on Pinehurst No. 2. On the Sunday before his victory, he came to the Pine Crest for dinner and at Barrett's request, signed his name on the men's room wall. One week later, it had become so precious, the signature was covered with protective plastic.

Also in the lobby are a tilted board with a foot-wide hole in it, a pitching wedge and some golf balls. Lionel Callaway, pro at Pinehurst Country Club in the 1950's and 1960's and inventor of the Callaway System of handicapping, created the game. Guests are welcome to try to pitch the balls into the hole, at some expense to the owners in the form of broken picture frames and a lamp or two. Ben Crenshaw holds the record - 10 out of 10.

Against this backdrop, a few feet away behind the check-in counter, you may find Peter Barrett bent over the books, seemingly oblivious to the merriment. He loves his job. He almost became a professional golfer. He was twice runner-up in the Donald Ross Junior Championship, won the Pinehurst Country Club championship at age 16 and led the Carolinas Open for two rounds before shooting 77, which left him tied with Chip Beck for second behind winner Vance Heafner and convinced him he should forget about pro golf.

Bobby Barrett, the CPA, is also an excellent golfer, good enough to have qualified for the U.S. Amateur.

Dad Bob got his handicap as low as 10. When he bought the Pine Crest, he had visions of dropping his handicap to four or five and worked toward that goal until his mother-in-law pointed out that the inn was losing money and it may be time for him to go to work. He smiles at the memory.

Ground was broken to begin construction of the Pine Crest on Feb. 7, 1913, and the doors opened on November 1 of that year. The Pinehurst Outlook newspaper noted that the new inn was a "delightful addition to Pinehurst's hotels, modern throughout.providing for 50 guests, offering several suites with private bath.radiant with fresh air, sunshine, good cheer and 'hominess."

The original owners were Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Bliss of Edgewood, R.I. Mr. Bliss had come to Pinehurst to work for Pinehurst Incorporated. A proud chapter in the inn's history was written when famed golf course architect Donald Ross, who designed over 600 courses, and his brother in law W. J. McNab bought it from the Blisses in 1921 and held ownership until Ross' death in 1948 (they leased it to Arthur Roberts Hotel Co. of Minneapolis in 1946). Ross and McNab added a wing to the inn in 1926. In 1950, Carl Moser, who had retired as manager of the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, leased the Pine Crest from Roberts. He then bought it in 1952.

In 1961, it was bought by Robert (Bob) Barrett and his wife Elizabeth (Betty). He had been in the newspaper business in Erie, Pa., for 20 years, the last five as managing editor. He and Mrs. Barrett had fallen in love with Pinehurst during visits to the Manor Inn. Their first visit was for three days, their second for a week, their third for three weeks and their fourth for a lifetime.

The Barretts sold the inn in 1974 to a Richmond, Va., man named Nat Armstead but reclaimed it when he failed to make the first payment.

They still own the Inn. Betty died Jan. 24, 1975. Bob has retired and left the day-to-day operation in the hands of his son Peter, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the International Hotel and Restaurant School. Peter's title is general manager. He also owns a real estate firm. Bobby, a CPA, handles the accounting and his wife, Andy Hofmann, is golf coordinator. Linda Tufts, a longtime employee, manages reservations. She, Peter Barrett, Amy McKenzie and Katie Wilson are in charge of the smiles and sunshine at the front desk.

The inn was renovated in 1976, the first floor completely remodeled. A private dining room and the bar were added. (At that time, North Carolina law dictated that alcohol by the drink could not be sold. You had to BYOB -- bring your own bottle.) Central air conditioning was installed, along with two air purifiers, and a big screen television with cablevision was added.

The essence of the Pine Crest Inn has remained over the years, though. It is as comfortable as an old sweater, as friendly as the tinkle of glasses, as welcoming as a rocking chair. It's a place where locals and guests gather to talk about golf, to toast the day and to dine, "dressed up or dressed down."

January 14, 2004