Bear Down in the Sandhills

By Lee Pace

Golfers entering the recently redesigned clubhouse at Legacy Golf Links just south of Aberdeen will walk past a life-size wooden statue of a bear.

Course owner Bob Levy Jr. found the statue at a furniture show in High Point and thought it perfect to punctuate his company’s recent purchase of the 1991 course and celebrate its history.

After all, the course has lineage to the great Golden Bear as it was designed by Jack Nicklaus II and was a key part of the early 1990s golf boom across America and Pinehurst.

“It’s a fun talking point and generates a lot of interest,” says Matt Hausser, general manager. “The look at feel at Legacy are certainly different than before.”

The umbrella name for Levy’s stake in the Sandhills golf community is Talamore Golf Resort, which includes three components.

There is Talamore, a Rees Jones-designed course on the east side of Midland Road between Pinehurst and Southern Pines.

There is Mid South Club, an Arnold Palmer designed course on the opposite side of Midland Road from Talamore.

And as of November 2024, there is Legacy.

“It’s a great 1-2-3 punch, particularly now that Legacy is getting into condition on the level of Talamore and Mid South,” says Hausser. “There’s no clear-cut winner on which is the favorite. It depends on who you ask. Together, they offer a great three-round, two-night package. We’re happy to have Legacy under the umbrella and look forward to 2026.”

Levy completed the purchase of Legacy in September 2024 and did considerable work on the golf course through March of this year, when the clubhouse shut down for an extensive makeover that was completed in October. Legacy is located 9 miles south of Pinehurst and is noted for the preponderance of lakes dotting the back nine. The golf course makeover includes new cart paths and bridges, rebuilt bunkers and some 25 acres of new sod to improve playing surfaces.

“Legacy has always had great bones, it just got grown over,” Hausser says. “Clearing out the underbrush has been a major improvement. It was so thick before you couldn’t see many of the holes. The 14th runs alongside a lake the entire way, but the trees and underbrush were so thick you couldn’t see the lake.

Caption: Talamore Golf Course

Now we’ve opened it up and there are some wonderful long-range views. There are a lot of beautiful holes and vistas that now you can see and appreciate.”

The clubhouse interior has been completely renovated with a bright, modern look. The counter in the golf shop and tables in the restaurant are made of elaborate carvings from tree trunks. The walls are adorned with memorabilia highlighting the competitive careers of Palmer, Nicklaus and various highlight moments in Sandhills area golf.

“The clubhouse has a much better feel than before,” Hausser says. “It’s more open, the pro shop is not hidden over in a corner like before. It has much the same feel as Talamore and Mid South. We did a complete gut job. We raised a lot of ceilings and removed some office space that was not needed.”

Legacy will introduce in the spring of 2026 a three-hole par-3 loop called “The Cub” on some ground between the clubhouse and the lake that borders the ninth and 18th holes.

Caption: Legacy Golf Links

The company can sleep upwards of 440 golfers on any given night at its lodging properties at Mid South, Talamore and rental properties it manages in the Village of Pinehurst.

“Next year should be pretty good,” Hausser says. “We’ve not beaten the drum hard on Legacy since the acquisition because we knew there were a lot of projects coming down the road. We’ve done a good job maneuvering through all the work and the temporary facilities.”

Lee Pace is a freelance golf writer who has written about Sandhills area golf for four decades and is the author of club histories about Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Mid Pines, Pine Needles and Forest Creek.