That these two layouts could be the product of one person's imagination says something about creative possibilities in the human mind. Tobacco Road, about 40 minutes from Pinehurst in the Sandhills of North Carolina, is a roller coaster ride of a golf course, definitely not for the faint of heart, or the uninitiated, as it throws one blind shot after another at you. No course begs for an investment in a yardage book like Tobacco Road does, with its severe mounding, highly elevated greens, and landscape out of Star Trek. Playing it two or three times in succession will shave a few strokes for sure. First timers with a 10 handicap would do well to break 90 on a track whose slope ratings - 150 and 142 for the better players - defy its modest yardages, 6,500 and 6,300 yards respectively. Bring a forecaddie and an extra dozen golf balls when you play Tobacco Road. You can afford them; golf fees are modest in the extreme, never tipping the $100 mark and, during summer, a downright bargain at $59 on weekdays.
Caledonia, on the other hand, is beautiful, sleek, and not at all rough around the edges. It shares only one thing with Tobacco Road, beside its designer pedigree -- no houses encroach on the design (although we heard the sound of pounding nails on one new home behind the 17th hole). Caledonia is also expensive, approaching the $200 mark for greens fees in the high seasons of fall and spring. It is worth every penny, and I will have more to say in this space, with a few photos, later tomorrow.