Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0MShiels@aol.com<\/a>\u00a0Hear his radio program weekday mornings\u00a0from 9-noon<\/a>\u00a0on WJIM AM 1240 in Lansing or at\u00a0MiBigShow.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n Talamore Golf Resort sets itself apart by bringing a unique spin on southern hospitality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[94915,1352,2898,665120,5118,1023725,1023726],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses-and-travel","tag-golf-2","tag-north-carolina","tag-pure-michigan","tag-talamore-golf-resort","tag-pinehurst-resort","tag-dollie-llama","tag-billie-llama"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2020\/09\/unnamed-e1601139169485.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2516,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions\/2516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Talamore](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2020\/09\/unnamed-e1601139169485.jpg\")
<\/a>Architect Rees Jones surrounded by Talamore Resort\u2019s Dollie Llama and Billie Llama. (Photo courtesy: Talamore Golf Resort)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ready for fall. It will be nice to get into some cooler weather,\u201d said Neas, who said he was headed to Boyne Resort\u2019s on a golf trip. \u201cThere will be a little drinking and some money changing hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not first visit Neas has made to Michigan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI helped start the caddie program at Forest Dunes Resort in Roscommon and I have to tell you I fell in love with Michigan,\u201d he said, in his southern drawl, the same drawl that charmed the young ladies he met while living in near Roscommon in Houghton Lake.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a good time. Everyone in the Midwest is very welcoming. I have too many stories from frequenting the Limberlost Bar. I recommend it to anyone that\u2019s up there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wildlife at Houghton Lake\u2019s most infamous bar wasn\u2019t all Neas encountered making the daily 30-minute drive to Forest Dunes. \u201cI saw tons of deer and lots of wild turkeys. Forest Dunes is in the middle of nowhere. If you didn\u2019t know where it was you would never find it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golf architects Tom Weiskopf and Traverse City-native Tom Doak\u2019s designs put it on the map.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe word was when Doak was around he walked his course, The Loop, with only seven clubs,\u201d said Neas. In homage to Pinehurst Resort\u2019s wildly popular new \u201cCradle\u201d course, Forest opened their own short walking course upon which players can grab two clubs and even eschew their shoes \u2013 no caddies needed for holes around 100 yards long.<\/p>\n
The most curious caddie program of all was founded in 1991 at Pinehurst\u2019s Talamore Golf Resort, according to general manager Matt Hausser. \u201cWe were looking for something different and bouncing around ideas so we settled on llamas as caddies. A special harness carried two golf bags and since llamas like people and are pack animals by nature they were always ready to carry something and go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hausser said the llamas were trained and so when \u201cnature called\u201d they did that only in their pens and not on the pristine fairways lined by majestic of the Rees Jones-designed golf course. \u201cPeople think llamas are nasty and spit at you, but they actually are very nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whimsical llama artwork, photos (\u201cDollie Llama\u201d) and memorabilia is displayed in the clubhouse, on the resort\u2019s logo, and on apparel and merchandise. Live llamas are still showcased on the 14th hole in their comfortable pen. Lodging for Talamore Golf Resort\u2019s guests is even nicer: two and three-bedroom, private-entry villas with balconies allowing the for the aroma of the pines\u2026and the twice weekly complimentary classic Carolina Pig Pickin\u2019 barbeque dinner. \u201cWe cook an entire pig in our slow cooker all day in the golf course parking lot so everyone that comes through can smell it,\u201d said Hausser, who said the pork, potato salad, coleslaw, biscuit and banana pudding dinner is just one example of Talamore\u2019s commitment to southern hospitality.<\/p>\n
Talamore also operates the Arnold Palmer King\u2019s course at Mid-South, neighbors Pinehurst Resort and Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, both of which have hosted men\u2019s and women\u2019s major championships. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to be right between them,\u201d Hausser said.<\/p>\n