The Triad is so rich in outstanding public courses that it must be one of the best "urban" areas in the United States for the daily-fee golfer. In fact, there's no real need to fork over the cashola join a private club, such is the depth and quality of public golf in the Triad. And should you tire of all the wonderful courses here, Pinehurst is but an hour's drive down a four-lane highway. Even though the PGA Tour brings its circus here each April for the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic (still known to most by its original name, the Greater Greensboro Open), golf in the Triad is one of the nation's best kept secrets.

Bryan Park near Greensboro, Tanglewood near Winston-Salem, and Oak Hollow in High Point are three mature courses designed by Rees Jones, Robert Trent Jones and Pete Dye respectively. National publications like Golf Digest and Golf Magazine routinely and justifiably rate this majestic triumvirate among the nation's best daily-fee courses. Other diamonds include Grandover Resort, Oak Valley, Mill Creek, Meadowlands, and Stoney Creek.

Visitors to North Carolina bent on playing golf usually head for the mountains, the coast or Pinehurst. Visitors here for business, if they're not going to Charlotte, head for the Triad. The bi-annual furniture shows in High Point attract buyers and sellers from around the world. Winston-Salem is R.J. Reynolds' manufacturing home, and Greensboro boast Sara Lee and a host of manufacturing facilities. The Triad is busy and industrious.

Still, there's a down-home and small town feel to the Triad that somehow makes it seem a little more liveable and tranquil than a major city. Add all the golf courses to this mix and you can understand why many in the Triad would quite happily re-name it "Paradise."

Note: The Triad is well served by one of the best regional golf periodicals in the United States: Triad Golf Today, published by Jay Allred. Check out its Website for regular updates and news at www.triadgolf.com.