PINEHURST, N.C. -- Its name is synonymous with golf.

More than 40 golf courses lie within 20 miles of Pinehurst. Legendary golfer Ben Hogan recorded his first professional win here in 1940. Two U.S. Men's Open championships have been held here, as well as three U.S. Women's Opens, a Ryder Cup tournament and two U.S. Amateur Championships.

Yet golf is not all that Pinehurst is about.

It's an equestrian center, home of many horse farms as well as the Pinehurst Harness Track, a major winter training facility for standardbreds. And just a few miles away is Seagrove, home of the largest group of working potters in the nation.

But golf certainly is the dominant attraction that brings more than a million visitors annually to Pinehurst and neighboring Southern Pines and Aberdeen.

Spring and fall are the big seasons for the sport here in the Sandhills region of North Carolina. Golf packages start for as little as $99 a night, but a round on the most prestigious courses can cost hundreds of dollars.

EARLY DESIGNS

The area's beginning as a golf haven came in the late 1890s, when the village of Pinehurst and its first golf course were built by James Walker Tufts, inventor of the soda fountain.

Tufts, a Bostonian, bought 5,000 acres with the idea of creating a health retreat. He had landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead design the village, built New England-style cottages and hotels, created lawn bowling, croquet and tennis diversions and established the Pinehurst Resort.

In the early 1900s, he hired an unknown Scottish golf professional to direct golf operations. That man, Donald J. Ross, redesigned the first golf course and created three more, and in the process became one of the world's most famous golf course designers.

The Pinehurst Resort today has eight courses as well as the elegant Carolina Hotel and other properties. The best-known course is No. 2, where the major tournaments are played. Payne Stewart won the 1999 U.S. Men's Open here just four months before his death in an airplane crash. Michael Campbell captured the 2005 tourney, and a third Open is scheduled here in 2014.

Visitors are welcome to test their own skills on No. 2, but it'll cost them -- greens fees are $410 for walk-ins. Most visitors, though, are on package plans that reduce costs substantially. An Evergreen Escape package at a Pinehurst Resort property, for example, runs $229 per night per person, double occupancy, including lodging, breakfast, dinner and one round of golf, good until March 7 (with a surcharge of $165 assessed for play on No. 2). Similar packages in the spring high season are more expensive, of course.

However, there are many other courses and many other lodgings within a short drive and, again, packages can put the game within affordable range.

With so many courses concentrated in the area, golfers have a wide range of choices. They can play courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones, Tom Fazio and Gary Player. They can stay in condos by a golf course, hotels in town or motels off the highways. They can even tee up on a course where llamas -- yes, llamas -- carry their clubs.

HORSING AROUND

Equine enthusiasts, meanwhile, will find almost every equestrian discipline here in wintertime, from show jumping and dressage to polo and harness racing. Fox hunts are conducted from October to March, and the Stoneybrook Steeplechase is an annual rite of spring.

For those who don't play golf or aren't into horses, the village of Pinehurst has a charming downtown with boutiques and restaurants. A few miles away, Southern Pines' Broad Street, which is bisected by Amtrak railroad tracks, also is lined on both sides with one-of-a-kind shops and dining spots. Nongolfers can take in a day spa or culinary class, book a historic tour and go hiking or horseback riding.

A 45-minute side trip to Seagrove may also be rewarding. Almost 100 potters live, work and sell their wares in this village. Most are found on or close to Route 705, offering all kinds of pottery from traditional and functional to contemporary and sculptural.

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