At the risk of reading like a marketing blurb, there's probably never been a better time to play more golf for less money.

Not just in the Sandhills, but across the Carolinas, and indeed the country, golf clubs and courses find themselves engaged in a kind of pricing limbo competition.

The challenge is to see how low they can go without falling over altogether.

It's not a price war in the conventional sense, where rival businesses look to knock out the competition. Instead, it's a matter of finding a point at which enough customers will spend enough money to keep the wheels turning.

Few facilities are immune, which makes for a variety of incentives and packages as everyone fights to find that balance and catch the golfers' eye.

One of the upshots is that some courses are getting busier even while their revenues continue to slide.

"It seems like a lot of people are playing golf, but they are not eating in the clubhouse or buying the amount of merchandise they used to," said Morgan Stephenson, of Tobacco Road Golf Club in Sanford, who is president of the Sandhills Golf Course Superintendents Association.

That leads to a couple of other consequences. More play means more wear and tear on the golf course, but less income means fewer resources to maintain the playing field.

Fortunately, as Stephenson points out, few golf-rich areas carry the kind of "insurance" that Moore County enjoys.

For one, there is the proximity to N.C. State University and its world-class turfgrass research department.

"We are so lucky having the folks from N.C. State so close and so willing to help," Stephenson said. "They can and have driven down here at a moment's notice if a problem is serious enough. Who knows how much they have helped stave off damaging outbreaks that not only impact the golf course but might also affect the area's reputation."

That relationship is reciprocal. Superintendents like Stephenson and colleague Perry Payne at Tobacco Road regularly provide turf and space for open air living laboratories.

Recently, they have collaborated with N.C. State researchers on field studies into fairy ring and poa annua.

Sandhills area golf course superintendents also benefit from the biennial presence of the USGA's Green Section conference in Pinehurst. The day-long conference puts the most up-to-date research findings and innovations in golf course maintenance right in the heart of Moore County.

Superintendents often travel from as far afield as Georgia and Tennessee to access the information on offer.

"Again, we're so fortunate to have an event like that on our doorstep," Stephenson said.

Indeed, as budgets continue to shrink, the proximity of continuing education becomes more of a factor.

Few Sandhills area superintendents are expected to travel to the week-long Golf Industry Show in San Diego, Calif., next month, which is the nation's showcase education and trade show event for golf course maintenance.

It has nothing to do with the quality of the event, just the cost.

But once again, golf in the Pinehurst area is unlikely to suffer from its superintendents staying home as much as some other areas might. The regional Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association stages what amounts to a mini-version of the national show in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each November.

That drive is a lot cheaper than a cross-country flight, and hotel rates that time of year are about as affordable as they get all year.

That's why, even in the current economic climate, numbers at the Carolinas GCSA event this past November were as strong as ever, while forecasts for the San Diego event are gloomy at best.

Much of that may seem a world away from the concerns of the average golfer, but the real distance can be paper thin. Turfgrass pests, diseases and other ailments are constantly changing and throwing up new puzzles or variations on old themes. Superintendents who think their learning is over the minute they secure their degree don't stay superintendents for long.

That's why Stephenson and Payne each took classes in Myrtle Beach and will sign up for the USGA Green Section conference in March.

Even Paul Jett, certified golf course superintendent at Pinehurst No. 2 and host of two U.S. Open Championships and last year's U.S. Amateur, sat through two half-day seminars in Myrtle Beach.

So while the current recession may be putting a squeeze on access to education in some parts of the country, the good news is that superintendents in Moore County are keeping up.

And while the golf itself may be getting cheaper, the experience remains as rich as ever.