The USGA has gone all in at Pinehurst.
As golf fans will see at the U.S. Open on June 13-16 at Pinehurst No. 2, the relationship between golf’s American governing body and the Pinehurst Resort has become heavily intertwined.
To the right on the few hundred yards from N.C. 2 (Midland Road) to the main clubhouse on Carolina Vista Drive, the USGA has two new buildings — one for its operations and another for a fan-friendly “USGA Experience” and a new World Golf Hall of Fame.
Plus, the USGA has committed to bringing four more Opens to No. 2 by 2047 while bringing a second Women’s Open to the course in 2029. A Women’s Amateur is on the books for 2027, Boys and Girls Junior Amateurs in 2032, a Men’s Amateur in 2038 and another Women’s Am in 2044.
For an organization that revels in its history, celebrating its 1,000th overall championship since 1895 in the quaint, traditional, golf-centric environs of Pinehurst makes sense. The first U.S. Open was played at Newport (Rhode Island) Country Club.
“When you fit you can actually feel it,” said Fred Perpall, the president of the USGA at U.S. Open Media Day in early May. “Showing up yesterday, it just feels like the USGA, U.S. Open and Pinehurst fit together.”
“This place is golf minded, and the vibe is all about golf,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief championships officer.
The USGA hasn’t tried to hide its strong ties to Pinehurst. It has 65 full-time employees at its second Golf House (the original is in Far Hills, New Jersey). And it’s dubbed Pinehurst its “first anchor site” for the U.S. Open.
With the longterm deals to bring future Opens to No. 2 in 2029, 2035 and 2041 and 2047, the USGA can work with Pinehurst to improve the site for its biggest event. The USGA has assisted in getting service roads on the property paved, moving water and power lines underground and eliminating the need for diesel fuel.
Structuring the tent village with concessions, memorabilia shops,wil hospitality venues, media facilities will be much easier with years to plan and USGA staffers just across the street.
“We can do so much because we know we’re coming back,” said Bodenhamer.
“If allows us to think long-term,” said Pinehurst Resort president Tom Pashley.
The last U.S. Open at No. 2 was played in 2014, after a naturalist restoration of waste areas by architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. German Martin Kaymer shot 9-under-par that week to win by eight strokes. Michael Campbell of New Zealand won in 2005.
Payne Stewart won the first Open at Pinehurst, sinking a 15-foot putt on the final hole to beat Phil Mickelson. A statue of Stewart celebrating the putt stands just a few paces behind the 18th green.
Few other changes have been made in the decade since. About 13 yards of addition waste area has narrowed the fairway on No. 13. The first tee has been moved slightly left to allow for a secondary putting green. A few tee boxes have leveled.
Pashley said No. 2 takes little tournament preparation. The course, which costs around $500 to play in peak season, is kept in pristine condition with Stimpmeter readings in the 13 range on the greens.
Pashley and the USGA said they hope to have the putting surfaces rolling a tad faster for the Open.
“We focus on firming up the course and making sure that its fast,” Pashley said.
Oh, but there is a significant change should help ensure the wanted playing conditions.
The famous turtleback greens, crafted over decades by Donald Ross, have new Champion Bermuda grass putting surfaces. The former bent grass surfaces required extreme diligence to maintain, especially in traditional mid-June heat and humidity.
“Now, you’e got a heat-tolerant grass that you can can firm up and cut down,” Pashley said.
The gnarly wiregrass, planted in clumps throughout the waste areas, has been replenished in the past year.
“Places had started to disappear,” Pashley said.
Perhaps the damage was done by golfers disappointed that their wayward shots had found it and frustrated at the prospect of trying to hack out of it.
“It’s the perfect rough,” said Bodenhamer. “The randomness means you never know what you’re going to get.”
“We wanted to have a penalty if you miss the fairway,” said Pashley. “There’s going to be that moment of anxiety when you walk from the tee to find your tee shot.”
Bodenhamer said the course would play between 7,300 and 7,600 yards — the official distance is 7,540 yards from the back markers.
Bodenhamer said Pinehurst has the ideal qualities the USGA wants in a Men’s Open site.
No. 2 is an historic “cathedral of the game,” citing Pebble Beach and Oakmont, traditional regulars in the Open rotation, as other examples.
“We believe the ghosts of the past matter, Bodenhamer said. “That matters — where people win their U.S. Opens
Though most U.S. Opens produce only a few, if any, scores below par, Bodenhamer said that’s not a USGA priority.
“It does mean that we want the winner to get every club in his bag dirty,” he said. “We want to test every part of their game.”
Wyndham Clark, winner of the 2023 Open at Los Angeles Country Club, made a trip to Pinehurst No. play No. 2 in early May. His first PGA Tour victory had been only a few weeks earlier at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
For Clark, a 30-year-old from Colorado, now living in Arizona, it was his first trip to the course since the renovations by Coore and Crenshaw. Clark’s assessment fit with Bodenhamer’s design. He said the layout required shots of various shapes and lengths.
“There’s not necessarily one iconic hole, but 18 great golf holes,” Clark told the Media Day gathering. “This golf course just has 18 amazing holes.”
The USGA has a few special plans for its 1,000th championship. Tracey Stewart, widow of the 1999 champion who died in a plane accident later the same year, will be in attendance with the couple’s children.
Tiger Woods, despite struggling physically since a 2021 car crash, was given a special exemption into the 156-player field. Woods won the Open in 2000, 2002 and 2008. He’ll receive the USGA’s Bob Jones Award for commitment to sportsmanship and respect for golf’s time-honored traditions on Tuesday night before the tournament.
