I remember my first trip to Pinehurst well. It was nearly 40 years ago. I had just turned 23 and was working at The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. Teddy Heffner, one of many great colleagues who befriended me, invited me to tag along on an annual golf writers trip.
I had loved golf since junior high, when my daily school bus rides took me past a local public course, leading me to buy a set of junior clubs at a big-box discount store and save up $2.50 for the greens fee. Though I played high school and American Legion baseball, I usually found time to play at least nine holes a week. I watched major championships on television, always rooting for Jack Nicklaus over an insurgent Tom Watson.
Obviously a lot has changed over the years. A lot of teenagers don’t ride school buses anymore. The big-box store where I bought the clubs has long gone out of business. Legion baseball is all but dead throughout much of the country. And good luck trying to play nine holes for $2.50, though some public courses participate in a USGA program that lets kids play for $5.
Though Pinehurst has has exploded in size and popularity, it has remained much the same — especially in the historic village. Golf is still the reason for the rapid population growth and millions of annual visitors.
Believe it or not, while growing up in the Midwest I had never heard of Pinehurst, now sometimes billed as “The Cradle of American Golf.” I may have been concerned — I don’t remember — as we motored through the scruffy Pee Dee region up U.S. 1. We slipped past the notorious speed trap just south of the Carolinas border and continued on what seemed like a backroad to nowhere.
After about two hours in the car, we turned a corner and there it was: Pinehurst — or Aberdeen, to be exact. I don’t remember a single sign anywhere on the route providing any distance, or even mention, of Pinehurst.
In 1986, Aberdeen, Southern Pines and Pinehurst were very small, and U.S. 1/501 was the extent of what is now a bustling commercial area with big-box stores, chain restaurants and a modern hospital. Back then, I think there were two small grocery stores, a few restaurants and a few hotels. I remember, two long- closed local restaurants, The Barn and The Lobsteer, as favorites among visiting golfers.
Our group played the then-new Pinehurst No. 7, a penal Rees Jones design meant to add a modern touch to the resort’s course repertoire. If memory serves me right, we played Pine Needles the next day. We grilled steaks one night poolside at the Carolinas Hotel and spent the first night drinking at the Pine Crest Inn bar. We had a dinner at Pine Needles’ old banquet room on the lower level of the hotel.
I played one round with the director of the World Golf Hall of Fame — yes, the Hall used to sit behind the fifth green at Pinehurst No. 2.
I thought Pinehurst was unbelievable, a golf oasis in the middle of nowhere. The area was all about golf. Truth is, despite the explosive growth, the number of area golf courses hasn’t changed much over the past four decades.
Some courses have changed ownership — for instance, Pinehurst No. 9 was Pinehurst National, Mid-South Club was Pinehurst Plantation. Southern Pines Golf Club has been transformed from an Optimistic Club property to a worthy upscale sister of Pine Needles and Mid Pines. We provide a first-hand look at the new No. 10 on Page 20.
The rolling hills and surrounding pines were a magnificent setting for golf. I loved the traffic circles — they may have been the first I had ever seen — at state highway intersections. My only complaint was the heat and humidity often present in summer months.
The historic Village of Pinehurst has grown while managing to keep most of its charm. The church bell and chimes can still be heard on PInehurst No. 2 from The Village Chapel just across Midland Road. Golfers still chip into the fireplace at the Pine Crest Inn. Pinehurst Resort has bought a few of the small old hotels — including Pine Crest — in the village.
I’ve been lucky enough to see Pinehurst’s national and international emergence. I trace it to the PGA Tour bringing the Tour Championship to No. 2 in 1991 and 1992. I was there when Paul Azinger brandished an odd putter dubbed “The Thing” to win in 1992.
In 1995, colorful Aussie Simon Hobday won a nationally televised U.S. Senior Open — Senior or “Champions” golf was big back then when Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino and Rodriguez were playing. In 1996, Pine Needles hosted its first U.S. Women’s Open, won by Annika Sorenstam.
Pinehurst gained world-wide acclaim as a golf Mecca in 1999 when No. 2 played host to its first U.S. Open in 1999, capped by Payne Stewart’s climatic birdie putt on the final hole. Stewart died only a few months later.
For the 2014 Open, waste areas filled with wire grass replaced traditional rough along the fairways. When the U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst No. 2 for the fourth time this month with four more Opens scheduled by 2047, I will see more changes.
A new Hall of Fame will be open to visitors in one of two new USGA buildings near the Pinehurst Country Club clubhouse, home to the resort’s first five courses.
The Pinehurst area is much more spread out nowadays. Several roads connecting Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen and lined with stores, restaurants and businesses. Yet the area remains a special place, a golf paradise seemingly built in the middle of nowhere.
The route has become more accessible. U.S. 220, the primary route from much of the Triad into the 1990s, has become U.S. 74. There are Pinehurst signs along the way. And U.S. 211, a lonely two-lane road covering the last 20 miles or so is now a four-lane highway lined by gas stations, grocery stores and fast-food restaurants over the last 15 minutes of the drive.
But Pinehurst is still an area that exists solely due to golf. There’s no beach, no nightclubs, no casinos. The additions were planned to modernize, but fit with the area’s unique, traditional niche.
At Pinehurst Resort, recent additions have included the fantastic par-3 Cradle course — probably the toughest tee time in the area — a restaurant with outdoor seating behind the 18th green at No. 2, and a micropub in the village. Plus, there’s the new USGA presence, which includes a lab where visitors can see “Iron Byron,” the organization’s legendary equipment tester.
I enjoyed learning the secret of Pinehurst in the pre-Open days. But I’m glad so many golfers are now in on the secret and enjoying a golf treasure.
