THE GOOD: It’s easy to criticize the randomness of the penalties produced by the waste areas filled with wire grass or the severity of the slopes on the greens that send seemingly good approaches bouncing and rolling off the putting surfaces into ridiculously difficult collection areas. But take a look at the final leaderboard Sunday…
Making its debut as a U.S. Open site in 1999, Pinehurst No. 2 has a shorter Open history than traditional venues such as Oakmont, Shinnecock Hills, The Country Club (Brookline), Oakland Hills, Merion, Winged Foot, Baltusrol, and Olympic Club. But like fellow relative Open newcomers Pebble Beach and Bethpage Black, Pinehurst No. 2 offers the…
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…
Lexington Golf Club (pictured above) closed on June 1 to convert the greens to Champion Bermuda grass. The course is expected to reopen in early August, according to director of golf Dylan Dawson. Lexington is using a “no till” process that simple kills the existing turf and plants the new grass. Prior to the closure,…
Asher Vargas of Spring Texas won the AJGA Wyndham Invitational at Sedgefield Country Club on Thursday, finishing with a 6-under-par 204 total for 54 holes. Mason Howell of Thomasville, Georgia, and Ronin Banerjee of Irvine, California, tied for second at 206. Pennson Badgett (pictured above) of Pilot Mountain, who shot 70 in his first two…
Burlington native Kayla Smith birdied three of the final six holes Thursday at Mooresville Golf Club to cap a 4-under-par 68 and win The Carolinas Golf Association North Carolina Women’s Amateur by three strokes over Winston-Salem’s Macy Pate. Smith, who recently finished her fifth season at the University of North Carolina with the school’s No.…
The old joke continues to be told by the players at this weekend’s U.S. Open, which begins Thursday morning at Pinehurst No. 2. What’s the best way to stop Scottie Scheffler (pictured practicing at No. 2) from winning? The much-repeated answer: have him arrested by the sheriff, or any other law enforcement officer lining the…
Blades Brown has left a successful stint on the PGA Tour behind to play a junior event at Sedgefield Country Club. OK, it’s not that simple. Brown is scheduled to return to Greensboro next week to defend his Wyndham Invitational title won last year. Though he did make the cut three weeks ago at the…
North Carolina made the final eight in the NCAA Championship with a tie for third place in stroke play at La Costa North in Carlsbad, California. The Tar Heels shot 4-under-par 284 Monday to tie Virginia at 11-over 1163, 17 strokes behind team leader llinois. Seeded No. 4 for match play, UNC will play No.…
Virginia took a three-stroke lead after Saturday’s second round of the NCAA Men’s Championship at La Costa North in Carlsbad, California. North Carolina, which entered the day only one-shot from the top, struggled and fell 10 strokes back. Virginia has a 1-over-par 557 total, three shots better than Illinois and six ahead of Vanderbilt. North…