'From question mark to exclamation point'
How Pinehurst went from angst to anchor site in 25 years; What Tiger, Phil & Kooch have in common; Stray Shots
Pinehurst Resort built it … then came. (James Nix/USGA)
PINEHURST, N.C. — Unless you were here 25 years ago in this quaint little village off the beaten path in the sandhills of North Carolina, you can’t comprehend the angst that hovered over the storied resort where Donald Ross spent years of his life perfecting his architectural masterpiece — the No. 2 course at Pinehurst.
The fear of failure was palpable from the moment the United States Golf Association made the daring decision to stage its first major championship in the southern U.S. during the peak of summer. Would the course present the proper test Ross intended? Would the modern grasses hold up under the strain and the heat? Would the weather and daily threats of thunderstorms become intolerable? Would anyone come? If they did, would they be able to get tens of thousands of people on and off of the property comfortably and conveniently?
In short, would a U.S. Open at Pinehurst be a boon or a colossal bust?
“I think there were valid questions and concerns at the time,” said Tom Pashley, president of Pinehurst Resort.
The 1999 U.S. Open, won in dramatic and unforgettable fashion but Payne Stewart with a long putt on the 18th green, was a huge success. Pinehurst answered all the questions correctly. The USGA returned six years later in 2005. Then it tested an even more audacious idea in 2014 by holding the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens on consecutive weeks on the same No. 2 venue.
Payne Stewart’s statue celebrating iconic pose is front and center (Mogie Adamchik/USGA)
Twenty-five years after Payne’s putt dropped in 1999, the USGA has moved a large chunk of its operation into its Golf House Pinehurst across the driveway from the clubhouse. The World Golf Hall of Fame, where Pádraig Harrington led a new class into enshrinement Monday night, has moved into the same facility.
Most astonishing of all, the place where so many worries once festered became the first of three “anchor sites” for the USGA (later joined by Pebble Beach and Oakmont) where U.S. Opens will now be staged every five to seven years as part of a more consistent rotation of classic championship venues.
It’s a stunning 25-year evolution.
“I guess you could say we’ve gone from question mark to exclamation point,” said Pashley. “I don’t know that anybody necessarily saw that coming.”
Pinehurst No. 2 has become to the U.S. Open what the Old Course at St. Andrews is for the British Open — a foundational venue that will in time become as familiar to players and fans as the Road Hole and the R&A clubhouse.
How did it happen?