North-South Amateurs Praise Pinehurst No. 2 Restoration

EARLIER THIS MONTH TOP AMATEURS teed it up in the 111th Men’s North & South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst, North Carolina. It was the most significant tournament at Pinehurst No. 2 since the storied golf course reopened in March following a full restoration by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. A few of the amateurs share their thoughts about No. 2 in the above video. For the North & South, Pinehurst No. 2 played at 7,346 yards and to a par of 71.

Restoration Elements

Beginning in 2008, the $2.5 million restoration was undertaken to elevate the experience for members and resort guests, Pinehurst Resort said in April. The USGA was consulted throughout the process since it will conduct the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open at No. 2 on consecutive weeks in 2014.

Following are specific elements of the restoration.

• The wall-to-wall grass look synonymous with the modern era has been eliminated, leaving just two lengths of grass: greens and everything else.

• All rough has been eliminated from the course.

• Approximately 32 acres of grass have been stripped, returning natural areas of hardpan, sand, pine straw and wiregrass that were part of the original topography. More than 100,000 wiregrass plants were added.

• Fairways have been widened by almost 50 percent on average, offering more strategic options. Fairways also will be kept firmer, benefiting good shots and penalizing stray shots that continue to bounce into distressed areas, pine straw and native grasses.

• Almost 700 sprinkler heads have been removed, leaving about 450 operating heads along the single, center water line. These irrigation lines will define fairways, but leave other areas to be defined by the weather and natural elements.

• The removal of sprinkler heads coupled with no winter overseeding and the focus on firmer conditions will reduce overall water usage by as much as 50 percent.

• Eight new tees have been added to the championship course, increasing the total championship yardage to 7,485 yards from 7,214.

• All greens have been sodded with A1/A4 bent grass.

• Bunkers have been restored, eliminated or reshaped based on aerial images of the course from the 1940s.

• While No. 2’s famous greens went largely untouched, minor modifications were made to the 15th and 17th greens in order to create additional pin placements.

“My mouth literally falls open when I see the incredible work that they’ve done,” said USGA Executive Director Mike Davis.

I hope to get to Pinehurst sometime soon and see for myself.

−The Armchair Golfer

Oakmont Is Cage Fighting in Fashionable Clothing

THE USGA’S COURSE SETUP MAN Mike Davis is “giddy” about course conditions at Oakmont Country Club heading into this week’s U.S. Women’s Open near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Giddy, I tell you.

“I am truly giddy the whole week that I’m here. It’s just so good,” Davis said at USGA.org. “In fact, it’s perfect [and] it’s been that way the last five days we’ve been here.”

This might not be good news for the women who must actually play Oakmont for 72 holes over four days. When the USGA man declares that Oakmont is a firm and fast test for the world’s best female golfers, you just know there’s going to be trouble—and lots of it. Some are predicting scores in the 90s and a cut at 12-over par.

Here’s what I know about Oakmont after watching the boys play it since the late 20th century: It will seriously mess you up. It will blacken your eye and bloody your nose. It will spit in your face and kick you in the groin. It will beat you up, take your lunch money and steal your identity. Oakmont is cage fighting in fashionable clothing.

If you have a bag and 14 sticks, Oakmont doesn’t like you. If you come near it, it will try to destroy you. Oakmont is Lee Van Cleef in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales. Oakmont is Alien, The Terminator and Predator.

Oakmont does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, or political beliefs. Man, woman, child—Oakmont doesn’t care. It whips all comers.

If you complain, whine, or cry about it, Oakmont gets stronger. If you talk to yourself, toss your club in disgust, or berate your caddie, Oakmont gets stronger. When—not if—when you make bogeys, double bogeys and “others,” Oakmont gets stronger.

Oakmont is permanently in a surly mood, and has been dating back to 1973 (if not longer). That’s when golden boy Johnny Miller slipped by Oakmont without so much as a tear in his plaid slacks or a scuff on his red, white and blue patent leather golf shoes. Johnny walked away with a 63 and the U.S. Open trophy, and he’s been reminding people about it for the last 37 years. Oakmont has been taking it out on golfers just as long.

Godspeed, ladies.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: StonehouseGolf/Flickr)