Course No. 2

Pinehurst No. 2, the centerpiece of Pinehurst Resort, remains one of the world’s most celebrated golf courses. It has served as the site of more single golf championships than any course in America and, in 2014, will make history again, becoming the first to serve as host to the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open Championships in consecutive weeks. Opened in 1907, No. 2 was designed by Donald Ross, who called it “the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed.” Ross was associated with the course for nearly a half-century, improving the course continually until his death in 1948. No. 2 is best known for its crowned, undulating greens, which are some of the most complex and widely hailed in the world.

Golf Course Maintenance

• Director, Grounds and Golf Course Management – Bob Farren CGCS
• Pinehurst No. 2 Golf Course Superintendent – Kevin Robinson CGCS

Pinehurst No. 2 Characteristics

• Acres on No. 2: 196
• Acres of turf: 61 (87 prior to restoration)
• Acres of fairways: 41 (28 prior) of tightly-mown turf, including distressed areas no longer irrigated
• Acres of rough 0 (45 prior for regular play, 50 for past U.S. Open)
• Acres of tees and green surrounds: 17
• Square feet of greens: 115,000 (6,388 avg sq/ft)
• Number of sand bunkers: 111

Irrigation

• Type of irrigation system: Toro Site Pro (radio controlled heads)
• Source of water: Lake Pinehurst
• Total number of irrigation heads: About 450 (reduced from more than 1,100 prior to restoration)
• Coverage on Fairways: Irrigation redesigned to cover fine turf areas minimizing irrigating areas where water is not needed
• Greens: Dual head part circle – 1 head for putting surfaces and 1 head for green slope

Turf Varieties, Mowing Heights & Frequencies

• Greens: Will be sodded with A1 / A4 Bent. Currently Penn G-2 Grass, mowed to 0.125”
• Tees, fairways, green surrounds Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass, mowed to 0.4”

"Proving the adage that everything old is new again, Pinehurst Number Two has roared onto the Must-Play list of any passionate golfer and is now nothing less than the best inland public course in North America."
--Larry Olmsted - Forbes.com

"My mouth literally falls open when I see the incredible work that they've done. I've got to say, I'm so excited about 2014 because it's going to be a very unique U.S. Open."
--Mike Davis - Executive Director, USGA

"Ross, it's safe to say, would be proud."
--Michael Whitmer - Boston Globe

"Imagine a U.S. Open played on a golf course without a rough. It will become a reality in 2014 when the Open comes to Pinehurst for the third time."
--Eddie Southards - Fayetteville Observer

"The greens at No.2 will be just as treacherous and mind bending as any set of putting surfaces on the planet. No amount of restoration on the rest of the property will ever change that, which is eternally as it should be."
--Mike Purkey - Global Golf Post

"For the first time that anyone can remember the U.S. Open will be played without traditional rough."
--Mike Purkey - Global Golf Post

"You can already see it come alive. When you see and feel Pinehurst, you know it's something different. It remains a masterpiece, a course so beautifully balanced and testing."
--Ben Crenshaw

"The premise is that the farther a golfer hits it, the more chance there is of the ball running into the wire grass and pine straw. They'll be able to see the ball in that area, but they won't know what kind of lie they're going to have."
--Bill Coore

"The Forecaddie recently journeyed to the North Carolina Sandhills for a look at the restoration work on famed Pinehurst No. 2 – and was nothing short of amazed at what Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are doing."
--Bradley Klein - Golfweek

"What Crenshaw and Coore are doing with No. 2 is both dramatic and necessary."
--Ron Green, Jr. - Charlotte Observer

"Pinehurst deserves credit for drawing on the best aspects of its past to shape its future. The most intricate of classic courses, is primed to return to the pinnacle of American golf."
--Thomas Dunne - Departures Magazine

"The areas off the greens are masterpieces. I don't think there's anything like it in North America."
--Ben Crenshaw

"Crenshaw and Coore, blessed with archival evidence and artists' eyes, are uncovering the past, one hole at a time."
--Ron Green, Jr. - Charlotte Observer

"There is an aura about the entire Pinehurst experience that is hard to describe."
--Pat Jones - Golf Course Industry Magazine

"Pinehurst is one of the premiere places in the world to play golf. I am looking forward to the course changing for the better."
--Graeme McDowell - 2010 U.S. Open Champion

"What Pinehurst is doing here is definitely a very bold move…to take the golf course back to the original design and feel and look. Going back to rugged and natural. It's going to be exciting to see how it comes out."
--Graeme McDowell - 2010 U.S. Open Champion

"I just skipped ahead to March in my 2011 calendar: 'Priority: Pinehurst.' I'll see you there."
--Matt Ginella - Golf Digest

"One of the world's most famous layouts recently reopened following an extensive restoration project by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, and the results are spectacular."
--Ron Green, Jr. - Miami Herald

"No. 2 is the ultimate as far as I'm concerned. What they are doing is just fantastic."
--Curtis Strange

Ross believed in providing golfers with strategic choices, and Pinehurst No. 2 was intended to epitomize that philosophy. In February 2010, Pinehurst contracted with the design firm of Coore & Crenshaw, Inc., to restore the natural and strategic characteristics that were the essence of Ross’ original design. The project, completed in March 2011, included the removal of about 35 acres of turf and the reintroduction of hardpan, natural bunker edges and native wire grasses.

Further details of the restoration include:

• Increased fairway widths. Fairways have been widened to offer more strategic options in playing holes from tee to green.
• Removal of rough. Approximately 35 acres of grassy areas that were formerly “rough” have been stripped and restored to natural areas featuring sand, wire grass, pine straw and a variety of native grasses. All rough has been eliminated from the course leaving just two lengths of grass: greens and everything else.
• Turf maintenance. Wall-to-wall irrigation has been replaced with the center water lines that have been in place for more than 60 years. These irrigation lines will define the shapes of fairways, and grass outside of the fairways will become distressed turf.
• Firmer, faster fairways. Firmer and wider fairways will produce more roll off the tee, which will benefit shots that remain in the fairway while penalizing shots that continue to bounce into sand, distressed areas, pine straw and native grasses.
• Bunker modifications. Several bunkers have been restored, eliminated or reshaped based on aerial images of the course from the 1940s.

• U.S. Open Championship: 1999, 2005, 2014
• Ryder Cup Matches: 1951
• PGA Championship: 1936
• U.S. Women's Open Championship: 2014
• U.S. Amateur Championship: 1962, 2008
• THE TOUR Championship: 1991, 1992
• U.S. Senior Open Championship: 1994
• USGA Women's Amateur: 1989
• Men's & Women's World Amateur Team Championship: 1980
• North & South Junior Championship: (since 1979)
• World Open: 1973-1975
• World Golf Hall of Fame Classic: 1976-1982
• PGA Club Professional Championship: 1971-74, 1988
• Western Golf Association Amateur Championship: 1966
• Southern Golf Association Amateur Championship: 1965, 1977
• North & South Senior Women's Amateur: (since 1958)
• North & South Senior Amateur: (since 1952)
• Donald Ross Junior: (since 1948)
• North & South Women's Amateur: (since 1903)
• North & South Open Championship: 1902-1951
• North & South Amateur: (since 1901)