Pinehurst No. 2 update

[Jeff Dawson]

I was able to take a tour of Pinehurst No. 2 today.  The renovation work is progressing nicely and to start to see the reclamation of more natural ground cover is wonderful.  In addition to the "eye candy" of waste areas being reestablished they are also building a number of new tees.  Forward tees are being built on most holes as previously they just had red tees in the start of the fairway.  They are also bringing back teeing angles on a number of holes such as the par 5 fourth (tee box between the 3rd green and the bathrooms) as well as the 18th.  The old abandoned tee on the right side has been replaced.  I for one am relieved to see these angles reestablished and cannot for the life of me figure out why in the world the Resort did away with them to begin with.  Some holes are being lengthened as well.. new back tees on 2, 7, 8, 16, 17 and 18 and a lengthening of other back tees. My guess is the new back tees are a Mike Davis design and not a Coore / Crenshaw design.  I have seen Bill Coore shorten holes but its rare for him to lengthen them. They are also removing some bunkers and adding a few based on photographs from the early 1940's.  The natural sandy areas are going to take months if not years to establish correctly.  It is very difficult to plant something and make it look natural (just look at Pinehurst No. 4).  They don't want all of the new areas to look the same so some will be planted, some will be sandy, others will just be left to do what they do as some of the grassy areas will not be watered.  They have turned off all of the sprinklers except the center line heads which were put in in the 1930's.  That center line is acting as a road map.  The 17th hole looks stunning

[CJ Carder]

I too was relieved to see some of the angles coming back into play - I think #2 is only going to be better for most of the changes.  I only question a couple of the new tee boxes.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but a tee further back on the 2nd would place the hole starting in the middle of the 1st fairway, no?     And as if the 8th weren't already difficult enough, won't a new back tee have it playing off the 1st green?

[Chris Buie]

I'll post some more photos later - but this will give you an idea.  It is really looking great. 

[Jeff Dawson]

The new back tees are very much a product of the US Open.  The 2nd tee is straight back and yes a bit of a hike from the 1st green back.  The tee box is right of the short cross bunker on one but nicley done and if it is not cut to tee length could easily go unnoticed.  The 8th tee was an old tee that has been reestablished and it is across the cart path right of the forward tee on 2.

[Mike Cirba]

Jeff,

Thanks for the update, which sounds quite encouraging.

It sounds to me like the trick will be in getting the ball running, which will require very F&F fairway conditions, because only then can the stuff they're restoring off the edges seriously affect the better player's thinking from the tee.   Do you think that's part of the thinking and overall strategy in what is presently happening with the restoration?

I'm talking Southern Pines F&F, in mid-summer, when the budget is tight. 

[rjsimper]

The new fairway bunker on 10 still baffles me.

[Jeff Dawson]

Fast and firm is certainly the talk but it will require the buy in from the resort.  I am not yet convinced that those who will be left to take care of the course understand this yet, but I hope I am wrong.  The course needs to be firm and fast.  At least they have shut off all of the heads except the center line.  Coore Crenshaw will be on site for a very long time so they will be around to at least get it in the right condition before they leave.  I do know that Don Padgett (head of the resort) is very much committed to this new direction.  We will have to wait and see if that trickles down to staff.

The bunker on 10 (left side fairway) comes into play off the white tee.  The old volcano bunker (short right) has been removed.

[Mike Cirba]

Jeff,

I think that's going to be critical and glad to see it's one of the goals.

Thanks again for the update.

[Chris Buie]

I was told the number of sprinkler heads on #2 is going from 1,100 to 400.  That bodes well for conditioning fairways to actually have some bounce to them.  I've become accustomed to having a lot of my drives back up. 
It's interesting because the naturalistic, F/F style is an entirely new concept to the "average member" at the club.  My impression is that they are not against it, just a little puzzled.  I predict that if they actually do get a brownish color going on there will be considerable consternation from a lot of the members and the visitors.  The club is doing a good job helping the members understand what is going on thus far, but they will need to be pretty persuasive to sell brown.  After some of the visitors dislodge themselves from the charming 6 month snow banks of the North I don't think all of them will be entirely keen on seening brownish grass.  I know I wasn't after being in Minneapolis for a winter.  Could be an issue.  We'll see.

[Mike Cirba]

Chris,

That's quite a reduction!

It will indeed be interesting to see how it plays with resort guests, especially considering that there are seven other courses at the resort that will still be in their normal green, lush state.

Hopefully, it will start a trend. 

[Chris Buie]

I think if they get a few famous golfers waxing poetic on the Pinehurst website about the greatness of having the course bouncy and fast that people will appreciate it.  That is a guess and a suggestion on my part.  Without some sort of explanation/education I think you may get not such a good reaction out of people who don't know from lush.
It was curious because today I managed to get out for about 45 minutes on the range there  (trying to straighten out a nettlesome driver  ) - and you can see the first hole where they have shaved off most of the rough and around the green.  Yet for the entire 45 minutes a sprinkler attached to a hose was watering the area between the tee and the fairway.  I'm not saying that is wrong, but it did make me wonder what the plan is.  We've had a lot of good rain this week.
I've wondered about the trend thing as well.  Mainly, whether on not they would restore Augusta to that very interesting Mackenzie/Jones course it was.  I seriously doubt it. However, if the 2014 Opens here go over extremely well there will be some sort of enhancement to the current naturalistic trend.

[rjsimper]

The bunker on 10 (left side fairway) comes into play off the white tee.  The old volcano bunker (short right) has been removed.

Really? Do you know the yardage? I thought it seemed like 400+ from the back tees but I don't recall where the whites were.

[Jeff Dawson]

The bunker on 10 (left side fairway) comes into play off the white tee.  The old volcano bunker (short right) has been removed.

Really? Do you know the yardage? I thought it seemed like 400+ from the back tees but I don't recall where the whites were.

Not sure, but I think the whites are at least 150 yards in front of the back tees.  I was told it was built for the white tees.  It's not an issue for the tips.

[jeffwarne]

I was told the number of sprinkler heads on #2 is going from 1,100 to 400.  That bodes well for conditioning fairways to actually have some bounce to them.  I've become accustomed to having a lot of my drives back up. 
It's interesting because the naturalistic, F/F style is an entirely new concept to the "average member" at the club.  My impression is that they are not against it, just a little puzzled.  I predict that if they actually do get a brownish color going on there will be considerable consternation from a lot of the members and the visitors.  The club is doing a good job helping the members understand what is going on thus far, but they will need to be pretty persuasive to sell brown.  After some of the visitors dislodge themselves from the charming 6 month snow banks of the North I don't think all of them will be entirely keen on seening brownish grass.  I know I wasn't after being in Minneapolis for a winter.  Could be an issue.  We'll see.

Why reduce the # of heads, why not just use them less often/seldom(particularly in certain areas)?