Pinehurst No. 2 Update

[Andy Mitchell]

I haven't seen much on this topic in a while... Does anyone have any new information/pics/etc. with regard to the Pinehurst No. 2 restoration? 

[PCCraig]

I think the course is still closed for heavy work. It probably wasn't the best winter to get work done down there with the cold and all the snow.

[Chris Buie]

It is looking good and I'm told the course will be ready to go by the beginning of March.  I got to look at some of the greens yesterday and they are very much grown in already.  They had them under these silvery tarps for most of the winter.  The areas where they scraped off the rough are now filled in properly with interspersed wire grass.

[Matt_Cohn]

Somebody should really tell Crenshaw and Coore that their bunker styling creates ambiguity relative to the margins of the hazard, and this doesn't fit with the rules of golf very well, so they should definitely completely rethink what they're doing.

[jeffwarne]

Somebody should really tell Crenshaw and Coore that their bunker styling creates ambiguity relative to the margins of the hazard, and this doesn't fit with the rules of golf very well, so they should definitely completely rethink what they're doing.

That looks like a great spot for a gallery to stand in!

[Kevin Lynch]

Somebody should really tell Crenshaw and Coore that their bunker styling creates ambiguity relative to the margins of the hazard, and this doesn't fit with the rules of golf very well, so they should definitely completely rethink what they're doing.

Don't worry, it's C&C - so there will be no issue in terms of Architecture.  Now if Pete Dye & Herb Kohler did this.....

The PGA must have had their thumbs up their arses to let fans walk in areas 30+ yards off the fairways.

[Mark McKeever]

The further of the two bunkers pictured is much more clearly defined.  The closest bunker would be problematic, especially in that area on the left with the lonely tuft of grass...

Mark

[Philippe Binette]

I'm curious to see what the USGA would do concerning the limits of the bunkers...

At Whistling Straits... it seems that you were either on grass or on sand (at the beginning of the week at least)

but at Pinehurst, where is the limits between bunker, sand extending in the pine needles, sandy scrubby area, pine needles over sand...


Maybe they are going to edge the bunkers, with a tiny 1 1/2" edge to "define" them and have a staff member to each bunker to re-rake it...

[Mike Hendren]

I find the pine straw much more offensive than the lack of bunker definition.

Generally I do not favor golf course elements that can be purchased by the bale out of the back of a trailer at Home Depot.

Mike

[Mark McKeever]

Bogey,

The pine straw was trucked in??

Mark

[Jud_T]

I could care less about the tournament.  I think it looks awesome....

[John Shimp]

Jud,
Agree.  It is very exciting.  Back in the 80's the pinestraw was everywhere.  Being able to play off straw is a skill capable of being learned.   it will be interesting to see the pros handle it.

[Philippe Binette]

It seems those pine straws are longer and thicker than those at Augusta, making them possibly tougher to play from.

probably different species of pines
anyone knows

[John Shimp]

Not sure about species.  One thing about Pinehurst is that not that much of the straw tends to be densely matted to the point that it is really soft underneath.  You have to be way wide of the tree line to get into that.  Most seems to have sand/hard pan underneath.  Augusta tends to be soft underneath

[Rory Connaughton]

Played No. 2 in the fall.  My entire group though the look and playing characteristics were a tremendous improvement.
I am curious about one thing though.  With so much exposed sand and bunkers carved out of areas of exposed sand is it possible that a significant rain event could wash away bunkers in their entirety?

My guess is that the love grass would prevent some but not all subsidence.

[Richard Choi]

With all the rulings that will be required on whether or not a ball is sitting in a hazard or not, the typical 6 hour US Open rounds are going to be 7 or 8 hour rounds now. Just great...

[jim_lewis]

I think I can assure that there is no need to haul pine straw onto Pinehurst #2. There are plenty pine needles falling naturally from the trees. I have seen no bales of straw on the course, I have walked the entire course recently. Also, Longleaf pines are found in abundance in Pinehurst, and the needles are certainly much longer than the more common Loblolly pine.

[Greg Holland]

I am by no means a rules official, but during a tournament, wouldn't the "committee" simply spray paint the hazard boundaries like they do on any other course?  Aren't the bunkers at No. 2 well enough known, so that they could easily be defined as a hazard (unlike the 100s of bunkers at Whistling Straits), and distinguished from the natural areas. 

[Kyle Harris]

I find the pine straw much more offensive than the lack of bunker definition.

Generally I do not favor golf course elements that can be purchased by the bale out of the back of a trailer at Home Depot.

Mike

You mean, like sod.

[Chris Buie]

Jim is right, by far most of the pines are longleaf.  One of the reasons they grow in such abundance in the area is that the soil is relatively nutrient deficient.  That is, sandy soil requires a tree thats root system is extensive.  A lot of trees don't do well in sandy loam.  The taproot of a longleaf is about as wide as the tree is and the root system grows very wide as well.  It is a similar thing with mesquite trees in the desert.  Their roots grow down to about 75 feet.
Roots are one thing you have to be mindful of when you play Pinehurst because a root can be just under the straw you are hitting off of. If you hit a root full steam it can break your wrist.  
Nutrient deficient soil is not as bad as it sounds.  It is great for golf and...wine.  They took us out in a field in Napa once and pointed out that the soil was poor.  Most of the energy of the vine goes into the grape - preservation of the species and all that.

[Craig Disher]

I'm adding a few recent photographs. Although the course is scheduled to open next week, I'd wait a couple weeks for some of the recent work to settle in. A lot of detail work is going on but the greens are fine; the course will certainly be playable although I expect there will be a few gur areas.

This view from the 2nd tee shows the extent of the waste area on the right.



A closer view. It looks sparse now but wait until the wire grass has taken hold.



Walking directly across the fairway this is the view from the left. The championship tee has been moved back almost level with the front of the 1st green. I'd guess the hole will play at nearly 500 yards leaving this as a landing area. The fairway is 55 yards wide at this point!



From the left of the 3rd fairway.



The 4th. Note the pair of bunkers on the right - brand new but so perfect that they look like they'd been there since the 1940s.



Had to throw this in - a view of the hole from just 3 years ago - wall to wall green (very green) grass, rough immediately behind the left bunker. Will the public buy the new look?



The amazing rebuild of the bunker on the left of #6. The flashed back edge is repeated on the other par 3 green-side bunkers. It's a great look.



The 7th tee was lowered a bit to accommodate a new tee behind it. The tee was also widened - the old azalea bushes on the right are gone replaced by natural-looking sandy mounds and wire grass.



Walking up the fairway, two views of the green. I think the putting surface has been extended on the left front of the green; the bunkers around the green, especially the large one on the right, have been extensively reworked.





The 8th.



The 9th. Just a spectacular renovation.



Looking back towards the 13th and 14th fairways from the 15th tee. It's a good example of how well C&C succeeded in bringing sand back into view throughout the course.



I posted a photo of these bunkers on the 16th fairway earlier when they were under construction. A vast improvement.



The 18th. The view from the members' tee is even more intimidating. That tee was moved away from the center of the fairway to the right - although not as far right as Ross's original. The path of the old center line irrigation pipe is clearly visible here as it is everywhere on the course. C&C followed Ross's fairway lines almost precisely.

[Steve Kline]

That looks freaking awesome!!!! I will be there at the beginning of April - hopefully with a tee time on #2. The fairways - with that greenish brown - look sooooo beautiful! The only thing that stands out is the greens look really green compared to everything else - but I guess that's just because it is winter.

My dad took a walk on some of the course yesterday. He thinks when the wire grass grows in it is going to be really nasty.

[George Freeman]

Unbelievable transformation, at least visually.  I suspect it will play quite a bit differently as well. 

Thanks for the great pictures, Craig.  I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to see the place in October.

[Jeff Dawson]

Had a look at No. 2 yesterday.  It looks really good in so many ways.  The new bunkers on 7 and its wider fairway is an improvement.  The rebuilt greenside bunker on 6 and so many other points of improvement.  It is startling how bad the golf course was. 

Some issues - the greens have just been punched.  The are having problems already.  This is a Pinehurst issue not a C&C issue.  I said long ago they hired the wrong super and would have done well to look outside the resort.  The resort guys are also adding their touches to the golf course all of which are alarming.  They added small pine trees behind the fourth green.  They added planting on their own in a number of places that are glaringly unnatural.  Yesterday they were adding two mounds behind the starters shack for no apparent reason.  The resort would do well to leave their hands off for a while, but it is their course.  The green fairways are painted and look really good.  Much better than overseeding, however they may be adding a second coat to make it greener.  Personally I wouldn't as I think the color as it is looks fairly natural. On a positive note the C&C crew did a great job hiding the new cart path in front of the 9th hole. 

All in all this may be the most important thing that has happened to Pinehurst in a generation and while some argue they didn't need to do this (I think they did, because they were becoming irrelevant) credit must be given to Don Padgett and Bob Dedman Jr. for heading down this road.  For those of us who are fans of No. 2 we will forever be grateful.

[Steve Kline]

They most definitely had to do this. In my opinion they had slipped to at best the fourth best golf destination in the country (behind Bandon, Monterrey and Kohler in that order).

That sucks about the pine tree planting. When you say behind the green do you mean behind the cart path behind the green? If so not as big of deal. Why would you put mounds by the starter shack?