Pinehurst #2 Fairways

[Tom ORourke]

A friend of mine is a Pinehurst member. I asked him yesterday how #2 was playing, and how the changes looked. He loves it, but his  comment was that the USGA had come in for a review and thought that the fairways were too wide. How is that going to affect the new watering system, and the overall changes? I guess it will be easier to take out more grass than to put it back, but I am guessing that the USGA must not have been part of the planning of the renovation.

[Jud_T]

I'd tell 'em they're free to take their little tournament elsewhere if they don't like it.

[rjsimper]

...because the USGA's sign-off on Congressional worked out so well for the level of difficulty.

The fairways are definitely wider, but if they get it running firm and fast like they want, the idea is that more balls will run into the native areas. I can see that happening.

I was down there yesterday and at least what you can see driving in (1,2,3) that the edges are definitely getting a little more worn looking, which is the idea with the centerline irrigation.

Having played the old and new layouts, I hope they don't make changes just to make a better 2014 championship site in the USGA's eyes.

[David_Madison]

The USGA comment is very surprising to me. I thought that Mike Davis and perhaps others from the USGA had been in regular contact with C&C and the folks at Pinehurst, had made a number of visits, and were very positive all along.

While the fairways are wide, that's the case primarily for mortals. The fairways narrow down once you get out to the range that the tour players can hit it. They'll have to do a lot of weighing the risks of driving through the wide portions of the fairways into the natural areas, or laying back but leaving themselves longer approaches. And even if they do hit the fairways, the strategic value in placing their tee shots in the right areas for any given cup is huge, and those best areas are typically along the flanks (again bringing the natural areas into play). No question that the best drivers will be rewarded.