We kick off the new Best of Golf section (PLEASE REFRESH YOUR BROWSER IF YOU DON’T SEE IT) with an in-depth look at the fifth hole at Pinehurst No. 2.
While it needs no introduction, we will all be seeing the fifth in a different light ten days from today when it plays as a par 5 for the first time since the 1936 PGA Championship. Yes, that’s correct, it was a par 5 at the last big event during Ross’s lifetime.
Like some of you, I was initially perturbed (as golf architecture zealots tend to get!
) when it was announced that this hole was going to play as something other than the beastly two shotter it has been for six plus decades. With further reflection I have come to appreciate the wisdom of the change for a variety reasons. In particular, the last 120 yards or so of this hole is my single favorite part of the Pinehurst property and it will see much more traffic as a result of the hole being stretched ~110 yards. Played from either 580 yards or 470 yards as it did in 2005, the hole has the same par – 4 1/2!
Yet, I suspect that playing it as a reachable par 5 will encourage the USGA to use some of the spicy left hole locations. Heroic and strange events will unfold here during both events - I can’t wait. For sure, I’ll be hanging out there to watch the melee - it’s the equivalent of waiting for a pile-up at a NASCAR event!
Hope you enjoy this entry and there is no more appropriate way to kick off a section entitled ‘Best of …’ than with this infamously infuriating Ross creation.
Best,