U.S. Senior Women's Open at Pine Needles

[Philip Hensley]

While you sexists are focusing on the PGA at BB, the U.S. Senior Women's Open (known locally as the Menopause Open) is on FS1 right now. Pine Needles looks great on tv (especially with the cameo made by me in the drone flyover of the practice green).


Lots of architecture talk, especially from Brad Faxon. Despite very wide fairways, the course is eating up most of the players, especially the greens. They also seem to be having issues with any lie that isn't on grass in the fairway. Many players have driven through the fairway on 14 and had issues with the next shot (Alfredsson hit a great shot right at the pin when her ball was between 2 wire bushes).


The players also seem to have trouble with the uneven lies in the fairways and adjusting.



The changes that have been done by Kyle Franz over the last 3 years have really improved the course.


The one thing that doesn't really show on tv is the minor mounding added to some of the greens by Franz when they switched the greens from bent to bermuda grass. Hitting to the correct sections of the greens is now much more important. What used to be long, flat putts are now much trickier if you have to putt over or through these mounds.


The U.S. Women's Open at CC of Charleston next month is also at a course with work done by Franz. The Franz Slam?

[Philip Hensley]

Lots of great interviews with the players. Laura Davies said that if you get the ball in the wrong spot, the course in unforgiving.


Trish Johnson, who was 6-under through 14, said that the greens were so tough that small misses just a few feet on either side make you hesitate when you hit your shot. You're worried about how a slight mis-hit could be magnified.

[Peter Flory]

Thanks for the reminder.  Mid Pines and Pine Needles are fantastic.  I have been playing in a hickory event there each fall and it plays much more difficult than it looks.  It took me many rounds before I started to realize that I wasn't playing poorly, it is just hard. 


The greens are very deceptive and there is an overall grain/ pull that is tough to get used to. 


Looks beautiful on TV.  66 by Johnson is really impressive (26 putts!)

[Anthony_Nysse]

The U.S. Women's Open at CC of Charleston next month is also at a course with work done by Franz. The Franz Slam?

Silva has done the renovation work at CCC.

[Jay Mickle]

Silva has done the renovation work at CCC.

As Kyle is not married and needs no excuse to be running off to Charleston on a regular basis I believe him when he talks about the work that he has been involved in at CCC for the past couple of years. Glad that his work is finding a wider audience.

[Jeff Loh]

Could it be that Kyle is "correcting" some of Silva's earlier work?

[George Pazin]

Go Jane Crafter!!

[Keith Phillips]

From the club website...Raynor, designed and built the course from 1923 to 1925. Staying true to Raynor’s original design, the course has been restored over the years by John LaFoy (1990-1991), Brian Silva (2006) and Kyle Franz (2016-2018).  LaFoy restored the golf course after the devastation of Hugo. Silva, using photographs of the original course, restored 39 bunkers and returned the layout near its original form while adding modern technology including a Subair system for the greens and state of the art irrigation, draining and pump controls. After the club uncovered more information on Raynor’s design, Franz restored six holes to their original design.