A Renovation Secret

"I love the golf course!" said Graeme McDowell after his first round at The 2014 US Open at Pinehurst. He shot two under and placed himself in a good position for a fine finish, but his quote was a simple and an insightful compliment to the USGA, Pinehurst, and especially to the design team of Corre and Crenshaw who created a heavenly renovation at Pinehurst #2. The redo of Pinehurst #2 was more of a metamorphosis than a renovation. They essentially removed a thick green rug of grass that blanketed # 2 for the past 60 years and they exposed the natural ragged beauty that Donald Ross, the designer, created 100 years ago. In terms of golf course design and just plain guts, the design team held to their vision throughout the project even though many people in the community of Pinehurst, The USGA, and the owners of the facility, questioned the sanity of ripping up a world-renowned top ten course. Pinehurst #2 was, and always will be, the superstar that brings the world to Pinehurst.

The design team was genuine, thoughtful, and respectful to the original design that Ross, a great architect, envisioned. It sounds like an obvious design decision to focus on enhancing the original design intent, but they made this choice to respect the original golf course and renovated it with an intense and creative effort. Good things happen when you work like that. The design team discovered old aerial photos taken in the 1940's and boxes of memorabilia from a small local library. This basic research was enlightening for the design team, and then information they hadn’t expected came their way in a secret discovery. One of the staff members at Pinehurst, Mr. Bob Farren told the design team of something hidden below the fairways. Is there anything better than a buried treasure? The secret treasure that Farren disclosed was the mainline of the old center of fairway sprinkler system concealed below grade. After the underground mainline was exposed, they simply put flags along each side of the centerline of the main, at 90 feet from the centerline (because 90 feet was the extent of the average sprinkler system spray) and therefore defined the original dimension and routing of the fairways. (Finally, and this is probably the first time that a contractor left their demo work behind in the filed and it was a good thing). Once the dimensions of the fairways were established they still had an enormous amount of work to do, but the foundation of the design was set. The result is fantastic, a rare gem, now polished to a natural competitive perfection. In 2014, the US Open featured great shots from the bare sand and brush, which is a lot more exciting than watching a player hack out a wedge from high rough and waste a shot. This beautiful rough sandy landscape was restored and a great test of championship golf was once again in the US Open rotation. The greens and the surrounding areas near the greens also improved dramatically. Only three players in the entire field broke par in 2014. Congratulations to Mr. Martin Kaymer who was back on form in his "Secretariat" like wire-to-wire stroll through the remodeled Pinehurst #2. 

If you have the pleasure of playing Pinehurst #2 don’t pass it up, you will love it. The design team also reaffirmed my belief - when dealing with renovation projects, the first step is to fully understand what you have.