Pinehurst NO.2

Pinehurst Golf Course NO.2 is the most well-known course from the whole Pinehurst Resort. The whole resort consists of nine 18-holes golf courses and the course number 2 is the one where big tournaments are being played. The course is 6,961 yards long and it's a par 72. Number 2 was originally designed by Donald Ross in 1907 (also opened in the same year) and re-designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Core in 2011.

Pinehurst NO.2 hosted many big tournaments, such as the PGA Championship (1936), U.S. Open (1999, 2005 and 2014), U.S. Women's Open (2014), U.S. Amateur (1962, 2008 and. 2019), U.S. Senior Open (1994) and Ryder Cup (1951).

The whole Pinehurst Resort was established in 1895, but the courses were built progressively. The course NO.2 was opened in 1907 and it's considered to be the best work of its designer, Donald Ross. It is well-known for very tough greens (which are significant for the designs of Donald Ross), the natural sand in bunkers and pines which are everywhere in the resort. In the past, the natural sand has been removed (while RT Jones redesigned the course) and the roughs were replaced with tough bermuda grass, which made it hard to play on. In 2010, after another redesigning which was led by Crenshaw and Coore, the natural grass and sand were moved back onto the course. The course is part of the Pinehurst Resort, which consists of nine 18-hole courses plus one short, 9-hole course called "The Craddle".

Pinehurst is well known for hosting significant tournaments for both amateur and professional golfers. Pinehurst is considered to be the capital of golf on the eastern coast of the USA. The PGA Championship in 1936 was the first time when Pinehurst hosted a big event. Followed by the Ryder Cup which was full of stars, such as Jimmy Demaret, Ben Hogan or Sam Snead, who was also a captain of Team USA. In 2014 it was the first time when the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women's Open was held on the same course, only a week apart from each other.

The Statue of Payne Stewart

Payne Stewart was an American golfer who won the U.S. Open in 1999 at Pinehurst. When he made his 15-foot putt to win the tournament, he raised his right hand and leg to celebrate the victory. Unfortunately he died a few months after in a plane crash. He was 42.

In 2000 Pinehurst decided to place a bronze statue of Payne Stewart close to the 18th green at NO.2 Course.

Pepper, George. Golf in America The first One Hundred Years. New York, New York. Harry N. Abrams, 1988.

Davis, William H. Great Golf Courses of the World. Norwalk, Connecticut. Golf Digest, 1974.

n/a. No.2 Donald Ross's Masterpiece, Pinehurst. Accessed April 24th 2022. https://www.pinehurst.com/golf/courses/no-2/.

n/a, n/a n/a. Payne Stewart, World Golf Hall of Fame. Accessed April 24th 2022. http://www.worldgolfhalloffame.org/payne-stewart/.