US Airways - June 2014 - (Page 40)

Golf Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson, Walter Hagen, Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange, Tom Watson, Hale Irwin, Ray Floyd, and Johnny Miller, just to name a few. One notable repeat winner took three of the resort's first five professional tournaments (his brother won the other two), but it could be argued he enjoyed an unfair advantage, having redesigned Pinehurst No. 1 before building No. 2 from scratch. The young man, freshly arrived from his greenskeeper position at Scotland's Royal Dornoch, was Donald Ross. Ross became the most famous designer in American golf history and is associated with more than 400 courses in the U.S. and Canada. With No. 2, Ross did something that has never been duplicated: He built a home along its fairways and devoted the rest of his life to perfecting his masterpiece. Ross tinkered so tirelessly with No. 2 that it's hard to say what the "authentic" version was - his first take featured greens made of sand rather than grass. This month when Pinehurst makes golf history again, it will be played on a course he would heartily approve of. The two most difficult titles in golf, the Men's and Women's US Open Championships, have never been held on the same course in the same year, 40 JUNE 2014 usairwaysmag.com FOR AN INLAND SITE, NO. 2 IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE SANDY COASTAL LINKS TERRAIN OF SCOTLAND. and certainly not on back to back weeks, but that is exactly what the USGA is doing with its marquee events at Pinehurst. The women will start their practice rounds the day after the men finish their tournament, and for the first time ever, fans will see how they compare on the same fairways and greens. The "Dual Opens," or simply "Opens," are so unprecedented they have inspired every imaginable superlative in the golf world. "It has the potential to be extremely important," says Bill Coore, half of the legendary design team Coore & Crenshaw, who just restored America's golf gem to its creator's original vision. "I think the USGA is hoping for people to see just how good these women are. Their skill level is unbelievable." The USGA often brings in an architect to modify courses for the US Open, but in this case they let the resort hire Coore & Crenshaw to do a historically accurate renovation it was planning, and to focus more on authenticity and quality than the tournaments. "When they approached us, our first question was 'Restore it to what?' because it had evolved so much, even in Ross' lifetime. In our research, we found the answer was to go back to the course Mr. Ross fully restored and presented in 1935," says Coore. That was for its first major, the 1936 PGA Championship, and the last of the seismic changes Ross made, including the construction of two entirely new holes (today's four and five). In recent decades, the space between fairways and the famous stands of pines has been filled with Bermuda rough, and most visitors have played from this. But Bermuda was largely unknown to Ross, who embraced the sandy soil. For an inland site, No. 2 is remarkably similar to the sandy coastal links terrain of Scotland. Coore & Crenshaw removed more then 35 acres of rough, an enormous amount, and today - as in 1935 - fairways are flanked by sandy waste areas spiked with tufts of wiregrass. Standing at the tee, the view is com- PHOTOS (FROM TOP) COURTESY OF PINEHURST AND TUFTS ARCHIVES, PINEHURST, NC Ben Hogan plays Pinehurst in 1940 Hole 17 on No. 2 http://www.usairwaysmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of US Airways - June 2014

US Airways - June 2014
Contents
Gear Up: Camping Tools
Connections: Everybody's Business
Getaway: Valencia Group Hotels
Travel Feature: Austin, Texas
US Airways Feature: New Service
Charlotte USA
Special Section: Mesa County, Colorado
To Your Health: Devereux
Special Section: Burbank, California
University Spotlight: Christopher Newport University
Industry Spotlight: Eastern North Carolina
Best of Health: Miami Foot & Ankle Surgery
Special Section: Philadelphia
Puzzles
Readers Resource Index
Your US Airways Guide
Audio Entertainment
Video Entertainment
U.S. and Caribbean Service Map
International Service Map
Airport Terminal Maps
oneworld alliance
Passenger Info/Contact US Airways
US Airways MarketPlace®
US Airways Fleet/Customs & Immigration
Giving: Miles for Good
Window or Aisle?

US Airways - June 2014