Pinehurst No. 2 - The Home of the Oldest Amateur Tournament in the U.S.

Wednesday, 07 July 2010 03:22

And the Site of Payne Stewart's 1999 US Open Victory

We are fortunate to live just around the corner from Pinehurst, the Home of Golf. Grande Pines is a 10 minute drive from Pinehurst and the storied Pinehurst No. 2, perhaps the best known of the classic courses that are on the US Open rotation. What is the history behind this world-renowned Donald Ross layout and the North and South Championship, the oldest amateur tournament in the US?

Pinehurst was founded by Boston soda fountain magnate James Walker Tufts in 1895 when he purchased 5,500 acres of land for approximately $1.25 per acre in the North Carolina Sandhills, with the vision of building a "health resort for people of modest means." He opened the Holly Inn that New Year's Eve. In 1898 Tufts and Dr. LeRoy Culver laid out a nine-hole course which became Pinehurst No. 1. Pinehurst's first golf professional, John Dunn Tucker, was hired in 1899 to add an additional nine holes.

In December 1900 Donald Ross was hired by Tufts to direct golf operations at Pinehurst. Ross immediately started the redesign of No. 1 and the building of what was to become four additional eighteen-hole courses at Pinehurst. This included Pinehurst No. 2, which opened in 1901 as a nine-hole course. The additional nine holes were opened in 1907.

The Carolina Hotel opened on New Year's day, 1901 and Pinehurst became known as a winter getaway for people "up north." Riding, hunting, polo, lawn bowling, tennis, golf, bicycling, and archery were popular in Pinehurst's early days and many remain so today. Annie Oakley, sharp-shooter and star of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, came to Pinehurst in 1916 with her husband, Frank Butler. Annie was in charge of the Pinehurst Gun Club, and gave shooting exhibitions at the Carolina hotel twice a week. Between 1916 and 1920 she instructed up to 125,000 men and women in the art of marksmanship.

Today, the Pinehurst Resort boasts eight world-class golf courses, three hotels, an award-winning Spa, a tennis facility, two beautiful clubhouses and more. Pinehurst No. 2 is consistently voted as one of the top golf courses in the world and has hosted the PGA Championship, Open Championships, a Ryder Cup, US Amateur Championships and the North and South Amateur. Pinehurst No. 2 is where the late Payne Stewart famously won the 1999 US Open, sinking a long putt on the 18th to beat Phil Mickelson by one shot.

In 1996, The Village of Pinehurst and Pinehurst Resort had the distinct pleasure of being given National Landmark status for their historical, significant role in U.S. golf history.

The North and South Amateur Championship, played this past fourth of July weekend, started at Pinehurst in 1901. The tournament, now in its 110th year, is the longest consecutive-running amateur golf championship in the United States. Past winners include Francis-Ouimet, Billy Joe Patton, Jack Nicklaus, Hal Sutton, Curtis Strange, Corey Pavin and Davis Love II.

The tournament began as a way to attract golfers to the five-year-old Pinehurst and to build publicity for this destination in the sandhills of North Carolina. The name of the tournament was crafted to enhance relationships between the two geographic areas of the US. Won in 2010 by Donald Constable, the North and South continues to attract the top amateurs in the game -- this is amateur golf at its very best!

A weed is no more than a flower in disguise.........