PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | It’s easy to find words that describe Pinehurst.
Charming. Quaint. Timeless.
Intimate. Magical. Captivating.
This week may add a new one to the list:
Dangerous.
On the eve of what is expected to be a sun-baked and sweaty U.S. Open, Pinehurst No. 2 awaits in all of its sandy, scruffy glory, offering a teasing bit of menace around its legendary greens where seemingly every shot can feel like a dance with the devil.
The U.S. Open has built its reputation on challenging players – “a complete examination” is how USGA officials like to describe it – and Pinehurst No. 2 may be the supreme example of that.
“It’s going to be one of the tougher U.S. Opens,” Shane Lowry said. “There’s a lot of negative talk going around with the players. It’s going to be so hard.”
It’s simple in one sense: The grass is cut at two heights: one for the putting surfaces, the other for the fairways. There is no rough, so to speak, but there are acres of naturally unkempt wiregrass and 75 varieties of native vegetation ranging from hare’s foot clover to wandering cudweed awaiting any shot that leaves the mown areas – what course architect Donald Ross called “the perfect rough.”
Assuming the USGA gets No. 2 where it wants it – firm, fast and borderline frightening – the regular chiming of the Village Chapel bells may sound more like the tinkling chimes that provided the eerie soundtrack to the horror classic “The Exorcist” years ago.
Martin Kaymer, who won the last U.S. Open played here a decade ago by eight strokes, is trying to re-create that magical week, even staying in the same hotel room as in 2014. The course, however, isn’t exactly as he remembered it.
“I was a little bit overwhelmed … when I played the first four or five holes. I said to my caddie, ‘[Was it] that hard 10 years ago?’” Kaymer said.
Finding the balance between challenge and chaos will be a delicate equation this week. There is no chance this U.S. Open will look like the birdiefest at the PGA Championship at Valhalla last month when Xander Schauffele’s 21-under-par won.
Likewise, Rickie Fowler and Schauffele shot opening-round 62s in the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club when the USGA took a conservative approach at a new venue.
Pinehurst isn’t likely to be so accommodating, but the fairways are noticeably greener than they were a decade ago when a dry spell left many areas the color of a nice latte. It will play roughly the same yardage it did in ’14 – about 7,500 yards, depending on where tees are set – but the areas off the fairways are denser with undergrowth than before.
The fairways are plenty wide – more than 30 yards on average – and it’s essential to keep shots in the short grass, something the three previous U.S. Open winners at Pinehurst – Payne Stewart (1999), Michael Campbell (2005) and Kaymer – excelled at doing when they won.
“We want the players to get every club in their bag dirty. We want to give them choices, want to give them variety, give them angles. And we can do it all here.” – John Bodenhamer
Some shots that stray will find hard-packed sand and others will be directly affected by the brushy tufts of wiregrass, creating a randomness to what players will face. In that way, it could hardly be more different from the traditional deep rough for which the U.S. Open has become infamous.
“I think a course like this definitely demands a different skill set and also some creativity. I think that will be on display this week. I’ve already seen some videos online of people trying fairway woods or having lob wedges or putters,” Rory McIlroy said.
“Even if you get half lucky and get a decent lie in that wiregrass, sandy area, being able to hit a recovery shot, I think for the viewer at home, that’s more exciting than seeing guys hack out of 4-inch rough all the time.”
The trick for USGA officials John Bodenhamer, Jeff Hall and the others charged with setting up the golf course will be rewarding good shots and not allowing the greens with all of their humpty-dumpty runoffs becoming too hard to handle.
That’s where the danger comes in – making players feel enough trepidation without putting them on the defensive with every swing while also making sure that it doesn’t look more like ping pong around the greens – Tiger Woods’ description – than golf.
“Pinehurst is no joke,” Bryson DeChambeau said.
Keeping it that way will be the challenge.
“We want the players to get every club in their bag dirty. We want to give them choices, want to give them variety, give them angles. And we can do it all here,” said Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief championships officer.
By design, the greens – based on Donald Ross’ original creation but more turtle-backed and severe around the edges than what he created – set No. 2 apart. They are large surfaces with small landing areas.
For three practice days this week, players have experimented with how to play shots that miss the greens. Caddies drop golf balls on slopes and watch them roll off the putting surfaces, forcing players to decide whether to grab their 60-degree wedge, try to bump a shot into a hillside with a mid-iron or fairway wood or putt from several yards off the green.
Each instance may be different.
“Leaving yourself in a really good position is A-1, but even when you do leave yourself in a good position, the hole is not over yet. It’s sort of half the battle.” – Xander Schauffele
Before withdrawing Tuesday because of a toe infection, Jon Rahm said: “You hear about the greens. You hear all the stories and you see it on TV, but you can’t quite understand what it’s like until you see them in person.”
The greens are soft enough going into play to accept approach shots. Keeping them that way is critical. There is, however, an inevitability to balls catching an edge or a slope and rolling off into spots where bogeys and double bogeys are hatched.
“I’ve never swung so hard on my putter for nine holes than I did today, just trying to get up and down mounds,” Schauffele said after a practice round. “There’s certain spots where you feel like you have to hit it really hard, and you hit it too hard you putt it off the other side of the green. Leaving yourself in a really good position is A-1, but even when you do leave yourself in a good position, the hole is not over yet. It’s sort of half the battle.”
That battle begins Thursday morning.
“This is a unique test,” said DeChambeau, who won the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. “It’s not like most U.S. Opens. It’s definitely a different style of U.S. Open, which is really cool.”
And potentially dangerous.