6.27.2011
north & south: testing the ‘new’ no. 2
the u.s. amateur (1895) and western amateur (1899) are slightly older than
the north & south amateur, but pinehurst’s flagship tournament is the longest
consecutively staged amateur event in the united states. played every year since
the inaugural in 1901, the north & south has been won by some of golf’s biggest
names, including walter travis, francis ouimet, bill campbell, Jack nicklaus,
billy Joe patton, curtis strange and davis love iii. the 64-man field for the 111th
renewal this week in the north carolina sandhills is absent some of today’s ama-
teur stars, but among the entrants are brad benjamin, gregor main and anthony
paolucci. yet this north & south is important for another reason: it will be the first
tournament played on the restored pinehurst no. 2 course, which re-opened this
spring after extensive work by bill coore and ben crenshaw to return the donald
ross design to its original vision with acres of bermuda rough transformed into
sandy hardpan. volunteers will be tracking shots in preparation for the 2014 u.s.
open and u.s. women’s open, which will be held in successive weeks on no. 2,
so that the usga can consider fairway widths and crosswalk placements, among
other things, in advance of the novel, two-open experiment. competitors won’t
mind being guinea pigs—especially the winner, who will be delighted to get his
hands on a trophy with so much history. —Bill Fields
07
stephen szurle J
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