Pinehurst Resort

History

Pinehurst was founded by Boston soda fountain magnate James Walker Tufts. He purchased 5,500 acres (22 km²) for approximately $1.25 per acre in 1895, and opened the Holly Inn New Year's Eve of that year. The first golf course was laid out in 1897/98, and the first championship held at Pinehurst was the United North and South Amateur Championship of 1901. Pinehurst's best known course, "Pinehurst No. 2," was completed in 1907 to designs by Donald Ross, who became associated with Pinehurst for nearly half a century. After Pinehurst No. 2 was opened in 1907, Donald Ross said that the course was, "The fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed."

From 1902 to 1951, Pinehurst was the home of the North and South Open, which was one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the United States at that time. Pinehurst is still home to the annual North and South Amateur Golf Championships, a series of tournaments which includes a Men's Championship inaugurated in 1901 and the Women's Championship that began two years later.

The first PGA Tour major staged at Pinehurst was the PGA Championship in 1936, won by Denny Shute. In 1951, the resort hosted the Ryder Cup, and in 1991 and 1992 it was the venue for The Tour Championship.

In 1999, Pinehurst staged its second major, the U.S. Open, won by Payne Stewart at the No. 2 course. There is currently a statue behind the 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2 showing Stewart's famous victory pose after making a putt on the 18th hole to defeat Phil Mickelson.The U.S. Open returned in 2005, won by New Zealand's Michael Campbell. In 2011, Pinehurst No. 2 completed a $2.5 million, year-long renovation led by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The goal was to revert the course back to the original Donald Ross design.

In an unprecedented move, the USGA brought both the men's U.S. Open and the U.S. Women's Open to Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014. The U.S. Open was scheduled at its normal time, ending on the third Sunday in June (Father's Day), and the women played the following week.

The resort now has nine golf courses, three hotels, a spa and extensive sports and leisure facilities. It was ranked as the world's largest golf resort by the Guinness World Records before it was surpassed by Mission Hills Golf Club in China. The property’s old-growth longleaf pine trees are home to the federally endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

The No. 2 course is included in the Links and the Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game series; the No. 8 course is also available for the Links game. Both Pinehurst No. 2 and Pinehurst No. 8 are available to play on E6 software.

Pinehurst was owned by the Tufts family until 1970, when it was sold to Malcom McLean. After the property was acquired by a set of banks in 1982, it was sold to Robert H. Dedman, Sr., founder of ClubCorp. When the Dedman family sold ClubCorp, they retained Pinehurst.

In June 1999, National Public Radio reported that the Pinehurst Resort was using threats of trademark infringement lawsuits to prevent any businesses located in the area of Pinehurst village from using the term "Pinehurst" in their business names.

Major tournaments hosted

Golf courses

Pinehurst Resort operates nine golf courses; the best known Course No. 2, opened in 1907. Designed by Donald Ross, it has hosted several major tournaments.

Croquet

Pinehurst is also the home of three championship croquet courts and a lawn bowling court. Players from around the country are attracted to this resort to play six wicket championship croquet. Mack Penwell is a US national champion, member of the United States Croquet Association hall of fame and, now retired, croquet professional at Pinehurst resort. Ron Lloyd took over as the croquet professional in 2004.

In May 2015 Pinehurst hosted the Solomon Trophy, the international match between teams representing the USA and Great Britain.