The USGA is moving its headquarters from New Jersey to Pinehurst and the Hall of Fame is being shifted to the area from St. Augustine, Florida. Construction is well underway on both projects, located between The Carolina Hotel and the first tee of Pinehurst No. 2, which is set to host the 2024 U.S. Open, in June. Of these upcoming events, the opening of the 10th course at Pinehurst might be the most significant. Spoiler alert: An 11th course at Pinehurst is already on the drawing board. Pinehurst No. 10 will also be the site for the USGA’s equipment testing facility. “Pinehurst gave us 40 acres of land over there, some of which will be used as our test pavilion for club’s and balls’ compliance,’’ said Janeen Driscoll, USGA’s Director ofBrandCommunications. ”Turfgrass research may also be done there.” Tee times are already being booked for No. 10, for those Golfaholics wanting to be among the course’s first players. The new course designed by Tom Doak was put next must-play course, and that didn’t bode well for The Pit,‘’ said Farren. The Pit had been closed, but Pinehurst bought it in 2010, and that brought the total acreage up to 900 acres. For a decade nothing was done with the acreage, until the decision was made to hire Doak to build a new course, but getting the project underway wasn’t easy. “Tom wanted the job, but couldn’t start until 2025, or 2026 (because of other projects he was working on),’’ said Farren. “We wanted it done this year. Tom said together in a surprisingly short time on land that once housed ‘The Pit,’ a Dan Maples design, built in the early 1980’s. “The Pit was successful for a long time,’’ said Bob Farren, director of golf course & grounds management at Pinehurst. “Guys always wanted to play The Pit. It had its niche and was a unique golf course with rugged, short, mounds of dirt. It was successful for 25 years, until Michael Strantz built Tobacco Road.’’ Farren describes Tobacco Road as, “a larger version of The Pit.’’ “Tobacco Road became the
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