2024 U.S. Open course: Five things to know about Pinehurst No. 2, Donald Ross’ best-ever design

The USGA recently made Pinehurst No. 2 one of its primary sites to host the men’s U.S. Open for the foreseeable (and unpredictable future) future. The US Open is scheduled to be played at the famous North Carolina course in 2024, 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047. Rory McIlroy will turn 58 in 2047.

The suggestion is clear: Pinehurst No. 2 is a golf course worthy of the national championship. It would be difficult to argue otherwise. The Donald Ross design, which sits among nine other courses at the Pinehurst resort, has stood the test of time and remains one of this country’s crown jewels. It’s also one of the few old-school golf courses big and difficult enough to challenge the best players in the world.

Pinehurst No. 2 has hosted a PGA Championship, a Ryder Cup, the Tour Championship, three US Amateurs, the US Senior Open, the US Women’s Open and now its fourth men’s US Open this week.

Here’s what you need to know about this classic venue heading to the 2024 US Open.

1. The degree of difficulty is high: In three completed men’s U.S. Opens, four golfers have finished under par. There are a number of USGA-related reasons for this. Greens — as you’ll hear 10,000 times a week — are difficult to hold because they’re shaped like upside-down bowls. And depending on how much water Pinehurst receives, it can absolutely to cook. It’s the kind of course that turns brown, gray and purple during major championship week, which can be incredible.

Last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club was considered too easy by some, especially after the major championship’s 62-round record was tied twice in the first round. There will be no 62s or even any sniffing at such a low number this time. The best score of 2014 was 65, which, incredibly, was scored twice by Martin Kaymer in the first two rounds. There was only one 66 (Daniel Berger in the fourth round). This week, depending on how much the USGA decides to raise, should be destructive.

2. The best of Donald Ross: Donald Ross’s list of courses it’s almost comically impressive: Seminole, Oakland Hills, Inverness and Oak Hill among them. Still, Pinehurst No. 2 is generally considered the best of the best. “The entire golf course was a very enjoyable and challenging golf course,” Ben Hogan once said. “It’s a real test of golf. The North and South Open was a ‘big one’ back then. Pinehurst was the Mecca of golf.”

Ross’s designs were not complicated, but they were almost beautiful in their simplicity. Here’s How His No. 2 Design Was Once Described.

Taking what he learned while growing up in Dornoch, Scotland, Ross made the green crown his trademark. He was a detail-oriented man who needed a lot of patience to ensure that each slope and break was approved. All of his bunkers looked like they weren’t built, but rather made by the hands of nature. There is a seamless, timeless quality to Donald Ross golf courses, which required very little earth moving to build.

Pinehurst #2 is a perfect example. Water only appears in a hole and is not in play. The course is not particularly long, the hilly course is made up of native sand and wire grass, and it is almost impossible to lose a golf ball. However, any golfer close to their handicap will have had a good day.

That’s an incredible thing to say about golf course architecture. Much of this is what Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore leaned on when they restored it in 2011, eliminating much of the harshness that permeated the 1999 and 2005 US Open. The 2014 US Open is an example of how the course was designed to look and play with sandy areas and strange lies in the “rough”.

3. These greens: Among some of Pinehurst’s defining features, the greens are probably the most prominent. As this video shows, the greens at Pinehurst are similar to those at Augusta National in that they are large visually but small when it comes to where you can hit the ball to score.

But it’s not just the shapes of the greens, of which was said about Ross“[He was] a detail-oriented man who had a lot of patience to ensure every tilt and break was approved.” It’s also the environment, which protects the score at Pinehurst.

See how Garrett Morrison’s fried egg said this recently.

What I found more impressive than the severity of the runoff on the edges of the greens, however, was the intricate contours of the short grass.

On the first hole, for example, there are two well-cut mounds, just below the ledge, on the right side of the green. When players get it wrong, not only will their ball kick to the right, but it could also end up in a tricky position on the side of one of the hills. These types of details lend variety and complexity to the Pinehurst No. 1 short game test.

Do you know who has the second best short game in 2024? Yes, the same guy who won the Masters and is currently the number 1 player in the world.

4. Solid winners, but elite runners-up: Here’s a strange statistic from Pinehurst. Payne Stewart (1999), Michael Campbell (2005) and Kaymer (2014) are all course winners; they totaled 15 PGA Tour victories between them. Phil Mickelson (1999), Tiger Woods (82) and the duo Rickie Fowler and Erik Compton (2014) were the respective runners-up; they totaled 133 PGA Tour victories between them.

Pinehurst is the type of golf course that can reward great golf swings and create a real split in the leaderboards, which is the reason for a little randomness in the winners. No track is safe, though, which makes this event at this course a blast.

In 2005, three of the top six on the leaderboard soared into the 80s on Sunday. Retief Goosen maintained the third round lead by three shots and still lost to Campbell by eight. Jason Gore was T2 and three behind in the final round; he lost to Campbell by 14. This year’s event will be exciting until the end.

5. The Perfect Rough: In a recent interview on Golf Channel, USGA Championship Director John Bodenhamer talked about how Donald Ross said Pinehurst had “the perfect rough.” Why? It creates randomness, which is what professionals hate most.

“We love it because it creates a little bit of anxiety or fear if you miss a fairway,” Bodenhamer added.

This year will be a little different from, say, Winged Foot or what some people consider “typical” US Open rugby, but it is expected to contribute to the difficulty of the golf course because of lies that prohibit players from understanding how the ball will react when hit. Combine this with the bowled greens and chaos can ensue.