Pinehurst’s History in 50 Moments

“My choice of a location in North Carolina was made after careful consideration, and the evidence appears conclusive that the place selected is eminently adapted to benefit invalids.”
Letter from James Tufts to New England physicians, November 1895

 

So there you have it — the real reason that Pinehurst exists. There was no grand scheme from the beginning to turn some 6,000 acres of arid land in south-central North Carolina into a cavalcade of golf. It was conceived by Tufts, a wealthy Boston businessman, as a haven for consumptives to escape to a warmer climate in the winter. We all should be grateful that idea never panned out and that Tufts pirouetted into a recreational destination that later became known as “The St. Andrews of American Golf.”

James Tufts’ letter is just one of hundreds of interesting historical artifacts on display in an exhibit built around the idea of “Fifty Moments in Pinehurst” located in the USGA Experience Building, the governing body’s newly opened satellite campus, Golf House Pinehurst. This particular area on the ground floor will be dedicated over time to rotating exhibits, with some artifacts and memorabilia coming from some 85,000 pieces in storage in the USGA’s headquarters in Liberty Corner, N.J.

Appropriately enough, that area for its debut theme features Pinehurst history and how the resort and town evolved into a mecca with 10 courses under the Pinehurst Resort umbrella and a total of three dozen within a 30-minute drive.

Following are a half dozen snippets that might catch your eye beyond that letter from the village founder.

* Golf comes to Pinehurst — The display includes the layout of the very first course that opened as 18 holes in 1898 and the original iteration of the No. 2 course that opened in 1907. Roughly half of the holes on the original course were routed on ground now occupied by The Cradle (hence the naming of the nine-hole par-3 course that Pinehurst opened in 2018). Careful study of the routing of No. 2 shows that holes 1 and 2 and 11 through 18 are in essentially the same location and number on the course as they are now.

* The evolution of the resort campus — Five courses were built emanating from the main clubhouse by 1960, with courses 1, 2 and 4 on the north side of Hwy. 5 and courses 3 and 5 on the south side. Framed on one wall is a 1960s poster from Pinehurst Resort with a layout of all five courses with scorecards at the bottom.

* Payne Stewart’s win in the 1999 U.S. Open — Memorabilia from the first Open held on No. 2 includes a box featuring the rain jacket that Stewart wore after cutting off the sleeves just minutes before his final round, his tam O’Shanter cap, a signed golf glove and the SeeMore putter he used to drain his clinching putt.

* The original World Golf of Fame — The museum conceived by the Diamondhead Corp., the resort owner at the time, opened at Pinehurst in 1974 with an induction ceremony held the week of the Hall of Fame Classic on the PGA Tour, won by Johnny Miller when he was at the top of his early 1970s prowess. The program and photos from that week are displayed along with the golf clubs that President Gerald Ford used while playing in the pro-am.

* The GOAT on the golf course — One of Michael Jordan’s escapes from the fishbowl of the NBA was the golf course, and he made frequent trips to Pinehurst. He regularly participated every summer in a tournament organized by Dean Smith and Doug Moe, and Jordan is pictured on the first tee of Pinehurst No. 2 with Dave Gavitt, Larry Brown and Moe.

* Golf in Southern Pines — Business was so good at Pinehurst in the early 1920s on its four courses that the Tufts family and a group of investors conceived of Mid Pines (1921) and Pine Needles (1928) on land four miles to the east in Southern Pines, with Ross designing both courses. One display case features a photo of a young Peggy Kirk Bell, who first came to the Sandhills in the 1940s and later created a life with husband Bullet in owning and operating Pine Needles and later Mid Pines as well.

The museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with general admission priced at $10. North Carolina residents can enjoy a discounted rate of $5, and USGA members and children 12 and under are offered free admission. The facility is located at 3 Carolina Vista Drive in Pinehurst, just steps away from the main Resort Clubhouse.

For more information, click link: https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/golf-house-pinehurst.html