Coore: Pinehurst Will Produce Spectacular Recovery Shots

Randall Mell reports on U.S. Open media day from Pinehurst where the scribes mooched off the USGA for a free round of golf in return for spellbinding stories of Scotty McCreery sightings or, on occasion, something to whet our appetite for the upcoming Opens. (We pause for this Wikipedia entry on Scotty in case you were like me and just couldn't place the name.)

That came in the form of Mell's report on Bill Coore making an appearance to talk about No. 2's restoration and the first U.S. Open of modern times without a rough crop.

“This is going to be the first U.S. Open played without a maintained rough,” Coore said during Monday’s media day. “Yes, the fairways will be bigger, but the uncertainty of shots that are going to be played from the natural rough, we think that is going to be one of the most interesting stories of the week.”

Of course, Coore said, the diabolical turtle-back greens will remain Pinehurst No. 2’s primary defense, but the shots into them will be more intriguing this year. Coore and Crenshaw began restoring the course in May of 2010 with the course re-opening in the spring of 2011.

The restoration means a player who misses a fairway this year may find his ball in a sandy waste area, in wiry grass or in pine straw, or in some combination of all of the above.

“We think you’re going to see some of the most spectacular recovery shots in U.S. Open history,” Coore said.

Will Gray takes us through the delineation between Pinehurst's bunkers and waste areas. This will be the first of many times we decipher the distinction between now and June.