Pinehurst #2 Finally Getting The Treatment It Deserves

If you ever bemoan the rankings, just remember they do serve a positive purpose as evidenced by Pinehurst #2's recent and well deserved plummet down the list for the architectural sterilization driven in part by a cattle-herd operational mentality which decided sandy pine scrub would slow down play. Seems they have gotten the message, because as Ron Green Jr. reports (thanks reader Gene), Coore and Crenshaw are being hired to return some soul to the place:

Tinkering with what is considered Donald Ross' masterpiece is a delicate matter, and Pinehurst president Don Padgett III is taking a careful approach.

He has consulted with Coore and Crenshaw as well as Mike Davis, senior director of rules and competitions for the USGA, who will oversee the set-up for the U.S. Opens.

"They are trying to develop a concept to restore the course to a lot of the original design criteria while, at the same time, have it be a championship venue for the Opens," Padgett said this week.

And...

The main alterations would involve bringing back more of the sandy areas dotted with wire grass off the fairways, places where there is now rough. It would be similar, Padgett said, to how the course was in the 1930s and 1940s when Ross lived in the area and worked on it.

"What people expect of No.2 has gone away," Padgett said. "I think they (Coore and Crenshaw) plan to bring that back."

Padgett said if the plan moves forward, it will be at least a year, maybe longer, before work begins.

"I'm just glad to be headed in the right direction," Padgett said.

Me too!

C-C's Ready To Go

He doesn't have to pitch a Game 7 and now he has a wedge line named after him. So good to see the nice folks in Fairhaven, Massachusetts paying homage to...oh, not that CC? David Allen at GolfChannel.com writes:

In response to the new restrictions being placed on the volume and edge sharpness of grooves, Titleist has come out with a conforming line of its popular Vokey Design Spin Milled wedges. The new wedges are named, appropriately enough, Vokey Design Spin Milled C-C wedges. The C-C stands for the “Condition of Competition” adopted by both the USGA and R&A, which prohibits PGA Tour and most Tour-level participants from playing the non-conforming irons and wedges after January 1, 2010.

Titleist will continue to manufacture and sell the previous generation non-conforming Vokey Design Spin Milled wedges through 2010. The C-C wedges, which will be available through authorized Titleist retailers beginning November 1, 2009, generate a higher launch, less spin and more run-out than the previous “bigger groove” wedges.

Wouldn't COC have been more accurate?

See, Bivens Was A Visionary!

Granted, wrong tour, but look at the insights we could glean if players were allowed to Tweet mid round.

As Stephanie Wei notes, the USGA says there's nothing in the rules that forbids the use of an electronic device during a round. However, I thought we decided this was a no-no since with Twitter or any phone that a player could receive advice?

"We think (the change in ownership) is a very positive thing in the sense that it will now be properly capitalized."

Gary D'Amato settles the questions about the Erin Hills ownership change: the USGA approves and it approves big time.

Though Lang is selling Erin Hills to Milwaukee businessman Andy Ziegler, the USGA considers it a seamless transition and remains high on the potential of the 3-year-old course in the Town of Erin.

In fact, the USGA championship committee on Friday presented eight potential Midwest sites for the 2017 U.S. Open to the executive committee, and Erin Hills was on the list.

"It's such a special site," said Mike Davis, the senior director of rules and competitions for the USGA. "We love Bob Lang and think the world of him, but we think (the change in ownership) is a very positive thing in the sense that it will now be properly capitalized."

The USGA is expected to vote on the 2017 U.S. Open venue at its annual meeting in February and announce the choice in June. Erin Hills is considered a front-runner.

Brad Klein notes the new ownership's walking only policy and yet another design change.

In the past year, the course underwent modification that reworked three greens, tweaked numerous fairway contours and added more than a dozen bunkers. According to Hurdzan, more renovations are planned for this fall, with a handful of bunkers slated for removal. Moreover, the par-5 10th hole will be shortened to a long par 4; that will entail removal of a blind, fallaway Biarritz green and its replacement by a new putting surface closer to the tee on a knoll.