Reg Jones knows he’s facing one of the biggest challenges of his life in under four months.

But it’s a challenge he’s had five years to prepare for, and he’s ready.

The 56th Women’s U.S. Open will be held at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club May 28-June 3, and Jones is the man masterminding the preparations. There’s pressure, but it’s pressure he has applied, striving for the excellence he knows that everyone, from Pine Needles matriarch Peggy Kirk Bell and the USGA brass to the players and caddies, is expecting when the championship returns to this Donald Ross golf course that so impressed everyone in 1996.

“When I think of the Open, I think back to June 2, 1996, and hearing Judy Bell make the announcement that the Championship would be back in 2001,” Jones said at a recent press gathering. “I remember thinking, ‘I really feel sorry for whoever has to follow this.’

“It’s kind of like a movie sequel, like ‘Caddyshack’ and ‘Caddyshack II.’ It just takes a lot to live up to the expectations. Everything went so well in 1996 — the corporate sales, the attendance record, the thousands of dollars raised for breast cancer research.”

Now it’s fewer than 20 weeks until showtime, and Reg Jones is the man on the hot seat. Chosen by the Pinehurst Championship Management team to set the stage for the best women players in the world’s most important women’s championship, he knows what’s expected.

As the slogan on the cover of the media kit handed out to the press conference reads, “Once again the whole word’s coming to the Golf Capital of America.”

The 1996 Open set an attendance record, with more than 108,000 spectators for the week. That record has since been broken, but indications are that a new one will be set here.

“Unlike ‘Caddyshack II,’ we have the same cast back this time,” Jones said, “and it starts with Mrs. Bell. What makes Pine Needles so special is the people here.”

Pine Needles is only the seventh course to be chosen to host more than one Women’s Open. Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, N.J., has hosted three. Indianwood in Lake Orion, Mich., Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J., LaGrange in LaGrange, Ill., Country Club of Rochester (N.Y.) and Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y., have been selected twice.

“We are on target to reach — or have already reached — all the goals that were attained in 1996,” Jones said. “Corporate sales that year were the highest ever at over $1 million, and we’ve been able to double that already with $2.3 million.

“From a ticket sales standpoint, we’re about 25,000 ahead of this time in 1996 and sales are very strong. One thing we’ve learned from the championships here is that people don’t have to be golfers to want to come to an Open. It’s a happening — an event — and people want to be there. Our goal is the rarest of accomplishments, a sellout.”

Some logistical changes are being made from 1996. The main admission gate and the huge merchandise tent will be set up near the 14th hole, a move designed to lessen congestion around the Pine Needles clubhouse.

“We had such good crowds on the weekends last time that it got very tight around the clubhouse,” Jones said. “We’re trying to create two areas to handle the crowds. The 14th hole is also a great viewing area.”

Betse Hamilton, a USGA coordinator who lives in Pinehurst, is looking forward to working a championship and being able to stay at home.

“We’re very happy to be coming back to the Sandhills,” she said. “Obviously, I love this area — I live here. But we’re also happy to be coming back because 1996 was such a wonderful championship. This will be the 18th Open that I’ve attended, and we’ve come such a long, long way. We’ve really been building on the success we had here in 1996.

“This is such a team effort, with so many people involved. Reg and the Pinehurst staff, I really believe, are the finest I’ve ever worked with. And Mrs. Bell and Kelly Miller (Pine Needles general manager) and their families are so great. We all work hard, and we all have the same goals.”

Another thing Hamilton enjoys about this area is the availability of some of the most golf knowledgeable volunteers in the world.

“You really don’t even have to train the volunteers in this area,” she said. About 2,200 will be needed for the Open.

Hamilton wants the word spread that the Women’s Open is going all out to make young people feel welcome.

“All children 15 and under will be admitted free with a paying adult,” she said. “And the kids are going to have the best seats — front row. We’ll have a lot of games for them and make the whole thing a fun learning experience for them. This is definitely a family affair.”

Peggy Kirk Bell is eagerly anticipating the championship week. Her memories of 1996 are special, and she loves to tell how her course was strong enough that only winner Annika Sorenstam and runner-up Kris Tschetter were under par. Now she wants the distinction of hosting the first sold-out Women’s Open.

“That’s our goal,” she said. “I’ve been blabbing all over that we would have a sellout. Why not? It’s the greatest women’s championship we have in the world. We have media here from all over the world, and it will be the largest Women’s Open purse in history. It may even be $3 million.”

Jones thinks the sellout could happen. He points out that the championship will pit the two most dominant women golfers in the world — Karrie Webb and Sorenstam — as defending champions. Webb won the 55th Open last year, and Sorenstam won at Pine Needles five years ago.

“We’re thrilled that the No. 1- and No. 2- ranked women golfers in the world will be our defending champions,” Miller said. “Karrie and Annika have created a rivalry in women’s golf that is unprecedented.”