Escaping the early morning rain shower, people began strolling toward the veranda.

Many were already covered by the veranda’s roof, peering out at the empty 18th green. Sunday morning, four days before the official start of the U.S. Open, and Course No. 2 looked green and mean. And ready for Thursday.

Several onlookers could be heard talking about how the rain would only add to the "lushness" of the course.

As the shower gently fell, other spectators continued to wander the fairways and greens, soaking up the atmosphere surrounding the soon-to-begin Open.

Over at the eighth tee, Alan Sullivan and his son Craig watched Fanny Sunesson, Nick Faldo’s caddy, marching back and forth on the seventh hole with a measuring wheel.

"She’s gone from side-to-side, from front-to-back, all over the place. That’s one yardage book that is going to be filled up," Alan Sullivan said in a Scottish accent.

Sullivan and his son, hailing from the Glasgow area of Scotland, didn’t have tickets to the Open, so they had driven down from Raleigh to "soak up some of the atmosphere." Raleigh has been the Sullivan’s home the last few years, as the elder Sullivan has been working at IBM in Research Triangle.

"I’m over here working with IBM on an loan basis," Sullivan said. "We enjoy it so much here, we don’t want to go back. You couldn’t retire at a better place. This is heaven. I might retire here myself someday."

One retiree who has settled in Pinehurst is Jack Bailey.

Bailey, a retired lawyer from West Virginia, and his wife, Sara, were standing at the second tee box as a lone maintenance worker delicately used a string trimmer on the rough surrounding the fairway.

The Baileys are volunteers for this year’s Open, and also have tickets for the whole week, but they were there on Sunday enjoying the calm before the coming storm of 40,000 spectators.

"We were just curious," Bailey said. "I played the course a few times several years ago, and I just wanted to reacquaint myself with it. Until you see the course, you don’t have any idea what the watering of the course means as compared to several years ago."

The difference?

"The course is green," Bailey said, adding that the ball may not roll as far on the fairways, but the course was in wonderful condition.

Also singing the praises of No. 2 was George Arlet of Pittsburgh.

"This course is in incredible condition," Arlet said. "I went to a U.S. Open at Oakmont, and this course is every bit as nice, if not nicer."

Back at the veranda, rain was still falling sporadically, but most of the spectators had moved from under cover, becoming rope leaners around the 18th green. Roger Maltbie, an accomplished player and announcer for the television network (NBC) covering the tournament, was walking off the green as several moved toward him for autographs.

Forget about Thursday’s official start. The Open is already in town.

And No. 2 couldn’t look any more ready.