Hundreds of local and regional personnel have been working behind the scenes, handling the unglamorous tasks needed to try and see to it that the U.S. Open Golf Championship goes off with as few hitches as possible.

These are the people responsible for making sure that there is a continuous flow of electricity, that trash is collected and disposed of, that there is sufficient water and sewer capacity, and that the highways are clear for the influx of visitors from around the world.

Planning for the major golfing event has been under way ever since it was announced that Pinehurst would be the site of the 1999 Open. By now, the movers and shakers within this community’s infrastructure are pretty relaxed about the whole thing.

The Pilot checked with utilities and public agencies serving Moore County and learned that good planning procedures are paying off.

In fact, Moore Water and Sewer Authority Executive Director David M. Harris said his people are so excited about the approach of the tournament that no one has asked for vacation time that week.

Some of the improvements have been in place three or four years, the schedule stepped up to accommodate the tournament.

"Drivers just think they have good karma and are getting all the green lights," said Will Garner, traffic engineer, 8th Division of the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Garner was talking about the computerized closed-loop signal system already installed on U.S. 1/15-501 in Aberdeen and Southern Pines.

In this system, 28 sensors within the pavement record traffic patterns and relay that information to the computer that controls the signal lights.

This doesn’t mean that drivers don’t catch red lights, nor does it mean that the waits are not long at some intersections.

Just the same, traffic moves much more smoothly this way, enabling more vehicles to traverse an intersection than would be the case under the old pre-timed signal change system.

"Unless there’s a major hurricane, we’re going to have power for the U.S. Open," said Jan Powell, community relations manager for Carolina Power & Light.

CP&L is among the corporate sponsors and is also the company responsible for powering the entire tournament village in Pinehurst.

Jack Dembnicki, CP&L senior distribution specialist, said the company began bringing power onto the No. 2 course area about a year ago. He said CP&L has been working with tournament officials four or five years, or ever since the decision was announced to bring the Open to Pinehurst this year.

Fifteen large transformers have been installed on site, each averaging 1,500 kilowatts. By comparison, the average household needs about 20-kW capacity. These transformers are being fed from substations in West End and Aberdeen.

But to be on the safe side, CP&L has a backup generator.

"We’re prepared for every contingency," Powell said.

Miles of cable have been installed in and around the corporate village area established beside the prestigious No. 2 Golf Course, where the championship will be played. No. 4 Golf Course formerly occupied this area and is scheduled for extensive rehabilitation after the Open and before it is returned to its original use.

"This has taken a lot of pre-planning. We’ve been working on the Open a long time," Dembnicki said.

The CP&L engineer estimated that 25 persons or more have been working on the project in different capacities. At least two individuals are on the course all the time and are in continual contact, by cell phone or radio, with supervisors and U.S. Open officials.

The extent of the electrical service required for the Open is hard to imagine. Some 40 tents are being erected to house corporate sponsors and other entities involved in the championship. These must be equipped with lighting, air conditioning and power needed to fuel computers, fax machines, television sets, microwave ovens and all the equipment and appliances needed to keep U.S. Open visitors comfortable, safe and happy.

Eight TV sets will be in operation in the CP&L tent alone. You can multiply that number by 40 to get an idea of the amount of power needed.

Powell told The Pilot she was impressed with the cool professionalism exhibited by U.S. Open officials and company personnel.

"Everyone speaks highly of each other," she said.

One thing is clear: The U.S. Open may be the biggest thing ever to hit Moore County, but the people managing the practical side of operations have done it before.

Dembnicki, for example, has experience in dealing with the Seniors Open.

Others with less experience appear just as well prepared.

Phillip Boles, Moore County public works director, said his department as well as several municipalities and private companies will feel the impact of extra work during the Open.

Vacations have been canceled, plans are being made to hire extra drivers, and there is the expectation of overtime hours.

Boles said he has already talked with Uwharrie Environmental in Troy, and arrangements have been made to extend hours at the landfill and the transfer station.

Moore County has a contract with Uwharrie to dispose of solid waste generated in Moore County. County trucks pick up solid waste deposited at the seven container sites for transport to the transfer station, located at the county’s former landfill site off N.C. 5. The private contractor picks up the waste deposited at the transfer station and takes it to the huge lined landfill at Troy.

In response to new federal and state laws, Moore County closed its old solid waste landfill several years ago and entered into a contract with Uwharrie. The county no longer maintains a solid waste landfill. It does operate a landfill licensed to accept stumps, yard debris and construction materials.

"The biggest impact will be on drivers and traffic congestion," Boles admitted.

Boles said that he has kept in touch with U.S. Open committee members and highway officials to determine which roads will be closed during the championship and to learn the best alternate routes. This information is being forwarded to contractors.

By all means possible, truck drivers are being advised to avoid N.C. 5.

That in itself can be awkward, since the county’s landfill, weigh station and transfer station are all located off N.C. 5 between Pinehurst and Aberdeen. However, Boles reports that Uwharrie trucks do not take N.C. 5 into Pinehurst. They follow an alternate route that loops around onto the Hoffman-Foxfire Road.

Boles thinks the biggest challenge is with municipalities, particularly the Village of Pinehurst, and private contractors. Many municipalities today contract their solid waste pickup service to private companies.

Although highway construction work has been much in evidence here in recent months, Garner said most of this work has been in the planning process for several years.

The major change, from the standpoint of NCDOT, has been acceleration of work on some contracts to make sure that none of Moore County’s principal thoroughfares will be closed for highway construction work during the Open.

Raymond Sproles, division operations engineer for NCDOT, confirmed this. Sproles said that no new resurfacing projects were approved simply to benefit the Open.

What NCDOT did to accommodate the Open was to require an early completion date on all paving projects that would be in this area. That’s to make sure travelers on U.S. 15-501 won’t have to stop for a flagman while a lane is being resurfaced in the middle of June.

"We certainly didn’t want construction under way on those roads during the U.S. Open," Sproles said.

Nevertheless, road closures, rerouting and special signage will be carried out to accommodate the additional traffic expected during a two-week span in June.

Changes at the Pinehurst Traffic Circle and new turn lanes on U.S. 15-501 north of Pinehurst were not related to the Open at all, according to Garner. But here again, work was speeded up to make sure it was complete before the championship.

New turn lanes have been added at N.C. 73 (Eastwood) and are expected to ease traffic flow on this route, a major route for travelers coming from Raleigh-Durham Airport, as well as for local traffic.

Garner admitted that his office used the U.S. Open as the impetus to get this work expedited.

A narrow bridge spanning Murdocksville Road was replaced last year with a three-pipe culvert, and buses can now pass on that busy rural road.

Some 120 tour buses are expected to travel to the tournament from satellite parking lots in the area, and it is likely that a number of these buses will be traveling this route.

Only one road will be closed especially for the tournament — a small road off Morganton Road and U.S. 5, where a shuttle bus pickup station will be established at the Harness Track. In one day’s time it is conceivable, according to Garner, that as many as 70,000 pedestrians will be traversing this street during the Open. He hastened to add that such traffic would not all be at one time and would include the coming and the going on the major days.

"We’re encouraging traffic to use primary routes, not Morganton Road," he added.

Large programmable message signs are being erected on the shoulders of roads leading to the satellite parking lots. These electronic signs will advise drivers about road conditions and turns or other changes they need to make.

"This reinforces the other signs. It sort of wakes them up and advises them they need to turn at the next road," Garner said.

Also added especially for the tournament are highway advisory radios at three locations. These radios can be used to secure highway information or to report problems.

Garner recommends that all drivers obey the laws and respect the directions given by State Highway Patrol personnel.

"You should pay all respect and pay all attention to these troopers. Just follow their directions. Some people feel that they’re entitled to preferential treatment, but they are not entitled to special treatment," Garner said.

The highway traffic engineer added that drivers should not stop troopers to ask for directions. He said that the troopers are too busy to provide this service and must concentrate on maintaining the traffic flow and making sure everyone is safe.

But as far as heavy traffic and maintenance problems are concerned, Garner is relatively relaxed. He said the traffic probably should be little heavier than it is during the auto races at Rockingham, and NCDOT is accustomed to this type of traffic.

"There won’t be any tanks coming in from Ft. Bragg. These will be mostly passenger vehicles," he said, adding that he does not expect the department to race around with extra maintenance work once the tournament has ended.

That does not mean that highway personnel won’t have to put in long hours to handle everything.

"I’ll be working earlier and later that week," Garner conceded.

He reported that personnel from the state office in Raleigh would also be turning in extra hours while on call for all contingencies.

MoWASA Executive Director Harris expects demand for water and sewer services to be "very high" that week but doesn’t think it will be anything beyond the authority’s capacity.

Harris pointed out that MoWASA was able to practice up two years ago, when the Women’s Open was held at Pine Needles in Southern Pines.

"It’s nothing we can’t take care of," he said.

But just to be on the safe side, the authority is making plans to ask customers to exercise some conservation measures that week, especially if the weather has been dry. Harris said customers would be asked in particular to limit irrigation practices that week.

Harris does not expect a heavy usage of water that week. For one thing, hotels and motels in the area are frequently filled to capacity at other times, and MoWASA has no problem at those times. In addition, most water used for human consumption will come in the form of bottled water, to be sold on the course.

Portable toilets will be much in evidence in the tournament area, and disposal will require special treatment.

Arrangements have been worked out for these portable potties to be emptied at the county’s wastewater treatment plant at Addor.

"We’ve had several meetings to plan for the tournament, and I think we have a good contingency plan. We’ll have more people on duty, and we’ll begin working our wells earlier," Harris said.

This means that MoWASA personnel will report for duty as early as 5 a.m. to service wells in order to complete this work by 7 a.m.

"We’ll have folks in the area on standby in case a water line breaks or there’s a sewer backup. All of our equipment will be on standby," Harris said.

He said that MoWASA has continued its practice of buying generators to provide backup in case of a power outage, and this should help just in case there is a problem. The authority bought its first generators over two years ago, just in time to put them to use during Hurricane Fran.

"Our entire organization realizes it’s a big event for Moore County. We’re excited about it," Harris said.

Similar planning has been undertaken in Pinehurst and neighboring municipalities, where the infrastructure is likewise regarded as sturdy enough to withstand both the intensity and the enthusiasm of the Championship.