“I say it’s Donald Ross, and then say I’ve got John Fought helping,” said Miller, who is president of Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club. “John would be the first to say that this is Ross’s design. What we’re doing with John’s help is restoring what Ross designed and built 75 years ago.”
Fought, president of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based John Fought Design, doesn’t mind serving as an assistant to the esteemed Ross on a project of this significance.
“The more I’m around the great golf courses here and around the world, the more I’m impressed with Ross’s vision and ability,” Fought said. “His courses don’t force anything, they’re economically designed and use the land beautifully.”
Pine Needles closed May 3 to begin the six-month restoration process. It is scheduled to reopen Oct. 18.
Miller and Fought are careful to label this a “restoration” as opposed to a “renovation.”
“Sometimes with a renovation, you just go in with the big equipment, and without worrying too much about the existing design, just start tearing into it,” Fought said. “Restoration is more difficult because it’s more like an archeological dig. You’re worried more about the details, the subtleties of what was here originally. That’s also what makes it more interesting.”
Miller adds: “What we’re really trying to do is return the shot values and the integrity Ross built into the course originally. Ross intended the second shot to most par-4s to be a challenging shot. So that’s what most players are going to face.”
In addition to extending tees, other course changes include reshaping bunkers, enlarging greens, removing trees that were crowding tees and greens, restoring fairway contours and reestablishing natural areas, all in accordance with Ross’s design philosophy.
In returning the course to its original playing personality, the restoration also is helping Pine Needles keep pace with today’s technology-inspired game. When it reopens Oct. 18, the course will continue to play as a par-71, although it will be about 300 yards longer from the back tees.
The additional length is sure to please the United States Golf Association, which is bringing the U.S. Women’s Open back to Pine Needles in 2007.
“The length Ross built into his courses in the first half of the century is not sufficient for today’s longer ball and better equipment,” said Fought, who won the 1977 U.S. Amateur championship at the Aronimink Golf Club, a Donald Ross-designed course near Philadelphia. “For his day, he was designing long courses. But if he were around today, I think we would be seeing 8,000-yard courses from him.”
Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club, located across Midland Road from each other, are operated by the family of Peggy Kirk Bell, a pioneer of the LPGA. Mid Pines, which was established in 1921, and Pine Needles, which opened in 1928, are two of the leading golf destinations in the Southern Pines and village of Pinehurst area.
Pine Needles was the site of the 1996 and the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open Championships and was chosen to host the 2007 Championship.
Bill Bryant is a golf publicist who lives in Duluth, Ga.
