Best Boomer Towns Columns

Pinehurst to Host Men and Women Golf U.S. Opens in 2014

PINEHURST, N.C. - The USGA and Pinehurst No. 2 will make history in 2014 by staging the U.S. Open and U.S. Womens Open, the two premier national championships in the United States, on the No. 2 course at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

This is the first time in history that the U.S. Open and U.S. Womens Open will be contested on the same course in back-to-back weeks.

The 2014 U.S. Open will be conducted June 12-15, followed by the U.S. Womens Open, June 19-22.

This unprecedented U.S. Open "double-header," staged at one of the most storied golf courses in the world, promises to be two weeks of championship golf unlike anything seen before, according to USGA Executive Director David Fay. The USGA hopes to stimulate interest and exposure for the U.S. Womens Open, while adding a compelling element to the U.S. Open. Photo of boy putting statue at Pinehurst

Two physical characteristics of Pinehurst No. 2 make it ideal for hosting these two championships in consecutive weeks: the course sand base, which minimizes the damage that comes from play, and the lack of rough around the greens.

The concept is novel, but Fay said in a letter to USGA members that he has great confidence in the ability of the USGA operations team, the people at Pinehurst and the whole golf community to make both championships an unquestionable success.

Pinehurst No. 2 has previously hosted nine USGA national championships, including the 2008 U.S. Amateur; the U.S. Open in 1999 and 2005; the 1994 U.S. Senior Open; the 1989 U.S. Womens Amateur; and the 1962 U.S. Amateur.

The 2014 U.S. Womens Open will be the first conducted on the Donald Ross masterpiece in the sandhills of North Carolina.

"The USGA is particularly indebted to the Pinehurst Resort, and especially its owner Bob Dedman, the Village of Pinehurst and the State of North Carolina for their wholehearted support of our plan for the 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Womens Open," wrote Fay.