"If you've ever made a golf trip to Pinehurst, chances are you're familiar with the Pine Crest."

And Ron Green Jr. filed a nice tribute to the venerable Pinehurst inn, which opened for business on November 1, 1913 and began its centennial celebration.

Thanks to reader Chip for this.

Step inside and it's not much different than it was 100 years ago when Mrs. E.C. Bliss of Edgewood, R.I., opened the Pine Crest. The ceilings are low, the floors are gently uneven in spots and the stairway to the second floor creaks.

The Pine Crest Inn is not ultra-modern or part of a chain or terribly expensive. Instead, it's comfortable like your own den. It's a place where people running the place know their guests names and they take pride in making them feel at ease.

"Thistle Dhu" Opens At Pinehurst

Bill Fields files a Golf World Monday item (with great photo) on the Himalayas-style putting green that opened at Pinehurst resort, paying homage to a 1919 miniature built in the area.

The resort has also posted this YouTube video of the green's opening. It is free to play for resort guests.

Now if we could just build about 1000 of these around the country...

Coore And Crenshaw On Pinehurst A Year Later

Nice Q&A with the architects on the restoration, how it's evolved and where it's headed, including news of a new practice area on the No. 1 course's old 18th green. It will be a key practice area for players at the 2014 U.S. Opens.

North And South Player Reviews Of New/Old Pinehurst

Interesting to hear what caught the eye of some young (and one old) players.

"We wanted to restore the uncertainty."

More high profile coverage of Pinehurst #2's revival, this time from John Paul Newport Jeff Neuman in the WSJ. Funny, but with the Players Championship looming I wish we could plug the TPC Sawgrass into the parts discussing the removal of turf in favor of sand, wiregrass and pine needles.

"The reputation of Pinehurst was established in its natural state," said Coore. "Once you got off the fairways, it was wiregrass and hardpack sand. You might roll up against the wiregrass, or you might reach the pine needles, or you might have a clear, firm lie. We wanted to restore the uncertainty."

Coore and Crenshaw studied old photographs and aerials of the course taken in the 1940s. They removed untold acres of Bermuda sod and replaced it with…nothing.

"When you remove the grass, areas expose themselves as sandy wasteland, firmer, and evolution takes over," Crenshaw told me.

Some soft white sand and pine straw were scattered over the waste areas, awaiting the winds that will put them where they will. Eighty thousand wiregrass plants, whose wispy tufts are more an impediment than an obstruction, were planted by hand in a largely random pattern, though concentrated more heavily alongside the landing areas for the professionals' drives.

Tom Dunne's Take On #2

Former T&L Golf writer Tom Dunne visits Pinehurst and pieces together a compelling look at some of the course changes.

The Restoration of Pinehurst No. 2 from outandback on Vimeo.

Pinehurst #2 Reopens...

...naturally, I'd love to hear a review from anyone who plays it anytime soon. The special #2 website offers a poll for those who do play it and there are plenty of photos and videos worth checking out.

Pinehurst #2 Finally Getting The Treatment It Deserves

If you ever bemoan the rankings, just remember they do serve a positive purpose as evidenced by Pinehurst #2's recent and well deserved plummet down the list for the architectural sterilization driven in part by a cattle-herd operational mentality which decided sandy pine scrub would slow down play. Seems they have gotten the message, because as Ron Green Jr. reports (thanks reader Gene), Coore and Crenshaw are being hired to return some soul to the place:

Tinkering with what is considered Donald Ross' masterpiece is a delicate matter, and Pinehurst president Don Padgett III is taking a careful approach.

He has consulted with Coore and Crenshaw as well as Mike Davis, senior director of rules and competitions for the USGA, who will oversee the set-up for the U.S. Opens.

"They are trying to develop a concept to restore the course to a lot of the original design criteria while, at the same time, have it be a championship venue for the Opens," Padgett said this week.

And...

The main alterations would involve bringing back more of the sandy areas dotted with wire grass off the fairways, places where there is now rough. It would be similar, Padgett said, to how the course was in the 1930s and 1940s when Ross lived in the area and worked on it.

"What people expect of No.2 has gone away," Padgett said. "I think they (Coore and Crenshaw) plan to bring that back."

Padgett said if the plan moves forward, it will be at least a year, maybe longer, before work begins.

"I'm just glad to be headed in the right direction," Padgett said.

Me too!