Pinehurst No. 2: The Complete Player's Guide to Golf's Cathedral
Pinehurst No. 2 is the most historically significant golf course in the United States. Donald Ross designed it in 1907 on the sandy hills of North Carolina's Sandhills region, and he refined and modified it throughout his career — he lived near the course until his death in 1948. The result is a course that functions as a dissertation on strategic golf design: every hole poses a question about where to miss, and the answer is always "short," because the turtleback greens that define No. 2 reject all but the most precisely calibrated approaches.
Donald Ross and the Design
Donald Ross was born in Dornoch, Scotland, and learned golf at Royal Dornoch — the course that many consider the finest natural links in the world. When he emigrated to the United States in 1899, he brought with him the design sensibility that Royal Dornoch had developed in him: an understanding of how ground slopes and wind interact, how the contours around greens create natural run-off that punishes the slightly misplayed approach, and how to use the existing terrain rather than imposing architecture upon it.
Pinehurst No. 2 is Ross's fullest expression of these principles. The greens are raised and crowned — the turtleback shape that causes balls to roll away from the hole rather than toward it, penalizing approaches that miss the target. Missing the green at Pinehurst No. 2 is not a neutral outcome; it is the beginning of a complex short game puzzle from difficult lies in the native sandy areas around the green.
The US Open History
Pinehurst No. 2 has hosted five US Opens: 1999 (Payne Stewart's fist pump on 18, one of the most celebrated images in the championship's history), 2005 (Michael Campbell), 2014 (both the US Open and US Women's Open in the same week, with Martin Kaymer and Michelle Wie winning), and 2024 (Bryson DeChambeau).
Stewart's 1999 victory — his final major, he died in a plane crash four months later — is the most emotionally significant. His putt on the 18th green, made after Phil Mickelson had lipped out to give Stewart the opening, is one of the most replayed moments in US Open history. His fist pump, the image that remains associated with Pinehurst No. 2 more than any other, captures the specific joy of a man who understood exactly what he had just accomplished.
The Turtleback Greens
The defining characteristic of Pinehurst No. 2's greens is the crowned, convex surface — what players call the turtleback. Approaches that land on the green but are slightly offline roll off the putting surface and into the native sandy areas surrounding it. The correct strategy is to approach below the hole and leave an uphill putt — the only putt that doesn't threaten to roll away.
Rees Jones restored the course before the 2005 US Open, and Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw restored it again before 2014 — removing the irrigated rough that had accumulated over decades and returning the native sandy waste areas to Ross's original intent. The 2014 restoration is considered one of the finest course restorations in American golf history.
How to Play Pinehurst No. 2
Pinehurst No. 2 is accessible to resort guests staying at Pinehurst Resort. Tee times are bookable through the resort, and the course is open to all resort guests — unlike Augusta National, it is not a private club. The caddie program is strong, and using a caddie is recommended: the course's strategic complexity rewards local knowledge, and the native areas require accurate reading to manage from difficult lies.
Aim for short of the green on approach shots rather than at the flag. The correct miss is below the hole, in the light rough or native area, where an uphill chip to a receptive surface is possible. The wrong miss is above the hole, where the turtleback green and the downhill chip make recovery significantly more difficult.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pinehurst No. 2 public or private?
Pinehurst No. 2 is part of Pinehurst Resort, a public resort property in the North Carolina Sandhills. It is accessible to guests of the resort — anyone who books accommodation at Pinehurst can play No. 2 by booking a tee time through the resort.
What makes Pinehurst No. 2's greens different?
Pinehurst No. 2's greens are crowned (turtleback shaped) — higher in the center than on the edges — which causes balls to roll off the putting surface when approaches land slightly offline. This design characteristic punishes the marginally misplayed approach more severely than most other course designs and rewards the precise, below-the-hole miss that leaves an uphill putt.