A different look at the U.S. Open, Pinehurst
+ Arnold Palmer's protege to upgrade a King design; weekend reads and nine things for your consideration; and a worthy Lake Tahoe retreat.
THE STARTER
🏌️ Rory McIlroy reconciled with his wife, Erica, and he shot 65 in the first round of the U.S. Open. Are the two related?
🏌️ Word is out that a “draft agreement” between the PGA Tour and the PIF has been signed and details will be known next week. Are we finally turning the corner?
🏌️ Jon Rahm withdrew in the middle of the second round at the LIV Golf Houston event and withdrew from the U.S. Open before he hit a shot due to an infection between two of the toes on his left foot. Does that make three major disappointments for Rahm in 2024?
🏌️ Tiger Woods received the Bob Jones Award from the USGA, which recognizes an “individual who demonstrates the spirit, personal character and respect for the game.” Personal character?
🏌️ Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, said there will be a future pathway for LIV players into the U.S. Open. “I think we are serious about that,” he said. Fred Ridley, Martin Slumbers are you listening?
🏌️ Whan also said that the USGA and R&A still have an interest in dialing back drivers that would affect the elite players but not recreational players. Is the ball rollback not enough?
🏌️ Padraig Harrington and Sandra Palmer led the largest induction class since 2008 into the World Golf Hall of Fame, which included the late Tom Weiskopf, Beverly Hanson, Johnny Farrell and the seven remaining founders of the LPGA Tour. Was the WGHOF doing some catching up?
🏌️ Adam Scott got into the U.S. Open at the last minute due to a change in his world ranking. It is his 92nd consecutive start in a major championship. In today’s game, do we know how impressive that milestone really is?
🏌️ Doesn’t it feel like the golf season just started, yet we’re through three majors?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
A walk down memory lane
A pair of golf memorabilia shops in the Village of Pinehurst, site of the 2024 U.S. Open, are windows into the game's rich history and offer no shortage of nostalgic collectables.
:: David Droschak | Read
Home, home on The Cradle range
Pinehurst Resort and Country Club's young, but fabled, par-3 course has been turned into a practice range for this year’s U.S. Open. But don't fret, the course will return.
:: Ward Clayton | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads that are mainly about golf, but not always.
📖 Can cricket conquer America?
With sped-up matches and a bevy of big-money backers, the world’s second-most-popular sport is pitching a Stateside resurgence.
:: Craig Coye | Vanity Fair | 05.31.2024
How the 250-year-old German orthopedic shoe company with Succession-level family drama transformed itself into a luxury behemoth.
:: Tim Loh | Bloomberg | 06-04.2024
📖 What was Jerry West really like? On the phone with him, the NBA universe opened up
:: Tim Kawakami | The Athletic | 06.12.2024
:: Olly Richards | Deadline | 05.30.2024
SUBSTACKED
📖 Image breakdown: The 1893 Penn-Cornell game
:: Football Archaeology | 06.11.2024
BUSINESS
WEEK IN REVIEW
1️⃣8️⃣ The industry’s names, news and notables that are making the headlines. | Read
PERFECT PUTT
The USGA's investment in Pinehurst
The USGA has established Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in North Carolina as an anchor site for its championships and infrastructure. Publisher Jared Doerfler looks into the impact of such a decision.
:: Jared Doerfler | Read
Each Monday, Jared Doerfler breaks down the business of golf. Subscribe to Perfect Putt here.
ICYMI
This week’s editions of The First Call:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
Happy Father’s Day!
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
HOME FRONT
Martis Camp | Truckee, California
Listing: 9525 Wawona Court.
Stats: 8,198 square feet | 7 beds | 7.5 baths.
Price: $14,995,000.
About: Martis Camp is a luxury private community in the Lake Tahoe area for families who love the mountain lifestyle. With four seasons of recreation and adventure, including private ski access to Northstar California Resort and an acclaimed Tom Fazio golf course. This home’s kitchen is graced by a wine cellar whose 409 bottles are on full display. Tying this three-level home together is a glass elevator with stunning views and a series of graceful, floating staircases that lead to 7.5 bedrooms, including a primary suite with pocket doors, fireplace, deck and a stunning no-touch steam shower with floating benches. This suite has its own private access to the standout gym situated above the connected two-car garage. Located in a quiet cul-de-sac near the Ski Lodge and Lookout Mountain, this home is bookended by a pair of creeks — one off the back patio near the hot tub. The line between indoor and outdoor spaces in this home are blurred, and the scene can quickly shift from warm, intimate and enclosed one moment to one-with-nature the next. This is due to the great rooms retracting glass walls that connect to decks on all three sides.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Brandon Johnson to renovate Arnold Palmer’s King’s North
King’s North at Myrtle Beach National, an Arnold Palmer design that has long been one of the Grand Strand’s bedrock layouts, closed on June 3 to begin a comprehensive, two-part, two-year renovation project.
Founders Group International, Myrtle Beach National’s parent company, selected Brandon Johnson Golf Course Design to oversee a project that will transform the venerable South Carolina course. Johnson worked for Arnold Palmer Golf Design for more than 17 years, so he will ensure that Palmer’s vision for the King’s North is maintained while modernizing a design that last enjoyed an overhaul in 1996.
Phase one, which will focus entirely on the front nine, will last four months — King’s North will reopen October 1. The highlights of the project will include:
> The greens will be renovated and restored to their original size, reclaiming 30,000 square feet of putting surface, an expansion that will make them 36% larger, while adding pin positions that were eliminated by encroachment over the years. The new greens will feature TifEagle ultradwarf Bermudagrass, a hardy strain that has performed exceedingly well in Myrtle Beach’s subtropical climate.
> Every bunker on the course will be renovated and have Capillary Concrete bunker liners installed, eliminating washouts and drastically improving drainage, both factors that will significantly enhance playability. Premium bunker sand will also be installed.
> There will be significant changes to the layout, with an emphasis on reimagining the green surrounds. Many of King’s North’s current greens are framed by mounding that limits creativity on the approach and recovery shots. When the course reopens, players will be greeted by a layout that can be attacked through the air and along the ground.
> King’s North has always enjoyed a rugged look, showcasing waste bunkers and the area’s naturally sandy soil, and Johnson will lean into that aesthetic as he remakes the course. Among the holes that will be getting significant makeovers will be No. 6, the iconic par 5 otherwise known as “The Gambler.” In addition to some technical work along the edges of the lake, one of “The Gambler’s” three fairway bunkers will be eliminated and replaced by a large waste area that will improve the look of the hole and the challenge.
“We are looking to honor some of the things Mr. Palmer was trying to achieve here,” Johnson said. “He always wanted his courses to be fun to play and pleasing to the eye and that’s what this course is, but there are some strategic and playability elements we can add to enhance the experience. We are looking to build upon what’s here by using the existing contours and landforms more effectively and incorporate them into everyday play.”
The second stage of the project will begin in summer 2025 and include an overhaul of the back nine. Additionally, the Myrtle Beach National clubhouse will enjoy a renovation to enhance the dining experience.
King’s North was last renovated in 1996 when Palmer oversaw a complete redesign of what was previously called the North Course. The layout shot to the top of the list of Myrtle Beach’s best designs and was ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by Golf Digest.
READ: This week’s complete Design Notes
RELATED: Design Notes archive
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