Superintendent has Pinehurst ready for Next Week's U.S. Amateur

At the famed No. 2 course at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in North Carolina, golf course superintendent Paul Jett has prepared quite a challenge for the field in the 113th U.S. Amateur Championship, which will be played August 18-24.

Jett, who hosted U.S. Opens at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1999 and 2005, has changed very little of the Donald Ross-designed gem since the 2005 U.S. Open, but says it will play very differently because of the time of year.

"The golf course is so completely different in August than it is in June that there's nothing we could do that you could correlate to what might happen in June," said Jett, referring to North Carolina's hot and humid Augusts. "Whether it rains or not, it's still going to be wet and there won't be a lot of run. It's literally going to be the same setup as for a U.S. Open, but it will play completely different. The bermuda is at the end of its growing cycle, it's a lot coarser and the greens will be soft."

The greens are more receptive to golfers' approach shots than they are in June because the cool season bentgrass is weakened by the prolonged summer heat. But the surrounds and rough will be thicker and more difficult to swing through than in June because the warm season bermudagrass thrives in the heat and is peaking this time of year. This could also work toward the golfers' favor as the tougher leaf blades tend to hold the ball up higher for an easier escape.

There is a new tee at the par-4 third hole that will stretch 385 yards in the qualifying rounds and 336 yards in match play. No. 16 tee has been rebuilt to take the par-4 to 510 yards. For the matches, No. 2 will be played as a par 70 at 7,232 yards.

GCSAA member Kyle Brown is the superintendent at the No. 4 course, a Tom Fazio makeover. Stroke-play qualifying will be held on both venues August 18-19 to cut the 312-man field to 64 for match play, which will be held the remainder of the week at course No. 2.

Jett is a 22-year GCSAA member and a scratch golfer who played at Clemson University. A five-time runner-up at the GCSAA National Golf Championship, he is also vice president for the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association.

About Pinehurst Resort

Nestled among the towering pine trees of the North Carolina sandhills, Pinehurst boasts eight golf courses. The site of Ben Hogan's first professional win, Pinehurst No. 2 became a part of American golf lore when Payne Stewart's 15-foot putt on the final hole secured his second U.S. Open title in 1999 and marked one of the most memorable moments in that championship's history.

One of Ross's most lasting designs, Pinehurst No. 2 was built by hand and mule-powered scrapers. The course was laid out in 1903 and opened in 1907. No. 2 was rebuilt in 1935 to remove the sand greens that had been a part of the course since its inception, adding grass greens to make the layout championship-caliber. During the reconstruction, the course was lengthened and the greens completely rebuilt. Ross, who lived off the third green until his death in 1948, spent much of the last years of his life fine-tuning the greens of No. 2.

Since then, No. 2 has hosted several championships, including the 1936 PGA Championship, 1951 Ryder Cup Matches, 1962 U.S. Amateur, a 1973-1982 PGA Tour event, 1989 U.S. Women's Amateur, 1991 and '92 Tour Championships, 1994 U.S. Senior Open as well as the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Opens. The U.S. Open will return to Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014.