Pinehurst No. 4 Seeing Massive Popularity Growth Following the 2019 U.S. Amateur
Pinehurst, NC, 2019-Sep-05 — /Travel PR News/ — In September 2018, Gil Hanse completed his renovation of the Tom Fazio designed Pinehurst No. 4. Following it’s reopening, many golfers were excited with anticipation of what this new layout would entail and how well it would play. To put it mildly, Pinehurst No. 4 has not disappointed, as the redesign has been a massive hit with our customers both having played it and scheduled to play it in the near future. And it’s fair to say, that many are calling it an equal to, and perhaps better than the famed Pinehurst No. 2.
I just read an article about how great the update on No. 4 is. Article said many are claiming it is every bit as good as No. 2. Just wanted to thank you for pointing me in that direction. I remember when we originally set it up you highly recommended No. 4 because you had heard good things about the redesign. Can’t wait to play it!—J. Andrews (future guest and golfer at Pinehurst Resort)
This past weekend, Pinehurst No. 4, along with Pinehurst No. 2—a legendary and famed Donald Ross design—co-hosted the 2019 U.S. Amateur Golf Championship featuring two great amateur golfers in the thrilling 36-hole final—Andy Ogletree and John Augenstein. For the first time in the championship’s history, the 36-hole final was split over two separate 18-holes. Pinehurst No. 4 in the morning and Pinehurst No. 2 in the afternoon.
You’ve got two distinctly different strategic courses that share a distinctly Pinehurst aesthetic.—Tom Pashley, President of Pinehurst Resort
When a golf course design or redesign is highly anticipated, especially when sculpted by one of the games best golf course architects—Gil Hanse—there will always be speculation amongst golf purists and enthusiasts as to which course is the better of the two, however, Hanse says it best with what his goal and philosophy of the redesign was. “We were trying to build a golf course that was compatible with No. 2,” Hanse said. “We didn’t want to compete with it. That’s a losing proposition.” He further supports this philosophy, “If the renovations to No. 2 were a restoration of Ross,” Hanse said, “the renovations to No. 4 were an homage to Ross.”
Of course, that leads into another discussion, one of which we’ve had with several of our customers, and surely debated about thousands of golfers that have played Pinehurst No. 4 since reopening in September 2018 . . . Which of the two golf courses is more difficult—Pinehurst No. 2 or Pinehurst No. 4?
It’s difficult to imagine anything being more difficult than Pinehurst No. 2, but the consensus through some circles of golf course designers and experts is that No. 4, for the better golfer is more difficult. As Hanse states, “I’ve had many people come up to me and tell me that they thought that for the better player, course No. 4 was harder, which is what you want.”
Typically, a new golf course, especially a newly remodeled golf course would need some time, some seasoning, a growth period before it is declared a great golf course, especially when in the same discussion of the famed Donald Ross design—Pinehurst No. 2. But thanks to USGA (United States Golf Association), the No. 4 course has been declared an equal.
No matter how you look at it, the bottom line is Pinehurst No. 4 is going to be a special place, where history will tell the tale, definitely holding its own for years to come, and with certain aspirations to host the worlds best on some of the biggest stages in golf. And of course, for the average golfer, the excitement for No. 4 is booming following U.S. Amateur, which we love to see!