PINEHURST — Home.
A week before Bryson DeChambeau rolled in the final putt to win the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst Resort released a video on its social media accounts with the title, “Home,” featuring a voiceover by former UNC basketball coach Roy Williams.
“Basketball took me all over the world, but it always brought me home. And when I think of home, I think of North Carolina,” Williams said.
“. … Those of us from North Carolina know what we have here is special. Now we get to share it with the world.”
Known as the cradle of American golf and America’s version of St. Andrews, Pinehurst is the golf capital of North Carolina.
It’s a year-round welcome in the Sandhills, but this week felt like returning home for a holiday. More than 225,000 fans were estimated to have walked the grounds on No. 2, with dust clouds forming between pine trees as the masses moved around Donald Ross’ masterpiece for four rounds of major championship golf.
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Wiregrass, native areas, sweltering summer heat, fox squirrels and those diabolical greens that turned some of the best golfers in the world into ping-pong players.
The tournament didn’t disappoint, delivering drama with a duel of major champions coming down the stretch.
After three bogeys in the final four holes, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy is still searching for his fifth. After rolling in par putts on the final four holes, DeChambeau raised the U.S. Open trophy for the second time in his career, giving a nod to the late Payne Stewart as we near the 25th anniversary of Stewart’s iconic victory in 1999 on No. 2.
I was there in 1999, watching alongside my dad, and again in 2005. I was living in Pittsburgh in 2014, sick to my stomach as I watched fans, including my dad, enjoy the restoration of No. 2.
But I returned home this year to enjoy the U.S. Open once again with my dad on Father’s Day. It’s where I shot a 106 on media day in early May, peaking early with an opening par on the ninth hole before carding one more the rest of the way — on the par-5 16th, which played as a par 4 for the U.S. Open.
It’s where I’ve enjoyed Transfusion cocktails and tacos with friends at the Deuce, chunked wedges on the Cradle short course and rolled more than a few putts on the Thistle Dhu putting course.
The U.S. Open will be back in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047. But we’ll be back home long before 2029.
Whether it’s a major championship or simply stopping by for a quick lunch and drink, the beauty of Pinehurst is its accessibility and welcoming spirit.
It’s always feels like home.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Pinehurst is home for golf in North Carolina. The US Open delivered
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