Pinehurst gears up to host 124th US Open in June 2024
Posted October 24, 2023 5:07 p.m. EDT
Updated October 24, 2023 5:34 p.m. EDT
Pinehurst, N.C. — Tuesday marks 229 days until the Pinehurst Resort will host the 124th U.S. Open.
The major golf tournament is set for June 13-16, 2024, at the resort’s No. 2 golf course. It has served as the site of more single golf championships than any other course in America.
“It's incredible,” said golfer Drew Woman. “It's the mecca of golf in the Americas.
“The courses they have here [are] unbelievable. The Southern hospitality, it's just a different place.”
There are also events starting on June 10 before the official start of the tournament.
WRAL News asked about what he thought of Pinehurst hosting the U.S. Open.
“It's really exciting,” Workman said. “That's why I’m here. I’m checking out the course before the pros come."
Superintendent John Jeffreys is responsible for the course being in tip-top shape.
"Preparations start years in advance,” Jeffreys said. “With the expectation of hosting the U.S. Open, the turf has to be at its best, so we use every opportunity, every year, leading up to run trials to see how things react to certain things."
Since Pinehurst last hosted the U.S. Open in 2014, the course has switched from bentgrass to Bermuda grass. Jeffreys said that makes the maintenance a bit easier during the hot summer months.
One thing that hasn't changed is the expected economic impact the U.S. Open will have on Moore and surrounding counties during tournament week.
"We're also scheduled for four additional championships going forward, and the accumulative economic impact of all of these championships is [more than] $2 billion to, not only here in Moore County, but obviously the greater state of North Carolina," said U.S. Open Championship Managing Director Reg Jones.
The U.S. Open is due to return to Pinehurst in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.
Pinehurst staff expects to shut down course No. 2 to the general public around Memorial Day 2024.
The 2024 U.S. Open will mark the fourth time the national championship has been played at Pinehurst.
Tickets for the event Monday, June 10, through Sunday, June 16, range in price from $1,500 – for a week-long package with access to indoor, climate-controlled seating, television and restrooms – to $600 for a two-day (Thursday, Friday) grandstand pass.
Remembering Payne Stewart’s winning putt on No. 18
In 1999, Payne Stewart sunk a difficult putt on the 18th hole to win the U.S. Open. Four months later, Stewart died in an airplane crash at the age of 42.
The memory of Stewart’s famous putt is immortalized in a statue of his iconic pose outside the clubhouse at Pinehurst No. 2.
