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Golf Monthly

Sport

Mike Hall

Where Is The 2024 US Open?

Donald Ross US Open Payne Stewart Major Pinehurst No2 the US Open

After a venue that had never hosted a Major before, Los Angeles Country Club, was selected for the 2023 tournament, in 2024, the US Open moves to a course with plenty of history hosting the showpiece event.

North Carolina’s Pinehurst No.2 has not only hosted the US Open three times but, including 2024, it has also been confirmed as the host venue for the Major five more times as far into the future as 2047.

The North Carolina course’s first Major wasn’t the US Open, but the PGA Championship in 1936, which Denny Shute won. As well as possessing different characteristics to the Major the venue has become known for, that tournament was an outlier for another reason: the next Major would not be held at Pinehurst No.2 for another 63 years, with the 1951 Ryder Cup the biggest tournament between that yawning gap.

Finally, in 1999, it hosted its first US Open, and it has barely looked back since, with further editions held there in 2005 and 2014. The latter year was also the scene of Michelle Wie-West’s sole Major win in the US Women’s Open, which was held the following week.

Pinehurst No.2 will host the US Open several more times in the coming decades (Image credit: Getty Images)

In fact, 1999 was when one of the most famous finishes of all US Opens played out, when Payne Stewart made a par with a 15-foot putt on the 18th to edge out Phil Mickelson for his second victory in the tournament, with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh in close pursuit.

That win has resonated even more down the years because, tragically, Stewart didn’t have that long to enjoy his achievement. He died just four months later, aged 42, when a plane he was flying in, which was taking him to the Tour Championship in Texas, failed to pressurize and it later crashed. A statue of Stewart’s famous fist pump after clinching his victory now stands around 50 yards from the 18th green.

A statue commemorates the moment Payne Stewart holed a 15-foot putt to claim the 1999 US Open title (Image credit: Getty Images)

As its name suggests, Pinehurst No.2 is not the only course at Pinehurst Resort. Far from it. There are no fewer than 10 18-hole courses there and one nine-hole course, The Cradle, with Pinehurst No.10 being built by Tom Doak. However, it is the famous Donald Ross-designed course that has become entrenched in the hearts and minds of golf fans the world over, thanks partly to those iconic tournaments it has hosted in recent decades.

Pinehurst No.2 is considered one of the best golf courses in the Carolinas. Ross designed the course in 1907 and, in many people’s opinion, it’s his masterpiece. It appears Ross had that opinion, too, because he kept tweaking the course in the decades that followed, looking for perfection.

So, what can players competing in the 2024 US Open expect? Well, the course was renovated by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore in 2010, who reshaped the fairways and bunkers and removed the rough to return it to something closer to Ross’ original design.

The 18th green and clubhouse at Pinehurst No.2 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Like many Ross courses, the greens are known for their difficulty, with shots that are short invariably rolling back off them. The course isn’t without holes of punishing length either. However, the somewhat generous fairways mean most of a player’s accuracy can be reserved for the domed greens Ross was famous for.

The US Open is renowned as one of the toughest tests in the game, and in Pinehurst No.2, the 2024 edition will have a venue that will not only provide that but has a fabulously rich history to boot.