USGA announces four new dates for the US Open in Pinehurst — and new roots in NC
The United States Golf Association is putting down roots in North Carolina — and establishing “Golf House Pinehurst.”
It brings with it multiple new dates for the US Open in Pinehurst. In addition to the previously announced US Open there in 2024, the golf tournament will also be held in Pinehurst in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.
USGA CEO Mike Davis said Wednesday in a news conference the long-term partnership, which makes Pinehurst Resort & Country Club the first-ever USGA anchor site for the U.S. Open, will have a total economic impact of over $2 billion to the state of North Carolina.
“This is one of the great days in USGA’s 125-year history,” Davis said. “I think it’s just the start of something wonderful.”
In the news conference alongside state and local officials, the sport’s governing body in the U.S. announced it will move part of its headquarters and a combined museum/visitor’s center to the historic Moore County golf mecca, which has long hosted USGA championship events. Construction on Golf House Pinehurst, which will also include a research and testing center and offices, is expected to begin in spring 2022.
The announcement — made jointly with state and local officials — came five days after Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 807, the Championship NC Act, into law, setting the stage for the General Assembly to provide up to $18 million to recruit an unnamed “sports championship employer” that quickly became an open secret.
The bill stipulated an employer must invest $5 million dollars in the project, complete two buildings totaling at least 30,000 square feet, hire at least 35 new employees and produce a total economic impact of $800 million over the 10-year agreement.
“The legislature signed onto this very quickly,” state Speaker of the House Tim Moore said, “because we know this is going to pay dividends for decades to come.”
“Golf is North Carolina’s game, and I’m excited the USGA has chosen to expand here in our state,” Cooper added in a pre-recorded video message. “When I met with the USGA a year ago, I think we all thought that we could make this happen — and now it has.”
Pinehurst’s history with golf and the USGA
The USGA’s current headquarters and museum are in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, but its longstanding relationship with the Village of Pinehurst and its resort dates back over a century, when all three entities were founded in 1895.
The resort’s famous No. 2 course has hosted three U.S Opens in 1999, 2005 and 2014 U.S. Open and will again in 2024; in 2014, the men’s and women’s Opens were held on consecutive weeks.
“U.S. Opens just work so well here,” Davis, the CEO, said.
The USGA has also hosted amateur and senior events at Pinehurst Resort and surrounding Sandhills courses. In all, North Carolina has hosted 33 USGA championships since 1955 — and that number will steadily rise now, thanks to another House Bill 807 stipulation.
Under the bill, the USGA must hold various other championship events in North Carolina, whether at Pinehurst or elsewhere: a men’s major every five to seven years with a $90 million impact per event, a women’s major every 10 years and at least 13 additional events.
Officials said Wednesday that may include U.S. Women’s Open, Senior Open, Amateur, Women’s Amateur, Junior and Girls’ Junior events.
“The impact of this commitment will reach counties around us as well,” said Pat Corso, the executive director of Moore County Partners in Progress.
Corso also emphasized the partnership was both a “total team effort” and bipartisan.
Pinehurst site will house 15% of USGA’s current workforce
Cooper and his secretary of commerce, Anthony Copeland, met with USGA officials last year for the initial discussions. But key players included everyone from the NCGA, governor’s office and local state representatives to the Moore County Board of Commissioners, Pinehurst Village Council, resort owners and economic development experts.
“We’re ecstatic,” Copeland said. “We hope to be and will be (mentioned) with the esteemed courses like St. Andrews — and be known through the world.”
The majority of USGA staff will continue to work out of New Jersey, since ground on Golf House Pinehurst won’t be broken for almost two years.
When completed, though, those offices will house employees from the championship operations, Research and Test Center and Green Section teams — about 15 percent of the USGA’s current workforce. Davis said he’s excited about future partnerships there, considering the headquarters’ relative proximity to the Research Triangle and top universities.
Bob Dedman Jr. spoke Wednesday on behalf of his family, which owns Pinehurst Resort. He called the anchor site designation “an unprecedented distinction and testament” to the No. 2 course’s legacy and future. And the Golf House Pinehurst project, he said, is another nod to the innovation both his family’s resort and the USGA have embraced.
“Truly,” he said in the event’s closing remarks, “this a beautiful day in Pinehurst.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 10:17 AM.