With the 2023 Ryder Cup on tap for later in September in Italy, it’s fun and perhaps a bit revealing to hark back to Pinehurst’s two Ryder Cups — the one in 1951 that did happen as everyone knows about and the one in 2004 that did not happen that hardly anyone knows about.
Ripping out grass on a U.S. Open golf course was, indeed, an extremist move. But Pinehurst owner Robert Dedman Jr., CEO Don Padgett II, and architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were willing 11 years ago to roll the dice on Pinehurst No. 2, the site of multiple major championships throughout more than a century.
The PGA of America brought the 1951 Ryder Cup to Pinehurst No. 2 for the ninth rendition of the event launched in 1927 and originally sponsored by English seed merchant and entrepreneur Samuel Ryder.
This fall, there is a sense of rebirth around the Home of American Golf.
