Golfdom, June 2014

6 Golfdom June 2014 Golfdom com I have had the good fortune to stay in some pretty nice places in just the few years Ive been working for Golfdom Trump Towers in Chicago The Rittenhouse in Philadelphia The May Fair in London to name a few that really stand out This place is The Pit HELLO FROM THE U S OPEN As you might imagine The Pit is not among the nicest places Ive stayed However it might be the most memorable The Pit isnt a hotel Its a golf course Well it was a golf course The Pit Golf Links located in Aberdeen N C was a Dan Maples layout opened in 1985 It was celebrated regionally for its zany design that included blind tee shots zigzag fairways and an island green Sadly like many courses The Pit met its demise a few years ago Since then Robert Dedman Jr owner of Pinehurst Resort bought the property Rumor had it that this land would become Pinehurst in with the pro shop 20 years ago My bathroom was the womens locker room Our kitchen was the old kitchen for the grill room Some of the old signage remained asking golfers to proceed to No 10 tee as quickly as possible or to be careful for lightning It was fun and bittersweet to look around and imagine what this place must have been like 20 years ago Golfers milling in and around racks of golf shirts golf shoes golf balls and Im sure nice shiny displays of the newest golf clubs I wonder how many played their first round of golf at The Pit or carded their only hole in one But life goes on And not that Im speaking from experience but a word of advice if you find yourself alone in a dark barren clubhouse visualizing that scene and if youre the type again not me who is easily spooked by emptiness Playing music makes it feel a little less foreboding a little less like Jack Nicholson might start chopping down a door with an axe shouting Heres Johnny I was honored that the team at Pinehurst put me up in The Pit and I thank those guys for all their hospitality Though it wont make my list of the all time nicest places Ive stayed it will be an alltime fond memory of a great event a great week and some great guys Email Jones at sjones@ northcoastmedia net No 9 With Pinehursts recent acquisition of National GC see page 10 it is obvious The Pit will not become No 9 Whatever becomes of The Pit I will fondly remember it as the place I called home during the 2014 U S Open No room service no cable TV no wi fi but talk about a room with a view And what an experience I arrived late on the Sunday night preceding the U S Open I met my new housemates for the week on night one There was Carlos Sanes Penn State intern from Stroudsburg Pa Matthew Jones senior assistant superintendent from The Landings Club Savannah Ga and two Iowa State University juniors Ryan May and Desmond Decker Jones was back after interning for two seasons at Pinehurst in 2010 and 2011 There were five of us calling The Pit home for the week but not a lot of socializing Sure these guys were young but this was no Animal House After all they were working 16 hour days Sleep was at a premium Sanes was my tour guide upon arrival He advised me that it might be best to enter through the rear those stairs were safer Good advice The front stairs were pretty wobbly and Im too heavy to take that risk The master bedroom which they allowed me the honor was elevated from the main floor with a sunken service area in front of it Was this where golfers checked The Jones Keeping up with No room service no cable TV no wi fi but talk about a room with a view SETH JONES Editor in Chief