McInerny, Paul Michael

English

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Marquette Universitye-Publications@MarquetteCollege of Professional Studies Faculty Researchand Publications Professional Studies, College of10-1-2013Review of The Golden Age of Pinehurst: The Story ofthe Rebirth of No. 2 by Lee PacePaul Michael McInernyMarquette University, paul.mcinerny@marquette.eduPublished Version. Journal of Sport History, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Fall 2013): 503-504. Permalink. © 2013The North American Society for Sport. Used with permissionREVIEWS: BOOKSFall 2013 503PACE, LEE. The Golden Age of Pinehurst: The Story of the Rebirth of No. 2. Pinehurst, N.C.:Pinehurst LLC, 2012. Pp. 336. Photographs, appendix, and index. $39.95 hb.Across the country there is a movement to return golf courses to their natural state byeliminating over-seeding, removing excess grass, and restricting watering. The “browning”of golf courses is part of the green movement. Some course managers are doing it toconserve money, but most as a return to the original conditions of golf. Lee Pace’s TheGolden Age of Pinehurst: The Story of the Rebirth of No. 2 is the story of one of America’smost iconic golf courses being returned to its original state. The significance of the courserestoration is due to Pinehurst #2 hosting both the US Open for men and women back-to-back in 2014, the first time the two tournaments have been held in close proximity onthe same course. When millions watch the televised 2014 US Opens, many will probablybe introduced to the new return-to-nature trend away from the highly manicured andlandscaped courses modern golfers have grown accustomed to playing.The Pinehurst resort in North Carolina consists of eight golf courses—#2 is one ofthe most revered 18-holes in the U.S., consistently ranked among the best. Under theoriginal ownership of James Tufts, Pinehurst was developed into a leading golf resort dat-ing back to 1895. Five years after its founding, Scotsman Donald Ross was hired as resi-dent pro and started designing the #2 course, which began play in 1901. Ross, while usingPinehurst as his base, became the premier course designer in the country developing orredesigning hundreds of golf courses. Pinehurst #2—like most Ross course designs uti-lized the natural terrain—became known for its turtle-backed greens, fast and firm widefairways that were flanked by unkempt bunkers and hazards consisting of hardpan sandand pine straw. When a pinecone fell from a tree, it stayed.Pinehurst #2 became home to some of the most prestigious amateur tournamentsand eventually professional events. In 1970, the Tufts family sold the resort to theDiamondhead Corp., which decided to accommodate the course to the new array of golfequipment and expectations of the modern golfer. The change meant practically soddingthe entire course acreage to become a finely manicured golf venue with soft fairways.When a pinecone fell, it was swiftly removed. This lush version of the course successfullyhosted the men’s US Open in both 1999 and 2005.The purpose of Pace’s book is to support the decision and explain in detail the work toreturn Pinehurst #2 to its original design and terrain complete with unkempt bunkerssome even spouting clumps of wire grass. Robert Dedman’s purchase of Pinehurst in 1984eventually lead to #2’s rebirth that was completed in 2011 under the work of golf archi-tects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. To achieve the original look of #2 as Ross designed it,a thousand sprinkler heads were reduced to 450; forty acres of turf removed exposing thehardpan sand, some 8,000 wire grass plants dug in, and 40 percent less water used inmaintenance. Many of the bunker’s edges were intentionally “broken” for a rough, returnto nature appearance—once again, fallen pinecones remain as part of the hazard.  Thecourse is no longer totally green but an array of earth tones.JOURNAL OF SPORT HISTORY504 Volume 40, Number 3The Golden Age of Pinehurst is a coffee-table edition that was commissioned by PinehurstLLC as the latest of three books about the resort by Pace. Its critical analysis is limited tothe Diamondhead ownership period. The design by Sue Pace, Lee’s wife, features high-quality photographs wrapped by the author’s lengthy and often repetitious conversationalprose. Its sales orientation is underscored by the many sidebars that address such topics as:Pinehurst’s putter boy logo; the resort’s archives; caddie tradition; local village shops; Presi-dential Suite in the Carolina Hotel; and others.The work’s value to sports historians may reside in the future when golf historiansevaluate the current browning and return-to-nature movements. Detailed conversationsof Coore and Crenshaw and other major players in the decision provide insight into theevolution of #2’s redesign even though it is uncritically presented.  The pictorial represen-tations will also serve this purpose. The book is indexed and includes an appendix of:winners of tournaments held on #2; chronological listing of significant dates; and a picto-rial display and description of each hole; as well as a course overview and detailed credits.—PAUL M. MCINERNYMarquette UniversityREGALADO, SAMUEL O. Nikkei Baseball: Japanese American Players from Immigration andInternment to the Major Leagues. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013. Pp. xxii+187.Acknowledgments, notes, bibliography, index, and photographs. $18.98 pb.The magnificent cultural historian and analyst Raymond Williams once told us that “cul-ture is ordinary.” It might seem a pedestrian thing to say to people who consider them-selves historians and social scientists, but at a time in which many of us still fervently adorecelebrityhood from Lebron James to Princess Kate, Williams’ words still cut to the bone.What he meant was that we are all largely shaped by the meaning created by people weknow and do not know and we all create meaning for others as well. In other words, we donot have to have to be famed intellectuals, artists, scholars, or media created celebrities tomake culture.As most of us know, the world of sports has long been driven by elitism. To manysports fans, that world would collapse without elite athletes and teams. As historian LarryGerlach wrote for these pages in 1994, “Much of what passes for baseball history concernsonly major league baseball and is presented without qualification as though ‘baseball’ and‘major league’ were synonymous” (“Not Quite Ready for Prime Time: Baseball History,1983-1993,” Journal of Sport History 21 [1994]: 129). Around the same time we couldread Gerlach’s words, Major League Baseball (MLB) was in the midst of a sadly prolongedstrike. Pundits predicted the imminent death of baseball if fans could not follow the ex-ploits of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Ken Griffey, Jr . Indeed, whether we like it ornot, if MLB disappeared tomorrow, baseball fans would feel a loss, especially those of us inthe U.S. The game, however, would go on. Children and adults would still play the gameor one of its many variations because they find it fun. Children and adults would stillwatch the game if only to cheer on loved ones and friends. In other words, the legitimacy

Review of \u3cem\u3eThe Golden Age of Pinehurst: The Story of the Rebirth of No. 2\u3c/em\u3e by Lee Pace

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Review of \u3cem\u3eThe Golden Age of Pinehurst: The Story of the Rebirth of No. 2\u3c/em\u3e by Lee Pace

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