Turning back the sands of time: a bold renovation restores the rough edges of the state's premier golf course before the U.S. Open returns in 2014.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: PICTURE THIS

Back when golfers wore knickers and neckties and swung clubs with hickory shafts, course designer Donald Ross fell in love with an unlikely spot. Where others saw tall pines and scraggly undergrowth, he saw gently rolling dunes left by a Miocene ocean and was reminded of his native Scotland. In 1907, his Pinehurst No. 2 opened in North Carolina's Sandhills as "a natural-looking, sandy golf course," Pinehurst Resort Vice President Tom Pashley says. Of the more than 400 courses he designed, No. 2 was his masterpiece. But a century of refinements morphed Ross' showpiece into a traditional layout covered in lush, green grass. Now, a yearlong $2.5 million, back-to-the-future renovation has reversed the "improvements."

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Its rough edges restored, the world-famous course reopened in March but will have its world debut in 2014 when the men's and women's U.S. Opens are held there. Golfers who played in Pinehurst No. 2's 1999 and 2005 men's U.S. Opens might not recognize the course. "Our owner said this might turn out to be the smartest thing we ever did or the stupidest," Pashley says, referring to Dallas-based Putterboy Ltd. "We had a pretty good feeling, but we weren't sure. It was a calculated risk." Even nongolfers have a stake in the renovation's reception. Pinehurst No. 2 is the crown jewel of the state's golf industry, worth about $2.6 billion a year in direct spending, according to a spokesman for Gov. Beverly Perdue. Plus, the previous two Opens at Pinehurst No. 2 generated a combined $284 million in statewide economic impact, according to the local convention and visitors bureau.

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Pinehurst hired an Austin, Texas-based firm led by Ben Crenshaw, the two-time Masters winner, to plan the remake. Most noticeably, the renovations removed much of No. 2's manicured Bermuda-grass rough, which looked spectacular on TV but belied Ross' intentions. Even he was no purist, "constantly tweaking" the...