Hopefully down the road, it will be a funny story to tell.
File this under something you don’t see every day.
SMU’s Areen Aggarwal was in the lineup earlier this week at the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2, site of the 2024 U.S. Open. The freshman played 36 holes on the opening day of play Monday before finishing up the tournament with an 18-hole final round on Tuesday.
However, neither of his scores counted toward the team score on the first day.
Aggarwal signed not one, but two incorrect scorecards on the first day of play, disqualifying both of his scores. It cost SMU 10 shots in the team competition over the first two rounds.
In the final round, Aggarwal shot even-par 70, the second-best score of the day for the Mustangs, which finished at 30 over and solo 10th of 12 teams. Without the incorrect scorecards, SMU would’ve placed sixth.
A tough situation, for sure, but Aggarwal bounced back strong on Tuesday. Hopefully down the road, it will be a funny story to tell.
There are 14 local qualifying sites in California, the most of any state. Florida is second with 13 local qualifiers.
On Monday the United States Golf Association announced the local and final qualifying sites for the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, June 13-16, 2024.
Online player registration begins on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at champs.usga.org and will continue through Wednesday, April 13. Players must have a Handicap Index not exceeding 0.4, or be a professional.
There will be 109 local qualifying sites across the United States and Canada, April 22-May 20. For the 45th consecutive year, Illini Country Club in Springfield, Illinois, will hold a U.S. Open qualifier. Riverton (Wyoming) Country Club and Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert, California, will host local qualifying for the 26th and 23rd years, respectively. There are 14 local qualifying sites in California, the most of any state. Florida is second with 13 local qualifiers.
Players who advance from 18-hole local qualifiers will join a group of exempt players in final qualifying, which will be conducted over 36 holes. International final stages will be held in England and Japan (May 20) and Canada (June 3). Nine final qualifiers in the U.S. will end on June 3, with one set for May 20. One local qualifying site in Texas and Massachusetts will be added at a later date.
The USGA accepted a record 10,187 entries for the 2023 championship at Los Angeles Country Club. The previous mark of 10,127 entries was established for the 2014 championship held at Pinehurst No. 2. The famed course in the Carolina sandhills, now an anchor site for the USGA, is hosting for a fourth time this year and will also host in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.
Check out the dates and locations for all 2024 U.S. Open local and final qualifying sites below.
There’s nearly $400 million in official prize money up for grabs in 2024 on the PGA Tour.
There are 38 events on the PGA Tour’s 2024 schedule, with 37 of them doling out $398,900,000 in prize money payouts.
The Tour Championship provides the biggest paydays to the lucky 30 who reach the season finale, but all of the money distributed at East Lake Golf Club is considered bonus.
So it’s the first 37 events of the season that the write checks – or shall we say, eletronic transfers – the big sums that count towards the official money list.
The Players Championship has the most official money at stake. There are eight signature events with $20 million purses. There’s the majors and the FedEx Cup Playoff events. Then there’s the best of the rest and finally the four opposite-field affairs.
To repeat, there’s nearly $400 million in official prize money and another $75 in bonus money up for grabs on the PGA Tour in 2024. Here’s a breakdown.
There are some fantastic venues on the slate for 2024.
Another busy year is on tap for the United States Golf Association in 2024, and several of the organization’s biggest events are headed to the best golf courses in the world.
On the men’s side, Wyndham Clark claimed the U.S. Open title at Los Angeles Country Club in California in 2023. Next year, the best male players in the world will take on historic Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. Martin Kaymer won the last U.S. Open staged at No. 2 (2014).
As for the women, Allisen Corpuz won the first-ever U.S. Women’s Open staged at Pebble Beach Golf Links. In 2024, the ladies are headed to Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Here are all 17 of the USGA’s events on the 2024 calendar. And here are all the trophies the USGA hands out at its championships.
Thanks to Golfweek’s Best rankings, we break out the top public-access courses around Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Looking to play one of the top golf regions in the world, with great courses stacked alongside great courses? Look no further than Pinehurst, North Carolina.
From classic dream layouts to modern works of art, there are a dozen courses within a half-hour’s drive of Pinehurst that rank among the top 20 public-access courses in North Carolina.
For this exercise, we used Google Maps and punched in each course as of a Saturday morning to determine drive times. And included with this list is a general map of where to find all these courses. Each one on the list below is represented with a number on the map – keep scrolling to see the numbers.
And keep in mind, the numbers represent how the courses are ranked, and it can become a bit confusing as the courses at the famed Pinehurst Resort are named numerically. For example, Pinehurst No. 2 ranks No. 1 on this list, and it appears accordingly as No. 1 on the map.
Included with each course is its position in North Carolina on the Golfweek’s Best public-access list. For any course that appears on our other popular rankings lists, those positions are included as well.
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A little background: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.
The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or casino, by staying at an affiliated hotel or purchasing a golf vacation package. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required, although Pinewild Country Club is a special case on this list with an editor’s note below.
(Google Earth/Golfweek)
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“We really hope for a firm and fast U.S. Open come June.”
PINEHURST, N.C. — They say there’s never a bad day at Pinehurst, especially if you’re walking around course No. 2, the famed masterpiece of renowned architect Donald Ross.
The gem in the sandhills of North Carolina will play host to its fourth U.S. Open next summer (1999, 2005, 2014), and the folks at the United States Golf Association recently held an early preview for its flagship championship.
“We are comfortable that Pinehurst will provide the test of golf that has always provided,” said course setup lead Jeff Hall. “If Martin Kaymer hadn’t entered in 2014 we’d have had a really competitive championship, but he played brilliantly.”
“We’re not trying to play defense with the players,” he added. “This golf course, when it’s firm and fast, you can have some scary wedge shots. Even if it was shorter, there’s still some pretty scary wedge shots here.”
From fairways and tricky greens to new grass and hospitality venues, here’s what players and fans should expect to see when they step on the property for the 2024 U.S. Open, June 13-16, at Pinehurst No. 2.
No. 2 will look and play as it was designed
When Pinehurst worked with Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to restore the course in 2010 and 2011, the team removed 35 acres of Bermuda rough and replaced it with nearly 250,000 wire grass plants so the course would look and play the way Ross originally intended. To get it as close as possible, images from 1948-1962 were used.
Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
No. 2 is a unique test of golf for a U.S. Open due to its sandy areas in lieu of ankle-deep rough. If players miss the short green grass, they’ll have to deal with the elements. Fairway widths are 34-45 yards at No. 2, which differs from, say, Winged Foot or The Country Club where 24-32 yards is the norm. The diabolical turtleback putting greens make fairway placement all the more important.
“Thinking back to 2014, this was a really difficult U.S. Open to play,” said former Tour pro and current USGA Senior Director of Player Relations Scott Langley. “I say that as a guy who finished in 63rd place, wasn’t as difficult for Martin Kaymer. The thing that’s difficult about Pinehurst No. 2 is the putting greens and surrounds. The greens are very difficult to hit, so you’re often faced with a variety of shots around the greens to recover.”
When you think of a missed green at a U.S. Open, tall, lush rough comes to mind. At Pinehurst, you can play any number of clubs to get up and down to save par. Bump-and-run with an iron. A perfectly nipped wedge. Maybe a hybrid instead of a putter. The course allows for a certain level of creativity that most championship venues lack. It introduces uncertainty for players, which is when things get interesting.
“It provides a mental challenge as much as a physical one,” added Langley. “No matter what club you end up choosing or what shot you decide to play, you always have a little bit of doubt in your mind if it’s the right one because of the presence of so many options.”
As if golf wasn’t hard enough already. But that’s why it’s the U.S. Open, known as the toughest test in golf.
Key corner of the course
If you’ve been to No. 2, you’ll know the area on the front nine that features No. 3 green, No. 4 tee, No. 5 green and No. 6 tee. Come next summer, the section of the course will be a fan-favorite to watch a lot of golf, especially if No. 3 is drivable.
The short par-4 3rd hole is gettable no matter where the tee is, but the challenge increases with the sloping fairway of the par-4 4th. Players will get a breather with the par-5 5th before they’re faced with arguably the toughest test of the front nine, the tricky par-3 6th hole.
The fifth hole on Pinehurst No. 2. (Photo: Tracy Wilcox/Golfweek)
In 2014, Martin Kaymer played No. 3 and No. 5 at 6 under par and finished the championship at 9 under. He drove the green on No. 3 on both days the tee was up and two-putted for birdie. He played No. 5 at 4 under thanks to a pair of birdies and an eagle.
“You could hear some roars in this part of the world,” Hall predicted.
When it comes to set up and yardage tee to green, the course will be very similar to what fans and players saw in 2014. The real difference is the surface of the putting greens. The 2014 championship and all the previous championships (as far as the USGA knows) were played on bentgrass. The 2024 championship will be played on Bermuda grass.
The change from Creeping Bentgrass to Ultradwarf Bermuda grass provides a different perspective for the tournament crew when preparing for a U.S. Open.
“It gives us a lot more flexibility because the temperatures are ramping up, nighttime, daytime, sunlight, everything that works against the cool season grasses that time of year are in our favor for the Ultradwarf Bermuda grass,” said Pinehurst superintendent John Jeffreys.
“It allows us more options for managing firmness,” added Darin Bevard, Senior Director of Championship Agronomy. “I just hope that Mother Nature cooperates in June that we’re having this conversation about firmness and not about fixing wash outs and bunkers. We really hope for a firm and fast U.S. Open come June.”
Outside the ropes
The course is a masterpiece inside the ropes, but the USGA believes the same to be true outside the ropes. The resort is an ideal venue logistically, and the staff has a proven plan for what works and what doesn’t.
In order to improve on past successes, the USGA is keying in on two aspects: getting fans closer to the action and elevating the overall fan experience. The answer is different product offerings from the gallery ticket all the way up to the most premium hospitality stand.
A grandstand left of the 18 green with the clubhouse in the background has been a staple for U.S. Opens at Pinehurst. Next year, the grandstand will be integrated with a premium hospitality experience called the 1895 Club, the highest-end experience on-site. The club comes with valet parking, shuttles, and the best food and beverage offerings with the 18th green as entertainment.
“That’s certainly going to be something we’re excited about and something that’s going to feel and look very different,” said Leighton Schwob, the USGA’s Senior Director of Operations.
Pinehurst is going through a full renovation of the lower floor of the resort building, which is where a lot of player facilities will be. A tunnel from the locker room up to the first tee for players is also being built and should be completed by the end of the year. The resort’s driving range will be more of a fan area next summer, as the USGA anticipates more than 250,000 fans will be in attendance for the week.
The course will shut down near Memorial Day, but facilities will be built beginning in March. So don’t fret, there’s still plenty of time to go play before the pros.
The Walker Cup begins two months from Sunday and Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap has clearly made his case as to why he should be on the team.
With the biennial competition creeping closer, Dunlap again added a signature amateur win to his resume Sunday morning, capturing the 123rd North & South Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2, beating Stanford’s Karl Vilips 1 up in the match-play final. Because of thunderstorms in the Pinehurst, North Carolina, area on Saturday, the championship match’s final eight holes were completed Sunday morning, and Dunlap held on for his second victory in as many weeks.
— Pinehurst Resort (@PinehurstResort) July 2, 2023
Dunlap was a second-team All-American at Alabama as a freshman, finishing the year ranked 16th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. He qualified for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club two weeks ago.
Now, he has won two of the first three Elite Amateur Series events of the summer. The North & South is the third of seven men’s events that are a part of the series. Up next is the 119th Trans-Mississippi Amateur from July 10-14 at Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas.
The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to the 8 range.
All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, the location, the year it opened and the designers. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.
KEY: (m) modern, built in 1960 or after; (c) classic, built before 1960. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.
Golfweek’s raters have ranked the top 200 courses built in the United States before 1960, such as Augusta National, Pebble Beach and more
Welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of the Top 200 Classic Courses before 1960 in the United States.
Each year we publish many lists, with this Top 200 Classic Courses list among the premium offerings. Also extremely popular and significant are the lists for Top 200 Modern Courses, the Best Courses You Can Play State by State and Best Private Courses State by State.
The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to the 8 range.
To ensure these lists are up-to-date, Golfweek’s Best in recent years has altered how the individual ratings are compiled into the rankings. Only ratings from rounds played in the past 10 years are included in the compilations. This helps ensure that any course in the rankings still measures up.
Courses also must have a minimum of 25 votes to qualify for the Top 200 Modern or the Top 200 Classic. Other Golfweek’s Best lists, such as Best Courses You Can Play or Best Private, do not require as many votes. This makes it possible that a course can show up on other lists but not on the premium Top 200 lists.
Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, the location, the year it opened and the designers. The list also notes in parenthesis next to the name of each course where that course ranked in 2021. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.
After the designers are several designations that note what type of facility it is:
• p: private
• d: daily fee
• r: resort course
• t: tour course
• u: university
• m: municipal
• re: real estate
• c: casino
* Indicates new to or returning to this list.
Editor’s note:The 2022 Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list for the top 200 layouts built after 1960 in the U.S. was published Monday, May 23. The Best Courses You Can Play lists and the Best Private Courses lists will follow over the next two weeks.
