Pinehurst No. 2 prepares to host the U.S.
Open again next week. Getty Images PINEHURST, N.C.
— I do not recommend playing Pinehurst No. 2 tired. I do not recommend playing it hungry.
And I most certainly do not recommend playing it hungover. But, should you be all three of those things during your round on the 12th-ranked course in the U.S .
, there is hope for you still. Because I managed to keep my round of golf on the rails on Pinehurst No. 2 despite suffering from all of the above .
.. barely.
The story of my misfortune does not actually involve all that much misfortune. As a member of the golf media, I occasionally receive invites to attend what are called “media days” — essentially golf outings previewing some of the courses hosting major championships. It’s a pretty good gig; a free round of golf in exchange for the assumption that your coverage of the tournament (or, in this case, the championship) will be more informed, incisive, and perhaps slightly more interesting.
The downside of these events is that I don’t get to choose when they occur. Sometimes they’ll be during an open block in my schedule, and sometimes they’ll be, right after my sister’s wedding. The latter is what brought me to one of my favorite places on earth — the North Carolina sandhills — with my body still recovering from the ill effects of somewhere between eight and 28 tequila-sodas.
And it is how I know the lessons I am about to share with you from my round at Pinehurst No. 2.
