As the first fans of this U.S. Open entered Pinehurst No. 2 on Monday, I found my gaze fixed on a new clock. A four-sided Rolex recently replaced a two-sided coin-shaped one that had stood between the 1st and 18th holes for years.
Why it matters: Look, it's just a clock, but this minor detail derailed me. I've been coming to this place — and writing about this place — for more than two decades. I've witnessed professionals sink championship-winning putts on the 18th green and amateurs win Putter Boy trophies . I've celebrated milestone birthdays with my brother here. I proposed to my wife here.
- But as I walked under the loblollies and longleafs on the eve of another major championship, Pinehurst hammered me with a 360-degree view of time.
The big picture: No place in North Carolina improves more with age than Pinehurst — a 129-year-old resort whose most famous golf course, No. 2, is a fresh 117 — and no place reminds us how quickly time can grab you by the wrist (🎵 and direct you where to go 🎵) than this precious course in this little village on this sandy ancient coastline.
Case in point: In 2005, I was a 25-year-old newspaper reporter who snuck into the swanky players' locker room while a New Zealander named Michael Campbell accepted his U.S. Open trophy. A brick of a young man in a red shirt stood next to me and growled under his breath about the title he'd let slip away.
- That was Tiger Woods, the favorite then, less than an arm's length from me. I moved a few steps away.
On Monday, here was Tiger again, the aging underdog now, lofting practice shots on the range next to an old-timey magenta Aberdeen Carolina & Western train, while his 15-year-old son, Charlie, recorded videos of his swing for them to analyze together.
Tiger Woods and his son Charlie Woods practice on Monday at Pinehurst. Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images
Or another: In 2007, I followed a young college star named Webb Simpson around during the North & South Amateur championship , and talked to his mom for hours about his brilliant future.
- On Monday, here was Webb Simpson again, now 38 and with five children of his own, flakes of gray dusting the edges of his ears, talking about battling his way into the tournament through a qualifier, because the 10-year exemption he earned by winning the 2012 U.S. Open had expired.
- Simpson reflected on coming here as a kid on weekends with his father, who died in 2017 , saying, "I think about him every day. I really do. Pinehurst was where he was his happiest."
Charlotte resident and Raleigh native Webb Simpson calls Pinehurst "my favorite place." Photo: Michael Graff/Axios
This made me think of other people who aren't here. Specifically, Willie McRae , who'd memorized every tilt in this precious stretch of earth during his 75 years as a caddy before his death in 2018 at age 85 .
- McRae, who carried bags for five U.S. Presidents and celebrities from Mickey Mantle to Michael Jordan, took me around the course twice, and true to his reputation, he treated me no different from any of the rest.
- McRae also dished one of the better pieces of advice ever heard — for the next putt, or really for anything in our future.
"If you see it," McRae said , "you can make it."
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