Pinehurst Reborn

By Bill Fields

July 04, 2011

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Jack Fields plays his second shot from just short of the green on the tempting 350-yard, par-4 third hole in a first-round victory over Jonathan Brain during his march to the title.

Jack Fields approaches the 476-yard, par-4 fifth hole from 175 yards during the final against David Erdy.

Two competitors in a first-round match wait to tee off at the 224-yard, par-3 sixth hole.

David Erdy hits his second shot out of a scrubby area to the right of the 407-yard, par-4 seventh hole.

The rugged look of the restored No. 2 course is evident from this view behind the seventh green.

The eighth hole, a 467-yard par 4 features an expanse of restored natural area to the right of the fairway.

David Erdy plays his second shot from sandy hardpan on the 611-yard, par-5 10th hole, which wasn't out of reach for some of the players.

A view from behind the green at the par-5 10th hole.

A formidable par 4 of 478 yards, the 11th hole offers a striking example of how Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw returned a natural look to No. 2.

Jack Fields found trouble on the 451-yard, par-4 12th hole during the championship match.

This wiregrass to the right of the 12th fairway is some of the toughest on the course.

Winner Jack Fields, as did other players in the 64-man field, found recovery shots from the natural areas often easier to judge than from the formerly thick Bermuda-grass rough that lined many of the fairways prior to the restoration -- as long as a ball didn't nestle up next to a clump of wiregrass.

It was still easier to play from the fairway, as Jack Fields does in the morning round of the championship match on the 380-yard, par-4 13th hole.

Jack Fields hit his tee shot into a scrubby area on No. 13 during the afternoon round of the final but recovered for a par and closed out his 5-and-4 victory over David Erdy on the next hole.

David Erdy drives off the tee on the 471-yard 14th hole during one of his matches en route to the final.

A view from left of the landing area on the 14th hole.

Lanny Wadkins consoles his younger son, Tucker, after a first-round defeat. His older son, Travis, now a professional, was Tucker's caddie. Lanny Wadkins, who has played No. 2 many times in his career, is a fan of the restoration, saying the course feels much more like the track he first played more than 40 years ago.

Two-time North & South champion Paul Simson surveys a difficult shot on the 14th hole in his second-round victory over Josh Eure.

There were a lot of birdies made on the 16th hole, a reachable par 5 of 525 yards.

Jack Fields, playing an approach on the 18th hole as caddie Pete Lineberger looks on, is the first native son of the North Carolina Sandhills to win the North & South Amateur, which has been contested every year since 1901.

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Pinehurst Reborn

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