The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood Course), Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
Yardage:6,301/6,395 yards
Par:36-36—72
2009 champion:Amy Anderson (ineligible to defend)
Opened:1963 (Dogwood), 1970 (Cardinal)
Designer:Ellis Maples/Willard Byrd
USGA championships:This will be the second USGA championship at the club and the first since the 1980 U.S. Amateur won by Hal Sutton. It will be the third U.S. Girls’ Junior held in the Tar Heel State, following 1989 at Pine Needles (Brandie Burton) in Southern Pines and 2006 at Carmel C.C. (Jenny Shin) in Charlotte.
Championship notes:Alternate teeing grounds will be used on three holes, the par-4 second, par-4 11th and par-4 17th. The second will play 355 yards during stroke-play qualifying and 369 during match play. Hole 11 will be shortened 30 yards for match play from 381 to 351 yards, while the 17th will be lengthened from 312 to 362 yards for match play.
Course notes:One of the noticeable features of the course is the plethora of longleaf pines, which can stretch as high as 100 feet and harbor the endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker. According to the club’s Web site, these birds refuse to nest in any other tree and experts estimate the colony’s ancestry dates to the maturity of these trees some 250 years ago.
Genesis of a club:Back in 1910, Pinehurst attracted a Pennsylvania visitor by the name of John Watson, a highly successful engineer who is credited with inventing the shock absorber. Watson had two major pursuits: golf and nature study. Watson fell in love with the land where The Country Club of North Carolina currently resides. During the 1920s, he proceeded to dam three streams and created a 60-acre lake now known as Lake Watson. Watson’s dream of building a hotel on property never materialized as he died in 1961, but Richard A. Urquhart of Raleigh, N.C., a senior partner in a national accounting firm, and his friends were looking to purchase land in the Sandhills in hopes of creating a club. Watson’s property turned out to be an ideal location and The Country Club of North Carolina came to fruition in the early 1960s.
Building a club:The original master plan was going to limit membership to 500 and the club quickly acquired members from all over the state. Today, that membership has grown to individuals from throughout the U.S. and the world. Besides the two golf courses (Dogwood and Cardinal), the facility includes eight tennis courts, swimming pool, several dining options, a Youth program, a Summer Program, a Rental Home Program and nature trails.
Boasting a champion:Two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion and 2008 USA Curtis Cup Team member Meghan (Bolger) Stasi has called CCNC home for many years since her parents became members.
Protecting the environment:For the past five-six years, CCNC has been involved with the Audubon Sanctuary program and the club participates in the Red Cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor program with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.