In a groundbreaking move that unites the two leading institutions in the collection and preservation of golf history, the USGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame will open a new state-of-the-art museum in Pinehurst this May. Hilary Cronheim leads the USGA’s effort to design and build the new USGA Experience and World Golf Hall of Fame and is overseeing the merger of these two operations.
Q: Why is the World Golf Hall of Fame moving?
HC: The World Golf Hall of Fame had reached the end of its 25-year bond with the state of Florida, its long-term lease. The timing was fortuitous that the World Golf Hall of Fame was closing as the USGA was building this new location in Pinehurst. It presented an opportunity to bring the World Golf Hall of Fame back to where it was founded in 1974. More than 1 million people visit Pinehurst each year and the USGA has expertise in collecting and preserving golf history. The new location is adjacent to The Cradle and in the middle of the action. The move is a win, win for the USGA, the World Golf Hall of Fame, the resort and for the game of golf.
Q: How will the visitor experience in Pinehurst differ from the experience in Florida?
HC: It’ll be very different. The museum in Florida was much larger. The USGA Experience was set to open in Pinehurst before we added the World Golf Hall of Fame, so, the World Golf Hall of Fame had to fit into a pre-planned structure that was years in the making. The most popular exhibit at the World Golf Hall of Fame in Florida was the locker room, so we decided to take that concept and recreate it in Pinehurst. The core of the World Golf Hall of Fame is the members and that is what this new space focuses on. Members will now be grouped in eras rather than induction class so visitors can have some historical context.
Q: What has been the most challenging part of the project?
HC: We had to fit 160+ lockers into a space that was not initially designed to be the World Golf Hall of Fame. Designing the layout may have been the hardest part because we did not have the flexibility to change the footprint of the space. The space was not initially designed to be a museum space which had implications from a design perspective to keep it climate controlled and safe for the artifacts.
Another challenge was securing the artifacts for the lockers. In an ideal world this would be a collaborative process. It would have been great to work with the living World Golf Hall of Fame members to design their own lockers, but due to the time crunch to get the exhibits open pre-2024 U.S. Open, we had to be creative to build in some flexibility to change the exhibits in the future. We had to make some compromises, but moving forward we can work with the members more collaboratively to make sure that exactly what they want in their locker is in their locker.
