Golfweek says
It’s official: USGA moving forward with plans to bring second headquarters to Pinehurst
By Julie Williams | September 9, 2020 10:02
The people have spoken: They want fewer U.S. Open sites visited more frequently, and they want them to be iconic. It’s one of the reasons the U.S. Golf Association is driving a permanent stake into the pine straw in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
The USGA confirmed the speculated move to Golfweek, citing several reasons why establishing an “HQ2” in the Village of Pinehurst served its mission of championing and advancing the game of golf.
Chief in the appeal of establishing roots in Pinehurst is the anchor site strategy. The idea that the USGA’s permanent presence there will allow the organization to bring the U.S. Open to Pinehurst more frequently is a major bonus.
“This idea that we’re going to come back here every five or six years for the next 25 years delivers on that clarity around where we’re going,” Craig Annis, Chief Brand Officer for the USGA, told Golfweek.
In announcing its anchor site strategy in a press conference on Wednesday morning, USGA CEO Mike Davis announced that the U.S. Open would be played at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.
“U.S. Opens work so well here,” Davis said.
Other USGA championships do, too – and not just within Pinehurst. There’s a plethora of high-level venues to host them in the area, from Pine Needles to Southern Pines and even in the broader state of North Carolina.
At its heart, the USGA is a grassroots organization for golfers. In that sense, a Pinehurst presence serves its mission brilliantly. Roughly a million golfers travel through the Pinehurst area annually. A more permanent, visible presence from the USGA is a natural fit.
The USGA is currently based in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, and will maintain its presence there. That current headquarters gives the USGA proximity to major media in New York City and close access to broadcast partners NBC/Universal (which soon also will include Golf Channel) in Connecticut.
“The opportunity to have a base there remains really important to us,” Annis said.
The USGA’s museum and library, for one, will remain in Liberty Corner, but given the number of core golfers who travel through the Pinehurst area, there will also be a visitor center and museum experience at HQ2 which will allow putting artifacts on display for a different audience on a rotating basis.
The USGA has for years maintained a rented space in Pinehurst where roughly 15 employees are based. Many of them are involved in U.S. Open preparations. The establishment of a larger HQ2, which will be called Golf House Pinehurst, brings those roles in the fold but also will require an additional 35 roles, from various departments, to relocate to the Pinehurst office. Roughly 310 people are employed by the USGA overall.
“It’s a distributive strategy to allow us to get closer to our customers, core golfers, golf fans who we know come to Pinehurst on a regular basis but at the same time keep our roots also firmly planted in New Jersey,” Annis said.
The USGA has tentative plans to construct two buildings (two smaller structures fit the Pinehurst Village footprint better than a single colossal one) near the Pinehurst clubhouse and the Carolina Hotel. It puts them in close proximity to where the action is in Pinehurst.
Davis said the USGA expects to break ground in the spring of 2022. The end date for those buildings to be fully functional is December 21, 2023 – six months before Pinehurst No. 2 hosts its fourth U.S. Open in 2024.
The USGA will move its golf club test center to Pinehurst as well as other operations such as research, science and innovation; championship operations and various support operations.
“There’s no place like Pinehurst in the U.S., so that was the real starting point for us in terms of how do we accelerate our strategy to serve the game, champion and advance the game,” Annis said. “For so many reasons, Pinehurst just made perfect sense. That became the place where we started the conversation.”
Pinehurst and the USGA share a 125-year history, and those histories are intertwined. Pinehurst has continued to innovate – with the recently opened nine-hole short course, called The Cradle, being an excellent example of that – which allows the historic resort to attract newer, younger and more diverse people to the game. The USGA hopes to follow suit.
The state of North Carolina, of course, incentivized the move last week as House Bill 807 was unanimously approved. It allows for up to $42 million in performance-based state incentives to a “sports championship employer” heading to the Tar Heel State, but the USGA didn’t start out with that idea. State officials wanted the U.S. Open within state borders, wanted the USGA to have a permanent presence and wanted to support the organization’s growth strategy to get there.
“As we started to get deeper into the conversation, it was clear that the state was really focused on two things: research science and innovation and on growing the game within the state,” Annis said. “This is the home of American golf. They are keenly interested in continuing to grow the potential of golf within North Carolina.”