The USGA first began exploring the idea of moving some of its operations to Pinehurst in 2009, those talks have now come to fruition. “Our campus all along was to showcase all our values, not just our championships,’’ said Janeen Driscoll, director of brands communications for the USGA. “This community only knows us for the U.S. Opens we bring here. We truly believe this is the center of the golf universe, and we’re going to give back.’’ Pinehurst donated the site and the USGA received $27 million from the state of North Carolina to entice the USGA to relocate and help bolster local economic development. Twenty Pinehurst residents were hired by the USGA to open a small office after the 2005 U.S. Open, while the main USGA corporate offices, with 350 employees, remained in Far Hills, New Jersey. The new Pinehurst Golf House will include a staff of 65. It’s a massive facility built on land that had been previously used for tennis courts, located between The Carolina Hotel and the first tee of historic Pinehurst No. 2. One wing of the complex will house administrative offices and the testing center. The other will include the ‘USGA Experience’ on the first floor and the World Golf Hall of Fame on the higher floors. At our museum in New Jersey most everything is about the history of golf,’’ said Driscoll. “About 90 percent of our collection is in a vault
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQ2Nzk4