Excitement Building Daily As U.S. Open Approaches

BY HOWARD WARD: Golf Writer

Matt Massei and U.S. Opens are certainly no strangers to each other.

Massei, the Pinehurst Resort director of golf, has been part of one in 1999 and has visited three others at Olympia Fields, Bethpage Black and Shinnecock.

But when the 2005 Men’s Open comes to Pinehurst June 13-19, the 38-year-old Massei will find himself involved on a different level. This time he’s sitting in the seat that in 1999 was occupied by the legendary Don Padgett, who died two years ago.

“Not a day goes by that something doesn’t come across my desk that I’d like to ask Padge, ‘What do you think of this?’ ” Massei says. “We can’t appreciate too much what he meant in getting the Open here and putting Pinehurst back on the world stage.”

The eyes of the golf world will be focused on Pinehurst during that week in June, and Massei plays an integral role in assuring that what they see will be a pleasant experience for everyone concerned.

“There’s a lot of staff meetings and a lot of time focused on coordination and timing for that period,” Massei says. “With the driving range and some courses being taken out of the picture, we’re having to synchronize things for our members and the operation of the resort.”

Some of those things are obvious.

The huge driving range and practice area that also serves as the operating base for the nationally acclaimed Golf Advantage School operated by Eric Alpenfels has been shut down, and the area will serve as the site for the corporate village. A huge net, some 50 feet high, has been erected in front of the driving range tees, allowing golfers the opportunity to warm up prior to their rounds.

The golf school has been temporarily moved to the No. 8 Course.

“They’ve built a wonderful short game area there,” Massei says, “and No. 8 is a great site for the schools. Eric and I spent a lot of time over the past 60 days preparing and marketing the changes.”

Following the Open, the driving range and practice area will be redesigned, offering a longer hitting area and target greens for golfers working on their games.

“That’s a great by-product of the Open,” Massei says.

The famed No. 2 Course, which will be the site of the Open, will remain open to resort play until May 29. Other courses affected by the Open are 1, 3, 4, and 5. No. 1 will be closed earliest as its fairways are being used for merchandise structures.

A 38,000-square-foot merchandise pavilion is being built on the 17th fairway of No. 1.

The first tees and holes of courses 3 and 5 are being converted to a practice area for the Open contestants, and they will play as 17-hole courses until after the championship. Golfers playing No. 4 will have to use the 18th hole on No. 1 as the finishing hole.

Massei was head professional at Pinehurst No. 8 during the 1999 Open, and his involvement in the operation was limited. But he was named director of golf in January of 2002 and has thoroughly prepared himself for his role this time.

“I’ve attended the last three U.S. Opens at Olympia Fields, Bethpage Black and Shinnecock,” he says, “and I went there from a different perspective than the others from our place. I spent a lot of time looking at practice facilities, locker room operations, bleachers and the trailers that were set up for club manufacturers.

“I came back feeling confident that our plan will work very well. Our staff works very closely with the Pinehurst Championship Management group, and they’ve had a lot of experience.”

The USGA lauded Pinehurst officials after the 1999 Open, calling it one of the smoothest operations they had experienced. And to prove they were serious, they awarded the resort with the second-quickest turnaround in history.

“There’s a lot about Pinehurst that makes it able to do some things other Open sites can’t,” Massei says. “Our satellite courses, such as 6, 7 and 8, allow us to provide sites for corporate golf during the championship and do all the things we’re known for in taking care of their clients and making sure they have a great golf experience.

“We’ll be holding morning and afternoon shotgun starts at those courses, and some of them are already sold out.”

To enable Pinehurst members to continue playing during the week, a golf shop will operate from a trailer to service courses 3 and 5. An extra 50-60 golf carts are being brought in for use on those courses.

“Leading up to the Open and beyond, we’re trying to assure that our membership and guests have a great time,” Massei says. “We want to support them as much as possible.”

With only three months remaining before Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Davis Love, John Daly and the rest of the world’s elite players converge on the village of Pinehurst, the atmosphere becomes more charged daily.

“As we creep to under 100 days before the Open, we know that the energy and excitement levels are being elevated,” Massei says. “It’s an exciting time, and I’m not nervous, but I am getting exhilarated. I know what a great week it was in 1999 and it’s wonderful being a part of that in any way.

“The planning by Beth Kocher (Pinehurst executive vice president) and Reg Jones (championship director) has been remarkable. It’s an impressive thing to watch.”

There have been few changes made to Pinehurst No. 2 since 1999. “Open Doctor” architect Rees Jones was brought in to add approximately 100 yards to the length of the layout, but it is doubtful many of the players will even be aware of the changes.

The new tees have been top-dressed and leveled and are firming up nicely. The rough, which will again be allowed to grow to only three inches, is expected to be a little denser and may create more problems for players who miss the narrowed fairways.

So Matt Massei waits, the excitement building daily. And he wishes the late Don Padgett, his friend and mentor and father of the current Pinehurst CEO, were still around to share it.