Since hosting the U.S. Open for the first time 25 years ago, Pinehurst No. 2 has changed a bit. A restoration of the golf course was completed in 2010. Bermudagrass has been installed. There’s a campus for the U.S. Golf Association here now and the World Golf Hall of Fame has returned. Payne Stewart isn’t here, but his memory persists – there’s a statue of him now, which has moved from the 18th hole to the main entrance for the playing of one of men’s professional golf’s four major championships this week.
And the media center is less full. Many news organizations have shrunk, cut back, or vanished, and the way people consume sports news has changed, with some opting for TikTok rather than the written word.
But one constant remains: The presence of Open Daily – a pop-up daily newspaper encompassing coverage of the 124th U.S. Open from The Pilot, the twice-weekly newspaper based in Southern Pines.