Double Dipping

Sorenstam, Webb Have Repeated At Pine Needles

Southern Pines, N.C. - What is it about Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club that inspires reining champions to repeat? What is it about Peggy Kirk Bell’s sanctuary in the Sandhills that favors legends of the game?

Whatever it is, forget about it. That was Pine Needles then, this is Pine Needles now.

"I was just trying to … my vision of what I remembered from the two times I’d played here," said Karrie Webb. "Before to yesterday was a lot different.

"I felt instead of having to just cruise around for a couple of practice rounds to refresh my memory, I think I’m having to learn the course all over again."

Karrie Webb, on No. 15 Wednesday, said the course is much different than when she won in 2001. (Fred Vuich/USGA)

Webb is the last to have won the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, capturing the crown at the Donald Ross gem in 2001. The victory allowed her to accomplish the rare feat of winning back-to-back Opens, coming off her win at The Merit Club in 2000.

Oddly enough, it was the second Open for Pine Needles and the second time the facility provided a "replay" button. Five years earlier, in 1996, Annika Sorenstam won the Women’s Open at Pine Needles, repeating as her championship at The Broadmoor in 1995.

Since the USGA began conducting the Women’s Open in 1953, there have been four other occasions when a champion has repeated. Mickey Wright won back to back in 1958-1959. Susie Maxwell Berning doubled up in 1972-1973. Hollis Stacy rewound the tape in 1977 and 1978, while Betsy King double dipped in 1989 and 1990.

Pine Needles is batting 2 for 2 and Sorenstam, who won the Open last year at Newport Country Club, would like nothing more than to keep the pattern in tact this week. However, she knows it won’t be the same ol’ same ol’.

"My caddie told me the course is longer this year," Sorenstam said. "But I think the length was the biggest change that he could tell me.

"I’m looking forward to going out there. Everybody is saying great things about the course. I loved the course the first time I played it here. It’s a treat to play, especially in a championship like this."

But what is it? What is it that promoted two of the foremost modern day players in the game? What catapulted Sorenstam to cruise to a six-stroke win in ’96? What propelled Webb’s eight stroke slam dunk in 2001?

Whatever it is, it may not exist anymore. The world of women’s golf has a decidedly different look about it since its last visit to Southern Pines, N.C. The No. 1 player in the world is different (Lorena Ochoa). The LPGA commissioner is different (Carolyn Bivens). Morgan Pressel is different.

"I just turned 19, said Pressel, who was 13 at Pine Needles in 2001. "I’m getting up there. I’m almost in the 20s, geez, another year."

Geez.

Perhaps most significant, the golf course is different. During renovations in 2003 and 2004, new sand traps were added while others were removed. Greens were tweaked and reshaped. Several holes have undergone facelifts and extensions.

If Annika Sorenstam can win this week, she'll become the first player to have duplicated winning consecutive Opens on two different occasions. (Fred Vuich/USGA)

For instance, a 409-yard par 4 during the 2001 Women’s Open, No. 15 will play as a 523-yard par 5 this time. There are dramatic changes at Nos. 14 and 10, as well. The texture of the course overall has been changed, overseeded with Bermuda grass.

"I think the greens are a little more severe than they were in 2001," Webb said. "Because we played the last two U.S. Opens at Pine Needdles at the end of May, I think there was a lot more options for chipping. I found yesterday that, because the Bermuda is in, probably a little more at the end of June than it is in May, it’s probably not as tight around the greens as it was. It’s a little more grainy."

On the other hand, when asked who might be a favorite at Pine Needles this week, two names came immediately to mind for the man who supervised all the changes, golf course architect John Fought. "The two players who won here before, of course - Annika, if she’s healthy, and Karrie Webb," Fought said.

That’s because, regardless of the venue, a U.S. Women’s Open, i.e. it brings out the best. The repeat part of the winning formula at Pine Needles might be coincidence, but the identity of the repeaters is not.

"I think it’s the toughest test of your game," Webb said. "I think if your game is there and you have the experience to know not to set scores and just fight it out (you can win).

"I think the biggest difference between my ’96 Open here and winning in 2001 was in ’96 … the whole time, if I made a bogey, I just didn’t have the patience.

"It’s just not a shootout. I don’t view it as a shootout or putting contest. I think all facets of your game have to be in tip-top shape."

Sorenstam concurred:

"This tournament has always meant the most to me," Sorenstam said. "It’s a tournament where the adrenaline pumps a little bit more."

Pine Needles will be a different golf course this week. The adrenaline will be the same.

Phillip Howley is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.