“I sincerely believe this to be the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed. It is obviously the function of the championship course to present competitors with a variety of problems that will test every type of shot which a golfer of championship ability should be qualified to play. Thus it should call for long and accurate tee shots, accurate iron shots, precise handling of the short game, and finally, consistent putting.”

Donald J. Ross

That was the vision of arguably the greatest course architect of the 20th century, Donald Ross. Born in Dornoch, Scotland, this influential figure would adopt the United States as his home, and would establish the foundations of the American golf industry. Around 400 courses were on his resume by the time of his death in 1948, leaving behind a legacy that continues to enrich the minds of students of the game.

Influenced by the courses found in his birthplace, and by his time as an apprentice of Old Tom Morris of St. Andrews, Ross’ vision was that golf should be played in its purest form. Natural and undefined. Pinehurst No. 2 was the ultimate representation of that philosophy, with an emphasis on strategy, offering the player freedom to play the course in his own way, but with the promise of difficulty ahead.

Such a layout led Jack Nicklaus, the game’s greatest champion, to state that "I've always thought Pinehurst No. 2 to be my favourite course from a design standpoint."

However, this iconic track would somewhat lose its way as the decades passed. Through the passage of time, Ross’ successors, and the USGA ahead of the staging of America’s national championship in 1999, would see No. 2 become more defined and tamed, which in essence dictated to the player how the course should be navigated.

But it did set the stage for one of the most iconic major championships of the last 20 years, with the experienced Payne Stewart fending off a youthful Phil Mickelson to claim a dramatic and emotive victory, 15 years ago. The poignancy of this particular championship was heightened, following Stewart’s tragic death just four months after his greatest triumph.

More drama would be experienced six years later, as Michael Campbell, who progressed into the event via sectional qualifying, saw off the challenge of Tiger Woods to secure a victory for New Zealand in the United States Open.

Hosting the championship on three occasions in little over a decade, Pinehurst No. 2’s standing is obvious. It is one of the world’s great inland courses, situated in a resort that can stake a claim as being America’s version of St. Andrews, but nine years on from Campbell’s triumph, it will be a very different course to the one that we remember from 2005.

Four years ago, action would be put into place to reverse the modernisation of definition. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, arguably the most important design partnership around at the moment, set out to restore No. 2 to something resembling Ross’ vision. Using photographs from the 1930s as an aid, they took the course back to those original principles, widening the fairways, and removing all rough from the course.

The bunkers were remodelled to reflect upon the rugged image that was originally imagined, while untamed natural areas of sand and unruly tufts of grass will serve as a potentially devilish hazard for those particularly wayward.

Although the course is far more immaculately conditioned than Ross would have known it, No. 2 would at least be familiar now in terms of the varied challenges that it will present the players at this 114th United States Open Championship.

At 7,565 yards in length, driver will regularly be in the hands of competitors who will be attempting to find particular parts of the inviting fairways. Rather than the straight hitting that is often so one-dimensionally demanded at a typical U.S. Open, Pinehurst is a course that requires accurate hitting, placing the ball in the correct part of the fairway allowing for the best angled approach into its iconic greens.

Those putting surfaces are extremely undulating with the target areas being small. The ‘turtleback’ structure of the greens – a trademark of Ross – have terrorised golfers for decades, with the huge runoffs setting a testing short-game examination.  

This U.S. Open will be a throwback to a golden age, when the game was more varied, interesting and natural. Rather than the punishing thick rough and restrictive nature of a stereotypical edition of America’s national championship, Pinehurst will offer the players a greater degree of freedom, while also testing every facet of their game.

The winner this week will be the player who has best responded to the vision laid out by Donald Ross. It is an unconventional setup for a U.S. Open, but one that is refreshing, and has the potential to lay the foundations for a highly memorable championship.

It will reward strategy, accuracy and creativity, a deft touch around the greens, and a steely stroke on them. It will be the ultimate test that, in the words of Ben Crenshaw, “is an appreciation of a true artist."

This United States Open will serve as an appreciation of an historic philosophy on how the game of golf should be played, and the victor will be the player who most appreciates that challenge.