There's never been a better time to be - and work - at Pinehurst

By Alex Podlogar

Seventeen days before U.S. Open week began at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, many of the Resort’s employees gathered together for a town hall meeting. The anticipation in the air was tangible, and as Resort President Tom Pashley strode to the stage for opening remarks, a word flashed onto the two large screens bracketing each side of the Carolina Ballroom.

Pride.

“When I look over this room at all of your faces, that’s what I feel most,” Pashley said. “I feel so proud.”

When the U.S. Open returned June 13-16, 2024, it was the fourth time it has been played on Pinehurst No. 2, and the first time since the historic men’s and women’s Opens were played on consecutive weeks here in 2014.

In the decade between U.S. Opens, though, two notions are abundantly clear. One, there has never been a better time to visit Pinehurst. And two, there may also have never been a better time to work there.

“My wife, she realized it my first week here,” says Tyler Yancey, the head golf professional at Pinehurst No. 10. “I came home and she said, ‘Wow, you are so happy.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I am.’ I never realized how excited I was going to be to put that gold nametag on. I see the Putter Boy on the left chest on my shirt, and the nametag on the right, and I tell myself, ‘Hey, it’s here. I made it.’”

“Normally, you go to work, and you say, ‘Man, I hope it’s as good as I hoped it would be.’ I tell you, I have never been happier in my life,” says Bill O’Malley, who has been a shuttle driver at the Resort for seven years. “It’s everyone here. The people, the guests, but also from (owner and CEO Bob) Dedman, through management, all the way through to everyone here. This is a family atmosphere.”

Perhaps that’s why, in a vote by Moore County residents that topped more than 23,000 votes, Pinehurst was named as The Pilot newspaper’s “Best Workplace” in its 2024 Best of the Pines survey.

The last 10 years have been an era of restoration at Pinehurst. But at the same time, it’s been an era of evolution. That has been evident in so many improvements around the Resort in the last decade.

In that brief snapshot of time – especially for a place that has earned its standing in the North Carolina Sandhills for nearly 130 years – it has been a momentous period for looking ahead at Pinehurst. While the community will always enjoy the spotlight that hosting a major championship brings, Pinehurst’s commitment to the game, to its guests, members and employees, is what makes Pinehurst truly special every day.

“We’re all a team. Everyone who works here – it all matters, from the golf shop to housekeeping to our restaurants, everything – it’s all connected and we’re all working together. I really enjoy that,” says Porcha Overbey, a front desk supervisor. “If one person is lacking, another one of us will pick it up. There’s just something about the magic of Pinehurst. You’ve seen that magic. That’s our team. That’s #teampinehurst.”

As summer and another busy fall approach, Pinehurst Resort continues to search for new members to join that team. Employment opportunities are readily available within multiple departments across the Resort and can be found on the careers page on Pinehurst.com.

“The teamwork is really special to me,” says Andrea Salzman, the assistant superintendent on Pinehurst No. 2. “You can really feel how others doing this genuinely care for each other.”

A decade ago, following the 2014 U.S. Opens, Pinehurst was awarded Golf Digest’s Green Star Award as an environmental leader in golf, spurred by the restoration of No. 2 and the return of is vast native areas.

Since then, Pinehurst has extended that stewardship elsewhere around the Resort, building the fun short course, The Cradle, and redesigning Pinehurst No. 4 and restoring No. 8. It salvaged the ruins of Pinehurst’s crumbling old steam plant building to bring new energy to the Village of Pinehurst in the form of a popular craft brewery and restaurant.

This evolution continues today. In the Spring, Pinehurst completed the final phase of a three-part renovation of its signature hotel, The Carolina, revitalizing all of its rooms and the lobby, working carefully to enhance the charm of yesteryear with all of the comforts guests expect today. As the calendar turned to 2024, Carolina Vista Lounge, a stylish new restaurant unlike any other in Pinehurst, opened in the renovated space that was the Ryder Cup Lounge.

Pinehurst has fully welcomed the USGA to its second home as its second headquarters, its research and development center and the return of the World Golf Hall of Fame are now a signature part of the Resort’s thriving main campus.

And finally, for the first time in nearly 30 years, the Resort has embarked on what it has always done best – provide great golf. In April, Tom Doak’s breathtaking and masterful Pinehurst No. 10 opened to rave reviews all across the golf landscape.

And that was all before Bryson DeChambeau and the game’s best players reminded the world how special and unique Pinehurst is during the 124^th U.S. Open.

As the first Anchor Site of the U.S. Open, major championship golf will return to Pinehurst on an even more regular basis than it has in the past. But that one week every five or six years is not the purpose Pinehurst’s employees try to reflect to guests and members.

Their hope, as the Cradle of American Golf, is to honor timeless traditions and inspire legendary stories – one smile, one round, one moment at a time. For them, it is a U.S. Open every day.

“The people we’ve met over the last 20, 15 years, you build a family here,” Carolina Vista Lounge Lead Server Carolyn Haas says. “You don’t mind coming to work because you love your job. You’re seeing your friends.”

“It’s always fun to see familiar faces, whether that’s of guests who have come back and remember you, or the people you work with,” says CC Horton, the lead bartender at the Carolina Vista Lounge.

To view current job opportunities with Pinehurst Resort, please visit Pinehurst.com/careers.