Coore and Crenshaw have signed an agreement with Pinehurst to renovate its legendary Number Two course. Work will be carried out gradually in 2010 without any closure to the course or to individual holes until mid-November.

The aim of the project is to restore the course's natural characteristics and to bring back strategic play originally crafted by Donald Ross. The changes include returning sandy waste areas, native wiregrass and natural bunker edges; widening the fairways to play as they did from 1935-1960; and reducing the amount of manicured rough.

The project began last week, when the design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw conducted its first planning meeting with Pinehurst executives and golf course management leadership.

"We feel confident that Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are the right people to bring back key Ross features to the course," said Pinehurst CEO and owner Bob Dedman Junior. "Their body of work speaks for itself. They share a level of respect for the history and tradition of the game, and for Pinehurst. We're undertaking this project to perpetuate Ross' vision, knowing his design elements were meant to stand the test of time."

Course work is not expected to impact play on number two until the course closes for the winter off-season, from 15 November until 2 March 2011. The signature greens will not be touched, nor will significant length be added to the course. With the exception of the seventh hole, tees will remain the same as well.

"It is not our intent to radically change this golf course," Coore said. "We're trying to uncover it, not recover it. We're trying to take what Ross left and perhaps bring it back to the character and definition of what was once here. In short, we'll bring the strategy back, and reinstate its character."