HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (June 10, 2014) – Linda Hartough, world-renowned golf-landscape artist (www.hartough.com), will be present at the 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open championships at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. The 114th U.S. Open will be played June 12-15, followed by the 69th U.S. Women’s Open June 19-22. This will mark the first time in history that both championships will be played on the same course in consecutive weeks.
On display and for sale will be prints of Hartough’s recently-introduced painting, 9th Hole, Pinehurst No. 2, in commemoration of this year’s U.S. Open championships. This is Hartough’s 25th and last painting in her U.S. Open series, commissioned by the United States Golf Association.
“It truly will be a pleasure to be at this year’s U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open,” Hartough said. “I enjoyed painting the ninth hole, a gorgeous hole that truly captures the spirit and beauty of the entire renovation of Pinehurst No. 2.”
Hartough will be in attendance all week at the U.S. Open, Monday through Sunday, as well as Tuesday through Sunday during the U.S. Women’s Open. She will be in the Merchandise Pavilion near the main admission gate to show, sell and personalize limited-edition fine art paper prints of her new painting in an embossed 25th anniversary edition. The limited-edition canvas giclée edition of the painting also will be available, with a commemorative plaque included. In addition, Hartough will be selling her newest book, GREEN GLORY: A Visual Tribute to the Courses of the Majors – Golf’s Renowned Venues. Hartough will be present to personalize the books as well as the prints.
About the Painting: 9th Hole, Pinehurst No. 2
Hartough visited Pinehurst in April of last year to see the renovated course for the first time. She had been there many other times to do five paintings over the years, as well as drawings for the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Open Championships. The renovation restored the course’s natural look, “…and everywhere the holes came alive,” Hartough said. “By that I mean the holes are now visually interesting with the natural contours of the land coming through and more use of natural vegetation.
“The course now looks as though it has always been there, and I am sure it was intended to look that way…When we came to the 9th hole, I fell in love and chose it immediately for my 2014 U.S. Open painting.”
The 9th Hole, Pinehurst No. 2 is offered in a limited edition of 850 prints and an additional 85 artist proofs. Each piece in the 25th anniversary edition is signed and numbered by the artist, and each will be embossed with the 25th anniversary edition logo.
“Linda has captured the transformation of Pinehurst No. 2’s recent restoration beautifully,” said Jay Biggs, Pinehurst’s senior vice president, golf and club operations. “She has brought out the textures and ruggedness of the hole.”
About Linda Hartough??
Hartough painted the first of her U.S. Open series in 1990, when Hale Irwin won at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill. A confirmed artist since childhood, early in her career Hartough painted landscapes, portraits and horses. In 1984, Augusta National Golf Club commissioned her to paint its famous 13th hole, an event which propelled Hartough toward specialization as a golf-landscape painter. Since then, her work has achieved a distinguished status, displayed in the permanent collections of such legendary clubs as Augusta National, Laurel Valley, Pinehurst and Pine Valley, as well as in the personal collections of such golf notables as Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd. Her paintings also hang in the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Ga.
Known for extraordinary attention to detail in her recreation of some of golf’s most beautiful holes, Hartough imbues her paintings with admiration for the scenery’s natural beauty and respect for the game’s history and tradition, elements which seem to emerge from the canvas. Hartough’s paintings and prints grace the collections of golf-art lovers the world over.
Hartough is a Founding Trustee of the Academy of Golf Art, a professional society of golf artists established in 2004 to create an awareness and appreciation of golf art as a valuable segment of fine art.
For more information, visit www.hartough.com.
About the USGA
The USGA conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, as well as 10 national amateur championships, two state team championships and international matches. Together with The R&A, the USGA governs the game worldwide, jointly administering the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, Equipment Standards and World Amateur Golf Rankings. The USGA’s working jurisdiction comprises the United States, its territories and Mexico. The USGA is a global leader in the development and support of sustainable golf course management practices. It serves as a primary steward for the game’s history and funds an ongoing “For the Good of the Game” grants program. Additionally, the USGA’s Course Rating and Handicap systems are used on six continents in more than 50 countries.
For more information, visit www.usga.org.
About Pinehurst Resort & Country Club
Pinehurst No. 2 once again will be the center of the golf universe in June 2014 when it hosts the world’s top male and female amateur and professional golfers to compete for the U.S. Open championship titles.
Overall, Pinehurst No. 2 has hosted nine USGA championships, including the 2005 U.S. Open when Michael Campbell edged Tiger Woods to win by two strokes. The 1999 U.S. Open provided one of the most dramatic finishes in history when the late Payne Stewart sank an 18-foot putt for par on the 72nd hole to top Phil Mickelson by one stroke.
This legendary course opened in 1907 and was designed by Donald Ross, who called it “the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed.” It recently underwent a restoration by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. No 2 is best known for its crowned undulating greens, which are some of the most complex and widely hailed in the world.
Hartough’s exquisite oil-on-canvas rendering of Pinehurst No. 2 captures the essence of the beautifully restored natural areas of sand, pine straw and native grasses of the ninth hole. Though the shortest par 3 on the course, its deceptively wide but shallow green is guarded by bunkers and has a severe slope from back to front and left to right, requiring precision club selection and accurate shotmaking.
For more information, visit www.pinehurst.com.
Contact:
Sally J. Sportsman?
407-248-1144
sjsport@earthlink.net
