Two Man Links at Pinehurst: Fathers, Sons, and the Cradle of American Golf

There is a spot on the main campus at Pinehurst where you can stand and see most of American golf history at once. The 18th green of No. 2 is behind you — the one where Payne Stewart holed the putt in 1999. The first tee of No. 4 is a few paces away. Below the clubhouse, The Cradle's nine little holes tumble across the same ground where the first golf at Pinehurst was laid out in 1898. Maniac Hill, one of the game's first practice ranges, stretches out to the side. And in the middle of all of it sits a building that didn't exist two years ago: the Titleist Shop at Pinehurst.

On Monday morning, 26 two-man teams will start their week right there.

The AmateurGolf.com 2026 Two Man Links and Father & Son at Pinehurst presented by Titleist, November 8–11, is the first time our flagship team event has come to the Cradle of American Golf. Three championship rounds — No. 4, Tom Doak's new No. 10, and a finale on No. 2 — plus an afternoon at The Cradle, a Titleist golf ball experience, and two dozen Pro V1s waiting for every player. Here's everything you need to know about the week, the courses, and the series that brought us here.

A series built on partnerships

The Two Man Links has been running since 1999, and more than 3,250 players have teed it up since. For most of its life it lived at Bandon Dunes, where the format found its soul: two players, one ball that counts on every hole, and four days on the kind of golf courses most people only see on a screen saver. Over the last few years the series has grown into a season — Pebble Beach, Sand Valley, Torrey Pines, Streamsong, Arcadia Bluffs, Cabot — and fields at the marquee stops now fill months in advance.

What hasn't changed is who signs up. College roommates who've played the same Saturday game for 30 years. Brothers. Business partners. Husbands and wives. And, increasingly, fathers and sons.

The format is what makes it work. Best ball rewards a team, not a star. Net scoring uses 80% of course handicap (maximum 18 per player) with a suggested combined team maximum of 36.0, so a 14-handicap dad and a scratch son are a real team, not a mismatch. Everyone plays from the White tees at Pinehurst, and players 65 and older may move up to the Greens.

The Father & Son Championship: the tournament within the tournament

The Father & Son division started in 2019 because it had to. Teams that had been coming to Bandon for a decade or more began showing up with their sons, and eventually there were enough of them to deserve their own trophy. That trophy carries the names of George Stevens Jr. and his son Michael, who first came to the Two Man Links in 2005, won team titles together in 2008 and 2010, and paired for the last time in 2013, two years before Michael passed away. George's description of the tournament — "some of our richest father/son moments" — is still the best one anyone has offered.

It was supposed to be a sentimental subplot. Instead, father-son teams keep winning outright. Mark and Jacob Phillips won the overall championship at Bandon Dunes in 2022 and again in 2023. Brian and Max Pidgeon posted the best score of any team in any division when the series debuted at Pebble Beach in 2025. Aiden and Darren Canada went 69-68-67 at Torrey Pines last December. And at Pebble this past March, Cory and Henry Hurley shot 15 under par — with Henry playing a rental driver after his own broke in transit — and capped it with an eagle on the 18th at Pebble Beach.

Father-son teams at Pinehurst compete for their own gross and net titles while remaining eligible for the overall crown. Somebody's name goes on the trophy for the first time in North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon.

Round 1, Monday: Pinehurst No. 4

No. 4 has been rebuilt more times than any course at the resort. Donald Ross laid out the original in 1919; Tom Fazio's version from 1999 was a fixture on public-access rankings. Then Pinehurst handed the property to Gil Hanse and his partner Jim Wagner, who stripped it back to sand and started over. Hanse spent part of the project living in Dornoch Cottage, Ross's old home off the third hole of No. 2, and called it one of the most meaningful experiences of his career.

The new No. 4 opened in September 2018, and within a year it was hosting stroke play at the 2019 U.S. Amateur and the morning 18 of the championship match. Hanse has said he thinks the land is the most interesting on the property: more elevation change than No. 2, a lake as its centerpiece, and big sandy wastes and wiregrass that make it feel like a companion to No. 2 rather than a copy. The par-5 9th, with a massive cross-bunker running across the fairway, is the hole people photograph.

Tee times run 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., followed by a complimentary luncheon and the Titleist golf ball experience before the afternoon at The Cradle.

The bonus round, Monday afternoon: The Cradle

If you've seen one photo of a short course in the last decade, there's a decent chance it was The Cradle. Hanse built it in 2017 on about 10 acres directly in front of the clubhouse — the same patch of sand where Dr. Leroy Culver laid out Pinehurst's first nine holes in 1898. Nine holes, 789 yards, nothing longer than 127 yards and two holes under 60. Deep bunkers and wild greens make up for the lack of length, and the vibe is unapologetically relaxed: music on the speakers, and nobody will look twice if you take your shoes off.

Donald Ross said golf should be a pleasure, not a penance, and the line is printed on The Cradle's scorecard. Tee times run from 2 to 4 p.m. It doesn't count toward the championship. It might be the part of the week people talk about most.

The Titleist experience: the No. 1 ball in golf, at the home of American golf

This week is presented by Titleist, and the partnership fits. Pinehurst and Titleist have worked together for decades, and in September 2025 they opened the Titleist Shop at Pinehurst — the brand's first dedicated retail destination in the United States. Locals call it the Titleist Shop at Padgett Center, because it occupies the former Don Padgett Learning Center, a short walk from No. 2's 18th green, No. 4's first tee, Thistle Dhu putting course, The Cradle and Maniac Hill.

It is not a pro shop with a Titleist sign on it. It's built around fitting. There's an indoor TrackMan-powered bay for club fittings in any weather, Titleist's Golf Ball Fitting App and Vokey Wedge Fitting App, and outdoor fittings with Pinehurst's practice facilities right outside the door. The ball wall carries Pro V1, Pro V1x and Pro V1x Left Dash in every play number from 00 to 99. There's on-site club repair for grips and loft-and-lie checks. And there's gear you can only get here — Pinehurst-branded Titleist hats, bags, valuables pouches and yardage-book covers, plus a Pinehurst-inspired Scotty Cameron headcover that comes with the purchase of a Scotty putter.

The centerpiece, though, is the ball customizer. Titleist calls it its most advanced on-demand golf ball customizer: pick your ball, add a logo or personalized text, and it's printed on site in real time. The logo library includes 11 Pinehurst designs with co-branded Titleist and Pinehurst packaging, and there's a Putter Boy-inspired alignment marking on select models. For a father and son playing No. 2 together on Wednesday, that's a sleeve of golf balls nobody is going to lose on purpose.

For our players, Titleist is going all-in:

• Two dozen Titleist Pro V1s for every player in the field

• An exclusive Titleist golf ball experience between rounds on Monday

• The Titleist Shop experience at Padgett Center, steps from the first tee of the opening round

The math on the ball is simple. Titleist has been the No. 1 ball in golf for more than seven decades, and Pinehurst's turtleback greens punish anything that doesn't stop where you want it. If there's a week to play the ball the best players in the world play, this is it.

Round 2, Tuesday: Pinehurst No. 10

The newest course on the rotation is also the wildest. No. 10 opened on April 3, 2024 — Pinehurst's first original 18 since No. 8 in 1996 — on a tract a few miles south of the main clubhouse that Tom Doak described as unlike anywhere else in Pinehurst. It starts gently, then routes into the old sand-mining works, where early-20th-century excavation left behind rugged dunes and more than 75 feet of elevation change. Then it climbs onto a ridge for a big, sweeping finish.

Doak, who built Pacific Dunes at Bandon, brought the same instincts here: native wiregrass, exposed sand, longleaf pines, occasional blind shots, and greens that reward imagination over force. Sports Illustrated named it the best new course of 2024. It plays to par 70, and it is walking only — which suits a two-man team just fine. Tee times run 8:48 to 11:12 a.m.

Final round, Wednesday: Pinehurst No. 2

Then comes the one everyone came for. Donald Ross opened No. 2 in 1907 and tinkered with it for the rest of his life. Robert Trent Jones redesigned it in 1974; Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw restored Ross's sandy, wiregrass-lined original in 2010. It has hosted more single championships than any course in America, and it's the only one to host all five of the USGA's most prestigious events.

What makes No. 2 hard isn't the length from the White tees. It's the greens. Ross's turtlebacks shed anything slightly mis-hit into tightly mown run-offs, and the recovery from there is a choice between putter, hybrid, wedge and prayer. For a best-ball team that's actually good news: one player can take on the flag while the other plays to the fat part of the green. The team that makes the fewest big numbers on No. 2 is probably the team that wins.

Tee times run 8 to 10 a.m. Wednesday, with checkout before play and the awards ceremony immediately after.

The week at a glance

• Sunday, Nov. 8: Arrival and resort check-in (from 4 p.m.); optional golf at the player's expense

• Monday, Nov. 9: Round 1 at No. 4 (7:30–9:30 a.m. tee times) · complimentary luncheon · Titleist golf ball experience · bonus round at The Cradle (2–4 p.m.)

• Tuesday, Nov. 10: Round 2 at No. 10, walking only (8:48–11:12 a.m.)

• Wednesday, Nov. 11: Final round at No. 2 (8–10 a.m.) · awards ceremony immediately following play

The package includes three nights at a Pinehurst Resort hotel, a daily breakfast buffet, all three championship rounds and The Cradle, welcome gifts for every player, and $8,000 in tee gifts and prizes. Follow along on the Pinehurst event page; results will post at the end of the week.

Missed Pinehurst? Here's where the Two Man Links goes next

Pinehurst registration closed at the end of August, and the remaining stops are moving fast — Bandon Dunes is already down to a waitlist.

See the full schedule, results from every past edition and the series FAQ at amateurgolf.com/two-man-links. Questions? Reach the tournament team at membership@amateurgolf.com.

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