For the first time in nearly two decades, Pinehurst’s fabled Putter Boy made a significant and historic move recently. (If you haven’t seen video of his trip, you can see that here.)
This wasn’t a move, though, that came on a whim. The Tufts Archives tell us that there is documentation from the iconic Donald Ross listing in his notes where he wanted the Putter Boy statue to stand on the Pinehurst grounds. While the Golfing Lad has moved around quite a bit in his 100 years, he was finally placed once again very near where Ross originally intended. And now that he’s placed, we can see from vintage photos that he is not far from where he stood as far back as the 1920s.
Putter Boy at Pinehurst, mid 1920s — Source: Tuft’s Archives.
Putter Boy — mid-to-late 1920s. Source: Tufts Archives
Putter Boy – late 1950s. Source: Tufts Archives
As we said earlier, the recent Putter Boy move has been planned for a while. If you were walking around Pinehurst over the last two weeks, you saw the stages of preparation. It began with the splitting of the main putting green into East and West putting greens, which will enable the maintenance staff to close one green while keeping the other open, etc. The bisected green also lends itself to Pinehurst history, dating as far back as when the greens were sand.
As the move came closer, Putter Boy had to prepare to move, and the shrubs around his statue were removed and the bricks were disassembled.
The Spot – As his familiar surroundings were being removed, Putter Boy’s new home was being constructed.
Putter Boy kept a watchful eye on the work for his new home.
John Zoppi, left, of Custom Masonry & Design in Pinehurst, handled the mason work for Putter Boy’s new home.
John Zoppi’s work is beautiful.
The care the crew took in moving the Putter Boy was obvious. They knew they were handling something special.
Home.
Again.
