‘Golf Lad’ continues to represent the Pinehurst brand

Pinehurst’s “Golf Lad” keeps popping up from time to time as a nostalgic flash-back to early advertising messages. He still looks the same as he did in 1905, wearing a white floppy hat, a billowing red shirt, baggy trousers with unhooked, flapping suspenders and boots.

 

He moves around the golf course from tee to sand trap to green. On the other hand, Pinehurst’s complementary “Putter Boy” is stationary, a bronze statue created in 1912.

 

Putter Boy was modeled after Golf Lad by sculptor Lucy Currier Richards. Standing just 18 inches tall, he had become the primary emblem of Pinehurst Resort, which opened in 1895 in North Carolina’s Moore County.

The Putter Boy was joined on the golf course in the 1990s by two other life-size statues of Pinehurst luminaries. 

A bronze statue of Donald J. Ross (shown on the left), the legendary golf course architect, was created by sculptor Gretta Lange Bader of Alexandria, Va., and dedicated in 1991.

 

Additionally, a bronze statue of James Walker Tufts, the first owner of Pinehurst, was created by sculptor Zenos Frudakis of Glenside, Pa. (near Philadelphia) and dedicated in 1996.

A fourth statue on the grounds at Pinehurst was dedicated in 2001, a tribute to professional golfer Payne Stewart, who won the first U.S. Open Championship played at the legendary Pinehurst No. 2 championship course in 1999. 

He died in a tragic charter airplane crash later that year, along with three other passengers and two pilots.

 

Titled “One Moment in Time,” the statue was also created by Frudakis. 

It depicts Stewart’s classic fist-pump after sinking the winning putt on the 18th hole to defeat Phil Mickelson by a single stroke at the 1999 U.S. Open. It remains one of the most dramatic final rounds in tournament history.

 

It’s only fitting, commented Jessica Marksbury, senior editor at GOLF, that Frudakis’ masterpiece“ has since become arguably the most famous statue in golf.” 

“Perhaps you’ve replicated Stewart’s celebratory fist-pump seen ’round the world: left leg planted, right leg raised and splayed, a forward lean, right arm extended in ecstasy.”

Plus, of course, there’s the famous Payne Stewart “look” in golfing attire: A navy-colored flat cap (traditional Scottish golf headwear), a red-and-navy striped golf shirt, traditional navy plus-fours (baggy knickers gathered just below the knee), long white stockings and white golf shoes. That day he also donned a navy rain jacket that he altered by cutting off the sleeves into a vest because the original sleeves felt too tight during his swing.

Stewart was 42 when the fatal accident occurred. He was born and raised in Springfield, Mo., and played collegiate golf at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas. A member of Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity, he graduated in 1979. Stewart earned his PGA Tour card in 1981 and won his first title on the tour at the 1982 Quad Cities Open at Coal Valley, Ill.

 

Stewart went on to win 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships – the 1989 PGA Championship and the 1991 U.S. Open prior to the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

 

Golf Lad was there as the mascot for the 1999 event, and he also returned for future U.S. Opens at Pinehurst, in 2005, 2014 and 2024, appearing prominently in the tournament logos, thanks largely to Stephen Cryan, former marketing director at Pinehurst. 

Cleverly, the 2014 image shows Golf Lad clutching the championship trophy almost exactly as Payne Stewart did after the 1999 tournament.

Golf Lad has also been the subject of a series of retro posters created by artist Eric Johnson of Nonesuch, Ky., that show him in various poses around the Pinehurst campus.