US Open 2024: The curious history of the Pinehurst ‘Putter Boy’

The history of Pinehurst's 'Putter Boy'

Who is the US Open poster boy in the floppy hat and baggy pants plastered around Pinehurst who goes by the name… ‘Putter Boy’?

He was there at the US Open in 1999, 2005, and 2014. Now a decade later in 2024, he returns once more as the star of the show at Pinehurst 2024.

Let me introduce you to Putter Boy, one of golf’s most famous inanimate figurines, born to represent what the game is all about. Youthful exuberance and a sense of adventure – Pinehurst personified.

The origins of Putter Boy date back to the early 1900s, and no major at Pinehurst No.2 would feel right without the little scamp in his floppy hat and baggy pants proudly centered in the 2024 US Open logo.

But how did he rise to such notoriety?

You can’t take more than a few steps without seeing Putter Boy on a tee shirt, water bottle, hat, bag, or just about any item of US Open merch for that matter.

He even has his own statue. Several in fact this week.

Putter Boy is actually a v2, or offspring of the so-called ‘Golfer Lad’, conceived in the early 1900s as a marketing strategy to pull in punters to Pinehurst and see the Donald Ross masterpiece in the flesh.

Like Putter Boy, his slightly older peer also donned the floppy hat, baggy pants, and boots, appearing in posters and calendars to promote the new resort in the middle of North Carolina sandhills.

In 1923, a Boston sculptor named Lucy Richards was commissioned to make a bronze statue of the Golf Lad which remains today in pride and place between the two putting greens in front of the Pinehurst clubhouse.

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Interestingly, the statue first became known as ‘Sundial Boy’ due to the disproportionately long shaft of the club designed to accurately tell the time from the shadows cast.

A five-decade period of silence, ominously dubbed ‘The Gap’, saw Pinehurst temporarily retire Sundial Boy in a change of advertising strategy until the 1970s when new management, Diamondhead, resurrected and rebranded the happy chappy as Putter Boy. The best thing the company did in their Pinehurst tenure…in the eyes of many.

But hang on a minute. Is Putter Boy even holding a flatstick? It looks suspiciously like a driver to me. It turns out that Putter Boy is only named as such because he was near the putting green. The plot thickens!

The Dedman’s new ownership of Pinehurst in the early 1980s took Putter Boy under their wings, embracing the iconic figure with more enthusiasm than ever before. In 2002, Pinehurst’s parent company was even registered under the name ‘Putter Boy Ltd.’ He really was here to stay.

And in 1999 when Pinehurst landed its first US Open, guess who took center stage?

Putter Boy – unveiled to the world, proudly reinventing himself every US Open at Pinehurst since. In 2014’s logo, Putter Boy can even be seen holding the trophy in the same iconic pose as Payne Stewart.

And in case you want to hear how to officially differentiate between Putter Boy and Golf Lad, here’s what Pinehurst had to say.

“The difference is simple. Golf Lad is a character and has a personality witnessed through his various poses and moments. He moves. He is active. He is able to participate in and around the US Open. Putter Boy is a statue and is always in the same pose. And we love both.”

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About the author

Ross Tugwood

Senior Digital Writer

Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

He is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.