U.S. Open Art Is Different, Too

Many things are different about this year's U.S. Open Championship(s). Pinehurst No. 2 has been altered so completely it might as well be a new golf course.  The USGA has scheduled the Women's Open for the week immediately following the Men's--on the same course. And, while this year marks the seventh consecutive time that artist Lee Wybranski has painted the official commemorative poster for the U.S. Open Championship, but it’s different from any other he has produced.

Wybranski had to create a poster that honors the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open, since the USGA is staging both national championships over consecutive weeks on the same golf course—Pinehurst’s famed Course No. 2, which was designed by legendary architect Donald Ross and has hosted numerous important events since opening in 1907.

“This one was a little bit different, that’s for sure,” says Wybranski, who has painted the official poster for the U.S. Open since 2008 and is also working on posters for this year’s British Open Championship at Royal Liverpool and PGA Championship at Valhalla.

“I had to approach it differently. The idea was to focus on the historic nature of holding the two championships back to back. The USGA has never done that before, and whether or not they ever do it again, this will have been the first. I’m excited to be involved.”

There’s something else very different about this poster from the others Wybranski has created for the USGA: The golf course is not featured. “There’s been a lot of interest in the restoration of the golf course, but to appeal to the largest number of fans, we went with other elements that speak more to the iconic nature of Pinehurst,” says Wybranski. “Those would be the famous ‘Putter Boy’ sundial and the clubhouse. They set the scene for where we are, placed behind those two magnificent championship trophies. Tying it all together is the American flag, which frames the scene perfectly.

“I’m very pleased with how this poster turned out,” says Wybranski.

Wybranski will be in Pinehurst for nearly three weeks, starting the week before the U.S. Open and through both championships, signing copies of the poster for sale in the USGA’s merchandise pavilion. The poster is also for sale on USGAshop.com.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf