Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, the golf course design partners who have been entrusted with restoring Pinehurst Resort’s famed No. 2 Course to its original state as intended by architect Donald Ross, insist that their work is not going to make the layout any easier for golfers.

With Pinehurst scheduled to host both the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Opens in 2014, the venerable course is closing Nov. 16 for extensive restoration with the opening scheduled for early March.

Although the removal of the Bermuda grass rough that grew to as much as three inches during past U.S. Opens in 1999 and 2005 is going to result in wider fairways that will be lined with sand, wire grass and pine straw, Coore promises that golfers will still find it challenging.

“We were very aware from the beginning that there were two U.S. Opens coming in 2014,” Coore said during a media gathering at Pinehurst on Wednesday. “So we’ve had that discussion with the USGA and every indication is that they’re very comfortable with what we’re doing.

“The premise is that the farther a golfer hits it, the more chance there is of the ball running into the wire grass and pine straw. They’ll be able to see the ball in that area, but they won’t know what kind of lie they’re going to have.”

Contact Howard Ward at howardward@att.net.