Ladies' clubs: Pine Needles gets into the swing for this summer's U.S. Women's Open.

There's an old expression that most people would have invoked: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Well, Peggy Kirk Bell is nothing if not a lady, so the matriarch of Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club certainly didn't utter those words aloud when her family pitched a restoration of the venerable golf course. And she's glad she didn't.

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It was 2002, less than a year after the famed Donald Ross design in Southern Pines had hosted its second U.S. Women's Open in five years. The United States Golf Association had committed to holding its signature championship for a third time in Pine Needles in 2007. "The first question I asked was, 'Did we really need to do something to Pine Needles?'" says Bell, who purchased the course in 1953 with her husband, the late Warren "Bullet" Bell. "The golf course had held up to the best players in the world, so that was the first thing that came to my mind. I just wasn't sure that it'd be worth what we'd spend."

She's sure now. Come June 28-July 1, golf fans worldwide will learn what North Carolinians have known for a few years now--that the new Pine Needles is truly something to behold. "They convinced me," Bell says. "And they were right." She's talking about the Bell extended family members who own and operate Pine Needles and its sister property across the street, Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club. Her son-in-law Kelly Miller is the general manager, and his wife, Peggy Ann Bell Miller, oversees the resort's youth camps. There's a second son-in-law, Pat McGowan, a onetime player on the PGA Tour and now director of golf instruction, and his wife, Bonnie Bell McGowan, also a golf instructor. And there's son Kirk Bell, whose wife, Holly, is vice president of public relations and special projects.

The restoration, Kelly Miller says, exceeded expectations. "It's fantastic. The best women golfers in the world are in for a great treat. And in terms of everyday play, we felt the restoration was necessary to help the course fit today's contemporary game and to keep Pine Needles one of the top courses in the country."

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This update should keep Pine Needles in the de facto rotation of fewer than 10 courses that host the U.S. Women's Open. "Our first two Opens were held in late May, when we were still holding on to ryegrass to have the course in championship condition," Miller says. "The USGA now holds the Women's Open two weeks after the men's, which puts it in late June. Once that was determined, we knew we needed to at least redo the greens because of the excessive heat we could receive. Now, agronomically, we'll be fine."

John Fought, a course designer from Scottsdale, Ariz., oversaw the course's restoration to something more closely resembling what Ross had designed. Having known Miller, McGowan and the Bell family for decades, dating to his days as an amateur player, made him a natural partner. Fought came to Pine Needles with clubs in tow. "It was a working round of golf in the truest sense of the word. Kelly, Pat and I went out there and hit balls from many of the places that we felt golfers in the 1930s and 1940s were forced to hit shots from. We talked about what Ross intended for certain holes in certain places."

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The restoration began in May 2004. The course closed for seven months. Guidance came from an unlikely source--the Moore County Soil and Water Conservation District office in nearby Carthage. Aerial photographs taken in 1939 to determine property lines proved invaluable. "In those aerial photos, you could make out all of the original outlines and the contours of the tees, greens and bunkers," Fought says. "The photos provided further evidence of something I already knew--that Ross was brilliant at subtle details."

The restored Pine Needles plays at 7,015 yards from the championship tees and, as before, to a par of 71. That's an increase of nearly 300 yards, necessary to restore the shot values into the greens that Ross favored. Par for the previous Women's Opens has been 70, but at an expected 6,705 yards a par of 71 is likely this year. Though the change in course length catches the eye, it actually had a smaller impact than some of Fought's other adjustments. Less-visible changes included reshaping bunkers, enlarging greens, removing trees that crowded tees and greens, restoring fairway contours and re-establishing natural design features throughout the layout. He says he matched everything against Ross' design philosophy and the aerial photos.

The green on the par-5 10th hole was pushed back, lengthening it by about 60 yards. "We just knew that we didn't want to have a 460-yard par-5, and we didn't want to alter the angle. It worked out perfectly." Par was reversed on the 14th and 15th holes, again in accordance with the way Ross originally designed it. The former is now a par-4 that doglegs right; the latter a par-5 where several bunkers removed decades ago have been restored in the landing areas for the player's first and second shots. "Ross thought the most dramatic shot was the well-played long iron into a challenging par-4," Miller says. "At this course, he wanted you to hit your tee shot into the crest of the hills, and that's going to happen more often now. The meat of this golf course is in the par-4s."

If you've played Pine Needles only a few times, chances are you won't notice the changes to the home hole, a par-4. "There just wasn't much room to make the 18th play any longer," Fought says, "but the big challenge on that hole has always been the green, so that's where we concentrated our efforts. We removed the two right greenside bunkers and rebuilt the old right fore-bunker just the way Ross had it."

The likes of Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb might argue that Pine Needles was plenty tough already. When Sorenstam won in 1996, only she and runner-up Kris Tschetter broke par. Five years later, only Webb broke par. "The best players in the world at the time won here," Miller says. Both will likely contend for the title this year. They will be joined by the top players in women's golf. Also scheduled to play is teen sensation Michelle Wie.

"Interest in the women's game has never been greater," Miller says. The Bell family and Pinehurst Championship Management, which will oversee the Open, are setting their goals high. "We hope to have in excess of 125,000 fans for the week, which would be a U.S. Women's Open record. We certainly think it's possible."