Platter moment at Pinehurst

The USGA presented John Jeffreys, superintendent of Course No. 2 at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, with the E.J. Marshall Platter at the conclusion of the 2024 U.S. Open Championship. 

In 2022, the USGA introduced the E.J. Marshall Platter, which recognizes golf course superintendents who showcase dedication, expertise and seamless teamwork with the USGA. The honor celebrates their efforts in creating a well-maintained course that surpasses expectations, fit to host a national championship and the world's finest golfers. The entire course maintenance crew and volunteers were also acknowledged during the award ceremony at the 18th green.

Jeffreys, a 12-year GCSAA member and native of Wendell, North Carolina, is in his 24th year at Pinehurst – having previously worked at Course No. 7 and Course No. 6 before starting to lead the Course No. 2 team after the USGA championships in 2014. Jeffreys and his crew of 20 on Course No. 2 worked together with USGA senior director of championship agronomy Darin Bevard over the last year to ready the 7,543-yard, par-70 course for the championship. 

The renowned course, designed by architect Donald Ross in 1907, features Champion Bermudagrass greens and Tifway 419 Bermudagrass around the collars, approaches, fairways and teeing areas. The tournament was the first U.S. Open played on modern ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens. Pinehurst No. 2 switched its green surfaces from bentgrass to Bermudagrass immediately following the back-to-back 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open championships.

Included among the group of golf course maintenance members who helped prepare Course No. 2 for the 2024 U.S. Open were members from the current cohort of the USGA’s Greenkeeper Apprenticeship Program as well as apprentices from last year’s inaugural class. 

Jeffreys is also supported by Bob Farren, Pinehurst director of grounds and golf course management and this year’s USGA Green Section Award recipient, as well as Kevin Robinson, Pinehurst manager of golf course maintenance operations. 

E.J. Marshall, the platter’s namesake, was the chair of the green committee at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, in 1920. After he approached the USGA and the Department of Agriculture for help at the course, the USGA formed the Green Section to provide course care expertise to golf facilities.