The USGA has 18 future U.S. Women’s Open locations scheduled.
The U.S. Women’s Open had another smashing success at Lancaster Country Club.
Now, the countdown is on for the USGA’s national championship in 2025.
The 80th USWO will be contested at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin.
In all, the U.S. Golf Association has announced 18 future U.S. Women’s Open locations through 2048, although but there are several years with locations still to be announced.
Check out this list of future stops, which includes the first-ever trip to Riviera in the very near future.
Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner looked to the past to set up Olympic Club for the future.
SAN FRANCISCO – From the first tee to the 18th green, golfers will notice plenty of differences on the recently renovated Lake Course at the Olympic Club, a layout that already had seen plenty of changes since it was first designed in 1924.
As they did at several other major championship courses including 2023 U.S. Open host Los Angeles Country Club, Hanse and Wagner planned for the future by studying the past.
Hanse Design associate Tommy Naccarato said that meant researching old aerial photos from the 1920s and ‘30s as well as Spring Valley Water Company’s plans. That allowed the team to identify fairway bunkers that had been abandoned over the decades, and the historic research also provided clues on fairway widths, approaches and green surrounds.
The Spring Valley Water Company’s historical plans show the routing of the the Lake Course at Olympic Club. (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)
Ultimately the Hanse plan would call for the reintroduction of fairway bunkers on Nos. 4, 9, 14, 16, 17 and 18. Other refinements included the expansion of greens by roughly 33 percent to provide more pinnable space, widening fairways by roughly 25 percent to better fit the land, expanding approaches to greens to offer more ground-game options and converting numerous green surrounds from fairway to rough for consistency course-wide.
The final piece of the plan was the creation of a new seventh hole to better connect Nos. 6 and 8 after the 2009 shifting of the tees on No. 8. The new No. 7 remains an uphill and drivable par 4, but the green was shifted down a hill to the right. The tee shot offers numerous options, the best of which come when players challenge a new fairway bunker about 50 yards from the green, Hanse said via zoom at a September reopening event.
The land for the new No. 7 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco before the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)No. 7 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco during the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)No. 7 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco during the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)
Players can notice the differences from the first tee shot, where the removal of dense shrubs between the first tee and second green has opened a view across the property and down to Lake Merced, all the way to the 18th, where fairway bunkers were added and the green was expanded.
All told, the refinements have provided the Lake Course with a more consistent Golden Age look and feel as well as improved playability for day-to-day play.
The Lake Course offers a rich history that Hanse and Wagner were able to tap into. William Watson and Sam Whiting designed the first version of the Lake in 1924, but storm damage led to a Whiting redesign in 1927.
Starting in 1955 the Lake Course became a familiar home to USGA championships, hosting U.S. Opens in 1955, ‘66, ‘87, ‘98 and 2012. It also hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1958, ‘81, and 2007, as well as the U.S. Women’s Open in 2021.
Throughout its championship history, plenty of work was done to the course while leaving the routing intact. Before the 1955 U.S. Open, architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. toughened the course. In 2009 the uphill par-3 eighth hole was shifted to the north and the greens were converted from poa to bent grass. And in 2016 a bunker renovation was executed under the direction of Bill Love.
No. 1 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco before the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)No. 1 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco after the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)
The course played beautifully during a media event thanks to the work of director of grounds Troy Flanagan and his team that worked closely with Hanse’s team, including shaper Shaymus Maley who was on site every day throughout the project.
“Tapping into his knowledge and enthusiasm allowed us to do a better job and be much more responsive on how the golf course plays,” Hanse said of Flanagan. “I can’t think of better greens I’ve played on for an opening day.”
The praise of the course was music to the ears of Olympic Club president Jim Murphy, who led the club through what is always a nervous time for a membership.
“First there was uncertainty, then there was anticipation and now there is jubilation,” Murphy said of his members’ response to Hanse and Wagner’s work.
Those sentiments were echoed by longtime Golfweek’s Best rater and Olympic Club member Pat Murphy, who said, “I’ve been a member of the Olympic Club for 65 years, and previously served as green chair, on the board and as vice president. I feel this renovation has done a great job of honoring our past and positioning us for the future. The golf course is as beautiful, fun and engaging as it has ever been in all my years.”
No. 18 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco before the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)No. 18 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco during the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)No. 18 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco after the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)
There is no doubt the course refinements will be embraced by the membership, but perhaps the bigger question is how will the course play in championships. The Lake Course is set to host the 2025 U.S. Amateur, 2028 PGA Championship, 2030 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 2033 Ryder Cup.
The amateur events and the Ryder Cup should be able to tee off while maintaining the added fairway width thanks to their match-play formats. It will be interesting to see how chief championships officer Kerry Haigh and the PGA of America prepare the course for the 2028 PGA Championship, for which conventional wisdom would suggest the narrowing of fairways to add challenge. But a potential ball rollback, more hole locations from which to choose and more rough around the greens may see them embrace the added width – we can only hope.
The Ryder Cup was first contested in 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The U.S. was captained by Walter Hagen and the Americans won 9 ½ to 2 ½.
In 2023, two years after getting routed 19-9 at Whistling Straits, the Europeans reclaimed the Ryder Cup, sweeping the first four matches on Thursday and riding a wave to a 16 ½ to 11 ½ victory.
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Future Ryder Cup sites have been announced through 2037.
The Ryder Cup shifted back to odd years starting in 2021.
One result of Yuka Saso winning in a playoff at The Olympic Club? “She just put the Philippines on the radar.”
SAN FRANCISCO – History was not on Lexi Thompson’s side.
No third-round leader has ever gone on to win a U.S. Open trophy at The Olympic Club. The American star began the day with a one-shot cushion and walked off the eighth green with a commanding five-shot lead, seemingly poised for a career-defining moment. She instead went from coronation to collapse, after a back-nine 41 that included a 10-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that came up shockingly short.
In 1959, Billy Casper erased a seven-shot deficit on the final nine holes to tie Arnold Palmer and then beat him in a playoff. Thompson didn’t even make it into the playoff. That stage belonged to Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka, two players who poured in birdies on the closing holes to extend the action for fans who packed the natural amphitheater that surrounds the 18th green.
As Thompson tried to collect herself in the scoring area, Saso and Hataoka commenced a two-hole aggregate playoff on the Lake Course that extended into sudden death. Saso, a woman who looked buried after back-to-back double-bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, came roaring back to life, capping the historic championship with 8-foot birdie putt right in the heart.
She became the first player from the Philippines – male or female – to win a major. Consider that only three years ago Saso waited in line for Thompson’s autograph at the ANA Inspiration. She had played in the AJGA ANA Junior event the week prior.
— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) June 6, 2021
“My dream was to be World No. 1 and win a U.S. Women’s Open,” said Saso. “But I wasn’t thinking that I would really hold this trophy this week.”
Saso likely hasn’t heard of Casper but she certainly knows the name Rory McIlroy. The powerful teen obsessed over McIlory’s swing growing up (and even now) and was pumped to see her hero send out an encouraging note on Instagram before her round.
“Rory mentioned me on Instagram, and saying ‘get that trophy’ and I did,’ ” she said, “so thank you Rory.”
McIlroy later Tweeted that “everyone’s going to be watching Yuka Saso swing videos on YouTube now.”
Everyone’s going to be watching Yuka Saso swing videos on YouTube now. Congratulations! 🏆 https://t.co/oyKoFHgjz1
Remarkably, Saso ties Inbee Park as the youngest to win the U.S. Women’s Open at 19 years, 11 months and 7 days. The two-time Japan LPGA winner accepted LPGA membership after the round, which now comes with a five-year exemption for winning a major.
Yuka Saso hoists the trophy in front of a group of fans after she won the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Saso joins Webb Simpson (2012), Lee Janzen (1998), Scott Simpson (1987), Billy Casper (1966) and Jack Fleck (1955) as U.S. Open champions at Olympic.
Thompson joins Ben Hogan, Tom Watson and Palmer as popular players who came up short here. She took only three questions in the flash area after composing herself.
“Yeah, of course it’s tough,” she said. “I really didn’t feel like I hit any bad golf shots. That’s what this golf course can do to you, and that’s what I’ve said all week.”
Only four players had ever finished under par in five U.S. Opens at Olympic. This week, five players finished in the red as the women etched the next chapter in the storied club’s history.
Hataoka stormed into the playoff after making birdies on three of the last six holes to shoot 68. Saso birdied the back-to-back par 5s, Nos. 16 and 17, to finish knotted with the Japanese star at 4-under 280. Thompson’s 75, which included bogeys on the last two holes, left her one back.
Saso credited her caddie, Lionel Matichuk, for helping to keep her in it mentally after a rough start, saying “there’s many more holes to go.” Then there was the banana she ate after the two-hole playoff that helped settle her stomach before sudden death.
“I don’t know what’s happening in the Philippines right now,” she said, “but I’m just thankful that there’s so many people in the Philippines cheering for me. I don’t know how to thank them. They gave me so much energy. I want to say thank you to everyone.”
Saso turned professional in 2019 after earning her JLPGA card and started working out of Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki’s practice facility. She came into this week No. 40 in the Rolex Rankings.
Yuka Saso looks over her putt on the 18th green during the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Bianca Pagdanganan, a rookie on the LPGA and longtime friend of Saso’s, didn’t qualify for the Women’s Open but came out to watch on Sunday. She was updating friends back home with Instagram videos as her hands shook.
The pair led the Philippines to gold at the Asian Games in 2018. Pagdanganan remembers hearing a roar while she was in the scoring tent when Saso eagled the final hole to take the individual gold medal.
Pagdanganan said Saso, who has a Filipina mother and a Japanese father, looks very serious on the course but that she’s known for her humor – “a lot of dad jokes.” Australia’s Hannah Green was out with a bottle of champagne to celebrate the cheerful Saso.
“She’s just a fun person to be around,” said Green, who played against Saso as an amateur in Asia.
Nearby Daly City has the highest concentration of Filipinos in the United States, and Saso could feel their support as she strode into history. Basketball is the most popular sport back home in the Philippines, Pagdanganan said, and golf remains too expensive for many to pick up.
Even so, she sees Saso’s comeback victory as a great source of inspiration for many young girls.
“She just put the Philippines on the radar,” said Pagdanganan. “It just takes one person.”
SAN FRANCISCO – Only five players have won the U.S. Women’s Open in their first attempt. Patty Berg (1946) was the first to do it and 2021 champion A Lim Kim was the last. In between, there was Kathy Cornelius (1956), Birdie Kim (2005) and In Gee …
SAN FRANCISCO — Only five players have won the U.S. Women’s Open in their first attempt. Patty Berg (1946) was the first to do it and 2021 champion A Lim Kim was the last. In between, there was Kathy Cornelius (1956), Birdie Kim (2005) and In Gee Chun (2015).
When A Lim Kim won last December in frigid Houston, she wore a mask inside the ropes. On Monday in sunny San Francisco, it was lovely to see her smile as she talked about last year’s break-through victory.
“Frankly, let me be honest with you,” Kim said through an interpreter, “I think I was lucky.”
There are 40 players in this week’s field who are playing in their first U.S. Women’s Open. Inbee Park, a two-time USWO winner, made her debut as an amateur in 2004 and missed the cut. The LPGA Hall of Famer was reminded of that first time this week when she played a practice round at The Olympic Club with a young Japanese player.
“She just looked nothing to be scared of on this golf course and just bombing the balls,” said Park. “I kind of envy that, and I don’t think I’ll be able to ever do that again.”
Back then, Park continued, she’d go into shock after a bogey. The world came to an end after a double. Needless to say, much has changed.
LPGA rookie Haley Moore is among the dozens of first-timers this week. Moore first tried to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014 and basically every year since.
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This year Moore advanced through a 36-hole qualifier at Brentwood Country Club, birdieing three of her last five holes to finish at even-par 144.
“Toughest part is I think,” said Moore, “is going to be your patience and your mental game. … It’s not always perfect out here.”
First-time U.S. Women’s Open competitors
Amari Avery, Addie Baggarly, Jensen Castle, Matilda Castren, Claire Choi, Abbey Daniel, Leigha Devine, Nicole Garcia, Ingrid Gutierrez, Haylee Hartford, Jo Hua Hung, Tsubasa Kajitani, Gurleen Kaur, Hikari Kawamitsu, Chihiro Kogure, Chloe Kovelesky, Aline Krauter, Jaclyn LaHa, Alyssa Lamoureux, Karolin Lampert, Da Yeon Lee, Amanda Linnér, Emily Mahar, Isabella McCauley, Kim Metraux, Momoka Miyake, Haley Moore, Minori Nagano, Natsumi Nakanishi, Noemie Pare, Bohyun Park, Maria Parra, Ana Pelaez Trivino, Aneka Seumanutafa, Alexandra Swayne, Elizabeth Szokol, Tsai-Ching Tseng, Karoline Tuttle, Monica Vaughn, Ruoning Yin.
Amari Avery, who is one of 40 first-timers in the U.S. Women’s Open, is at ease talking about how she might help diversify the game.
SAN FRANISCO – Cheyenne Woods had heard the scouting report on Amari Avery from friends on the Symetra Tour. She met her for the first time this spring at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. On Monday, Avery and Woods played nine holes together at The Olympic Club.
“She’s only 17 years old and she’s got it,” said Woods. “She’s killing it.”
Avery first started trying to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open age 11. She’s one of 40 first-timers in the field and one of 30 amateurs at the 76th U.S. Women’s Open. Avery first burst onto the national scene in 2013 when she starred in the 2013 Netflix documentary, “The Short Game.” Even now, she’s often recognized from the film. While she hates to watch herself on TV, she does appreciate what the documentary has meant to her young career.
“Without the short game, I wouldn’t be, I guess, as relevant,” she said. “My golf game kind of speaks for itself.”
Avery, who has yet to play on the LPGA, is competing in her first major championship this week. She has Brian Thompson, a former teaching pro at Olympic, on the bag. Thompson left the golf industry to take a job in software development and is now a member at the club. He too has watched “The Short Game.”
Last month Avery competed in her first Symetra Tour event, the Garden City Charity Classic, after winning the Mack Champ Invitational and earning the Symetra Tour MVP Invite.
At the event, Avery was grouped with fellow Black golfers Shasta Averyhardt and Alexis Belton. The trio talked during the round about how few Black players there are in all levels of the game.
Even at 17, Avery wants to be part of the movement that works to change that.
“My little sister had a tournament in Arizona,” she said. “Like I said, me and her are usually the only African-Americans out there. I was shocked to see that there were four (Black) girls in the field.
“It’s definitely tough that there’s not a lot of us out here, but from what I’ve seen, there’s a lot of girls and guys coming out. It is growing, slowly but surely.”
Avery, the 2019 California Women’s Amateur champ, has committed to USC but signed up for LPGA Q-School this year. She’ll likely turn professional if she earns her card. Either way, she plans to get started on her senior year of high school this summer and launch her next chapter (college or the LPGA) in January of 2022.
As for this week, Avery said the main goal is to stay out of the rough, though she’d also like to be low amateur. She has a practice round scheduled with top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang on Tuesday and Lydia Ko on Wednesday. She’s friends with Sophia Popov and Carlota Ciganda from her time on the Cactus Tour, where she won an event last spring.
On Sunday in San Francisco, a local LPGA-USGA Girls Golf chapter requested Avery for a Cisco virtual Q&A. She signed flags that will be shipped over to the juniors.
As seen during a virtual junior clinic featuring Amari Avery via a Cisco board during the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open Cisco virtual junior Clinic at Lake Chabot Golf Course in the Oakland, Calif. on Sunday, May 30, 2021. (Copyright USGA/Jeff Marsh)
Avery seems comfortable in the spotlight and is at ease talking about how she might change the game. Tiger Woods remains her hero.
“Just to see that he has taken the game so far, not only for African-Americans, but for everyone else as well, “said Avery. “That, I really look up to. That’s kind of what I want to do with my career as well.
“Obviously I want to bring more African-Americans into to the game of golf, but I also want to bring little girls in general, just bring more people.”
New mom Michelle Wie West continues to compete, like at the U.S. Women’s Open, but now she’s moving the needle in different ways.
SAN FRANCISCO – The first time Michelle Wie West left her daughter to go to work she cried. That’s not unusual, of course. In Wie West’s case, she was headed to the first tee for Round 1 of the Kia Classic, her first official round on the LPGA in 643 days. Wie West was staying on property at the Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, California, and when Bo Wie came out on the balcony with granddaughter McKenna to give a wave, Wie West broke down crying again.
“I was like what is happening to me?” recalled Wie West. “Hormones?”
She promptly hit her next shot into the water.
Jane Park first met Wie West during a rain delay at the 2002 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Echo Lake Country Club in Westfield, New Jersey. She invited Wie West to play a game of spoons in the locker room.
“She was kind of sitting there alone,” said Park. “We all knew that she was a prodigy. I think she just felt like the odd one out because she was new to the scene.”
Wie West, 31, gave birth to Kenna two months before Park had daughter Grace. They text often, with Park checking to see if a new rash or a new sound is normal. Park was paired with Gerina Piller at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open in April and asked how long it took before she felt back to her former mind and body after giving birth to son A.J.
Piller said almost 2 ½ years.
“She said ‘You just need to remember that you made a freakin’ life in your body,’ ” said Park. “None of these other girls are thinking ‘Did I bring enough diapers?’ in the middle of the round.”
The 2021 U.S. Women’s Open is being played 15 minutes away from Wie West’s home in San Francisco. She didn’t get out there much ahead of the championship because the Lake Course seemed too taxing to carry her bag and push Kenna. That’s how she typically practices at Lake Merced. Kenna tracks every ball.
Wie West called her 2014 U.S. Women’s Open victory at Pinehurst “life-changing” and remembers every second of the day.
“I feel I carried myself differently from that moment forward,” she said, “because of that self-validation.”
The floodgates never opened after that first major title. An LPGA victory in Singapore is all that has followed, bringing her career victory total to five. Still, she remains the only household name on the LPGA in America.
She’s not the same person she was back then, of course. Couldn’t be, really, after getting married and giving birth and putting family above all else.
The shift began two years ago, she said, after she stepped away from the tour due to injury. Wie West fell on her left wrist while running backwards at age 16, fracturing three bones. Three years later, while practicing down in Florida, she rested her right hand on the top her golf bag and a club smashed down on it, resulting in a bone contusion.
Physically, it’s been a great battle ever since.
This most recent break from the tour helped Wie West see the game and her role in a different light. She ran for a Player Director position on the LPGA board, coming on at a crucial time as the tour hired its next commissioner.
“Now,” she said, “I have the mental and emotional capacity to see things from a broader perspective.”
“I knew what I wanted to say,” said Wie West, “but I just couldn’t get it out. (Jonnie) told me, you have such a great opportunity to say something that really matters right now.”
In the past, Wie West admits, she would’ve probably stayed quiet.
Justin Thomas introduced the couple, and they quickly realized that they had many mutual friends. The pair connected shortly before Wie West went on a girls’ trip to the Bahamas and she couldn’t stop talking about him. She soon flew to San Francisco to see him on her way to up Portland.
Friend Jeehae Lee, a former LPGA player and Yale grad who is now CEO of Sportsbox AI, spent a brief time as Wie West’s manager and saw the couple interact in those early days in her San Francisco living room.
“The first time they met in person they seemed so comfortable with each other,” said Lee. “It wasn’t being too polite or hiding behind something. They were just comfortable being themselves, which I felt was such a good sign. … They really are each other’s go-tos.”
Walking outside the Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors, Wie West marveled at the amount of money that’s poured into men’s professional sport. She was shocked the first time she went to a PGA Tour event.
When people argue that LPGA purses are lower because of lower viewership, it’s an unfair comparison, she said, because of how much is invested.
“The men’s sports create a better product just on the number of cameras alone,” she said. “Our game looks slower, our players look slower when in fact, we’re not slower at all. It’s because we don’t have the ability to switch back and forth, so you end up watching the players’ entire routine, which people now don’t have the attention span for that.”
Wie West dabbled in on-camera work when she was away from the tour, giving her even more insight into the discrepancies between the men’s and women’s game. Back-to-back U.S. Opens at Pinehurst in 2014 were eye-opening in that regard as well.
Wie West noted that in player meetings, LPGA commissioner Mike Whan consistently drilled into their heads that just because they’re playing for a $1 million first-place prize now, nothing is guaranteed – “you need to do the work.”
She finds her father-in-law’s hardware at Prime 44 West, a steakhouse at the Greenbrier that honors the West Virginia native, inspiring but not as much as his stories from the past. She was shocked to learn that when Jerry West first joined the league, everyone in the NBA had a second job. Courtside tickets at Lakers games went for $7.50.
“Looking back at our 13 founders and knowing what they did,” said Wie West, “that’s not that long ago either.”
Wie West never pictured herself playing the LPGA as a mom. Having a daughter changed that. Everything she does now is with an eye toward building a world that’s better for Kenna.
Living in the Bay Area, Lee says, gives Wie West even more of a platform to take on social issues. Traveling the world with the towering star gave Lee a unique perspective on her fame.
“It’s one thing to be in Toledo, Ohio, with her,” said Lee, “versus Singapore or Seoul, South Korea.”
So many stares in Tokyo, with fans asking for autographs or pictures on the streets, at airports and in hotel lobbies. Even at a recent USGA video shoot at one of Wie West’s local favorites, Dumpling Time, near the Chase arena, a couple from Hawaii asked to take a photograph.
“Honestly, I just remember feeling somewhat overwhelmed and protective,” Lee said of the moments when it was difficult to get through crowds. “I was somewhat of a bodyguard at some points.”
Lately, it’s been hectic for different reasons.
Michelle Wie West and Kira K. Dixon as seen during a USGA video shoot at Dumpling Time in San Francisco, California, on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. (Copyright USGA/Jed Jacobsohn)
Wie West wakes up Kenna around 7 a.m. (unless Kenna wakes her up first). They hang out. When Kenna takes a nap, Wie West works out. They hang out some more. During the second nap, Wie West eats lunch and cleans the house. When Kenna wakes up, she takes her to Lake Merced to play six holes or to Stanford to practice.
Then it’s back to feed her dinner, give her a bath, put her to bed and make dinner for the adults. She’s been into making sushi lately and has a supplier deliver fresh fish to the house.
Wie West recently hosted a taco night. She had two different fillings, Lee noted: Korean barbecue beef and shrimp. Nothing on Wie West’s table comes out of a jar. She even makes her own salsa.
“She loves having people over, and she is so domesticated,” said Lee. “She will just whip up something amazing in the kitchen without having to go grocery shopping that day. I raid her pantry and fridge like nobody’s business.”
Wie West’s parents have been staying with them lately to help. Five weeks out from the USWO, she felt that she needed to dedicate more time to practice.
To do that though, she also has to work through the guilt.
Juli Inkster, LPGA Hall of Famer and mother of two, said it took a long time to learn how to balance motherhood with what it takes to win at the highest level.
“When you leave them for a week,” said said, “you’re thinking ‘Oh my God, are they going to remember me when I get back?’ ”
Laura Baugh played the tour as a single mother of seven, traveling in a van. She breastfed them all and even home-schooled.
“You’ll never have enough time to be the mom you want,” she said, “and you’ll never have enough time to be the great putter than you want to be. You will never be enough in your eyes … you do the best you can.”
Michelle Wie celebrates with her mother Bo on the 18th green after her two-stroke victory at the 69th U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Course No. 2 on June 22, 2014 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
Wie West hasn’t competed on the LPGA since the LA Open in late April, dropping out of the LPGA match play event in Las Vegas due to family commitments.
Regardless of how much Wie West plays in the future, Lee knows that her friend will continue to move the needle in different ways, using her vast network in and out of golf to bring about change.
“She can use that platform to take issues head on,” said Lee, “to speak boldly about topics that people are too afraid to speak out about. … She can bring money, she can bring attention, influencers – both in and out of golf – in a way that very few other athletes can.”
One day, Wie West hopes Kenna looks back on the current pay gap between the genders in golf the same way she views that $7.50 court-side Lakers ticket – absolutely wild.
Perhaps Wie West’s greatest legacy is yet to come.
The U.S. Golf Association announced on Monday that a limited number of fans will be on hand for both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in California this summer.
The U.S. Golf Association announced on Monday that a limited number of fans will be on hand for both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in California this summer.
While the PGA Tour has had limited fans at events for some time now, the LPGA has yet to offer general-admission tickets since that tour restarted last July.
The 76th U.S. Women’s Open will be held at The Olympic Club (Lake Course), in San Francisco from June 3-6, and the 121st U.S. Open will be held at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course), in San Diego from June 17-20.
“Last year, we missed the energy that fans bring to our U.S. Open championships,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships. “We are grateful to our local and state health and safety officials in California to be in a position to welcome some fans back this year to witness the greatest players in the world contending for these prestigious championships, while working to maintain the health and safety of all involved.”
The USGA laid out a number of guidelines that will be place to attend both championships in California:
Face coverings will be required for fans, staff and volunteers, and must be worn at all times, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status
All fans, staff and volunteers will be required to abide by social distancing guidelines
State of California residents must show proof that vaccination against COVID-19 has occurred at least 14 days prior to the championships or that a negative test result has been received within 72 hours of entry
Out-of-state fans must provide proof that vaccination against COVID-19 has occurred at least 14 days prior to the championship
Information regarding COVID-19 testing and vaccination verification will be made available at uswomensopen.com and usopen.com
Sanitization stations will be available throughout the grounds, and spectators will be permitted to bring hand sanitizer
This marks the first time both championships will be held in the same state since 2014 with the U.S. Opens were held in back-to-back weeks at Pinehurst. The only previous time was in 1971, when Lee Trevino won the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and JoAnne Carner won the Women’s Open at The Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pennsylvania.
The 31-time LPGA winner made her 2021 LPGA debut at the Kia Classic last month where she missed the cut.
Juli Inkster lives about 45 minutes from San Francisco’s Olympic Club and has played the course roughly 50 times. When entries close for U.S. Women’s Open qualifying on April 14, at least one LPGA Hall of Famer will be in the mix.
“I’m probably an idiot for trying,” said 60-year-old Inkster, “but I think I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t because it’s so close to home.”
Inkster, who lives in Los Altos, California, signed up for the 36-hole qualifier on April 26 at Half Moon Bay Golf Links. She’ll be tournament-ready after competing in next week’s Hugel-Air Premia LA Open on the eve of the qualifier. The 31-time LPGA winner made her 2021 LPGA debut at the Kia Classic last month where she missed the cut.
The 76th U.S. Women’s Open will be held June 3-6 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course, which has previously hosted five U.S. Opens (1955, 1966, 1987, 1998 and 2012) three U.S. Amateurs (1958, 1981,2007), the 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur and the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2015. This marks the first USWO held at the club.
“It’s a tough golf course,” said Inkster, who first played it in college. “It’s all you can handle. It really makes Lake Merced look easy, which is hard to do.”
Only two players have won the U.S. Women’s Open after advancing through qualifying: Hilary Lunke (2003) and Birdie Kim (2005).
Juli Inkster after winning the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open.
Inkster, the 1999 and 2002 USWO champion, had to go through qualifying once before for the championship after the birth of one of her two children.
“I don’t remember what year it was,” she said. “I was low qualifier. It’s not easy.”
Inkster last competed in a U.S. Women’s Open in 2014 at Pinehurst, where she tied for 15th. She received special exemptions into the championship in both 1983 and 2013.
Betsy King, another two-time USWO champion, advanced out of a qualifying site in Arizona in 2011 at age 55. Laura Davies did the same in 2014 in New Jersey at age 50. Both Catriona Matthew and Lorie Kane played their way in at age 48.
“I just decided, you know, what the heck,” said Inkster. “If I make it, I make it; if I don’t, I don’t.”
The Chronicle’s report says that state and local public health officials made the decision in coordination with the United States Golf Association and LPGA and that only a limited number of Olympic Club members will be permitted on-site during the event.
“It is important to have fans attend the U.S. Women’s Open,” said USWO championship director Matt Sawicki in a statement provided to Golfweek earlier this week, “but health and safety protocols for all attendees remains our first priority. We are working closely with the City and County of San Francisco as well as the State of California to create the best environment possible.”
The 2020 U.S. Women’s Open was postponed from last June to December and was played in Houston, also without fans.
The LPGA’s first major of this season, the ANA Inspiration, announced in February it would be conducted without fans. The ANA is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers released an open letter to fans recently about this year’s AIG Women’s British Open, stating that it’s hopeful fans will be in attendance at Carnoustie but no decision has been made.
