The second women’s Major of the year is the US Women's Open, and after Pebble Beach hosted the tournament for the first time in 2023, it heads to the Pennsylvania of Lancaster Country Club for the 2024 edition.
Here are 10 things to know about the course, where the world’s best players will compete for a record $12m prize money and the chance to list the famous trophy.
1. Lancaster Country Club was established in 1900, where the founding members decided that anyone over 16 could join with an initiation fee of $10 for singles and $25 for families.
2. After the clubhouse was built, a designer was paid $28 to lay out a nine-hole course at the site at the city’s Juliette Avenue.
3. The original home soon became too small, and a new location was sought, with 60 acres of land eventually purchased and a nine-hole course built at the New Holland Pike site where it still stands today.
4. In 1920, William Flynn was entrusted with the task of revamping the initial nine holes, and adding nine more. He clearly cared about his effort, as he continued to make tweaks to the course until his death over 20 years later.
5. By the 1990s, the club offered far more than golf facilities alone, with amenities including tennis courts and a pool also widely used. During that period, Brian Silva also created another nine-hole course, The Highlands. Nowadays, the country club sprawls over 400 acres.
6. Despite its growth, Lancaster Country Club didn’t host a Major until 2015, when the US Women’s Open was held there for the first time. In Gee Chun won the tournament as over 135,000 flocked to see the event - a record for the tournament.
7. In Gee Chun’s success at the tournament marked the start of close ties between her and the club. She and the club have since launched the In Gee Chun Lancaster Country Club Educational Foundation to help support education for those involved with the club.
8. The club has also hosted former PGA Tour event the Pennsylvania Open, while it also held local qualifying for the 2008 US Women’s Open.
9. More design work has taken place since that initial US Women’s Open, with Jim Nagle and Ron Forse overseeing the uprooting of trees and restoration of bunkers to offer a parkland course set over rolling terrain. Unusually, it features two holes without a bunker. Players at the 2024 edition of the US Women’s Open can also expect a longer course than in 2015, as well as firmer, faster greens.
10. The club is private, although several membership packages are available.
