LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA | When the USGA announced the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open Championship would be contested for the first time at Pebble Beach Golf Links, the reaction was almost audible.
It solidified the national governing body’s commitment to bringing the grandest of women’s golf championships to places the USGA called “the cathedrals of golf.”
More organically, the USGA was listening to its competitors and providing venues they’d cherish as places where they became national champions.
Nearly a year removed from Allisen Corpuz lifting the U.S. Women’s Open trophy with Pebble Beach’s Stillwater Cove serving as a pristine backdrop, the championship is coming back to a lesser applauded but nonetheless necessarily laudable venue in 2024, Lancaster Country Club, hard by the arable farmlands of south-central Pennsylvania.
“I’m definitely grateful for all the opportunities,” Corpuz said ahead of the 79th USWO on May 30-June 2. “The more time passes, the more I realize just how many people watched me win at Pebble Beach – both for the venue and for the U.S. Women’s Open. It’s been awesome to get all the support from everyone and feel like I’m sharing this win with the rest of the world.”
Lancaster, a 1920 William Flynn design, enthusiastically engaged the local community as a record-breaking host in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, in which South Korea’s In Gee Chun birdied three of her last four holes to win by a stroke over countrywoman Amy Yang.
Chun, at 19, did not speak English at the time but enjoyed the spirit and camaraderie of the spectators and felt as if she’d found her own “chapel” of golf.
“I remember almost everything,” Chun said. “It was my first event in the U.S. I couldn’t speak any English. I was so nervous. I was surprised that people already knew my nickname – Dumbo – and everyone was so welcoming to me and kind.”
The affable Chun felt so comfortable with the club and its members that she formed the In Gee Chun Lancaster Country Club Education Foundation to provide financial support to employees of the club.
“After the final round, I wanted to give something back to the Lancaster community,” she said. “One of the members asked me to sign a pin flag for charity. We made some money and we started to talk about the foundation because I wanted to continue to have this relationship with Lancaster. I felt like this was my second home.”
Since 2019, the foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity, has provided $470,000 through 70 grants, with Chun’s fan club as a major contributor.
In 2015, the crowds on course and levels of local support, such as corporate hospitality sales, were highwater marks for the U.S. Women’s Open. The anticipation of even better results in 2024 is supported by the sellout of premium suites and facilities in late 2023 and hopeful successes with the upgraded ticket options at the 1761 Club and the Penn Club offerings.
“The corporate investment from the Lancaster community has been exceptional,” said Allison Burns, USGA director for the U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Women’s Open and supervisor of all championship aspects outside the ropes. “The success of the corporate program exemplifies a true testament to the energy and support the community has about the U.S. Women’s Open coming back to Lancaster.”
The USGA expects a total of 80,000 spectators for the week.
“We plan to have a few different activation experiences for all of our fans on site that will look a little different than 2015,” Burns said.
Those opportunities include a USGA experience, a USGA Museum experience, a junior activation area, grandstands with premium views of golf, upgraded concession areas and an innovative mobile phone application.
“This place, this community, this experience was very special,” Mike Whan, who became the USGA’s eighth CEO on July 1, 2021 after 11½ years as the LPGA’s commissioner, said of the 2015 championship at Lancaster.
He noted the 79th U.S. Women’s Open will be the 999th USGA championship contested since the governing body’s founding in 1895. It marks the first year Ally Financial, a Detroit-based bank and leader in support of women’s sports, will serve as the presenting sponsor of the Women’s Open.
Ally’s engagement gives the Women’s Open the highest-paying purse in women’s golf, at $12 million, up from the $4.5 million offered in 2015.
Corpuz and her fellow competitors have noticed.
“Being an American player, this is the one I would want to win the most,” Corpuz said. “There are just so many iconic venues coming up. It’s awesome to see the investment the USGA and Ally have made. I’m super grateful for that.”
“Every U.S. Women’s Open venue is incredible, but winning at Pebble Beach means a lot to me because of the history of the course.” — Allisen Corpuz
Corpuz and seven other past champions highlight the list of notable exempt players such as Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Charley Hull and Rose Zhang, among others, who will be stringently examined in setup of this classic shot-makers course.
Last July at fabled Pebble Beach Golf Links, the 26-year-old Corpuz, a former all-American at Southern California, won by three strokes over Hull and Jiyai Shin, becoming the 22nd player to claim the U.S. Women’s Open as a first LPGA title. Corpuz was the sole player in the field of 156 to shoot four rounds under par.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from the week going into it,” said Corpuz, who tied for fourth at the Chevron and was T15 at the KPMG Women’s PGA in her 2023 major starts preceding the USWO. “I had been playing pretty well in the season up to that point. We had a ton of travel delays on our way home from the KPMG the week before, so I didn’t feel like I was able to prepare the way I would have wanted to. When I played the practice rounds, though, I really liked the course setup and felt comfortable.”
In her final round at Pebble Beach, Corpuz posted 10 one-putt greens and notched clutch birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, allowing her to walk the iconic seaside par-5 18th hole with an unerring calmness en route to a 3-under-par 69 round and a 9-under 279 total.
“Every U.S. Women’s Open venue is incredible, but winning at Pebble Beach means a lot to me because of the history of the course,” said Corpuz, who grew up in Honolulu and attended the Punahou School, as did former President Barack Obama and 2014 USWO winner Michelle Wie West. “I had seen pictures and videos throughout the years, but it really is more gorgeous in person. To be a part of Pebble Beach history and to win the first women’s major held there is awesome.”
Reality hit with the presentation of the trophy.
“It was a lot of excitement and gratitude,” she said. “Golf is a pretty humbling sport at times, and winning doesn’t happen often. It was really special to have friends and family out that week and to be able to share the moment with them.”
John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief championships officer, staunchly supports the four-part philosophy used to test all 156 players in the field at Lancaster. The venue, the openness of the competition, the “examination” or course setup and player focus form the USGA’s championship checklist.
Bodenhamer noted the par-70 course will measure 6,500-6,700 yards, with rough ranging from 2.5 inches to 4-plus inches, putting greens at 11.5 inches on the Stimpmeter for speed and an overall “tough but fair” mindset.
“We want to get every club in the bag dirty,” Bodenhamer said. “Even the one between the ears.”
Corpuz has lived that test in a real-world cauldron and the reality of how hard it is to win.
“I really just try to play the best that I can,” Corpuz said. “I’m trying to set the expectations pretty low, but I know I am good enough to win if I have another good week. I really try not to put too much pressure on myself.”
Lancaster, as a cathedral of golf, has beauty and difficulty, but Corpuz stands prepared.
“I feel like I’ve always been a pretty good ball-striker, which, as the courses get longer and get firmer, that always plays as a strength especially during major weeks for me,” she said. “I feel like you need the entire package to win a major.”