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LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. - In a world where organizations often seem to have very little long-term vision, the United States Golf Association seems to be operating on a 50- or 100-year plan. Its new (as of mid-2021) CEO, Mike Whan, has said as much. And when it comes to championship venue planning, he's living up to his word. As of this writing, the U.S. Open is scheduled out into the 2050s. Want to make plans for Father's Day weekend 28-plus years from now? You can take in the 2051 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club's South Course.
The bigger story, though, is the way in which the USGA has almost completely overhauled the schedule for the U.S. Women's Open. It is a significant step toward bringing the prestige around the professional ladies' game closer to that around men's golf.
The latest announcement: that the 2033 U.S. Women's Open will be contested at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill.
Chicago Golf Club - known by most as, simply, "Chicago Golf" - is one of America's bedrock golf clubs. Originally begun in 1892, it would join Shinnecock Hills, Newport (R.I.) Country Club, The Country Club (Brookline, Mass.) and The St. Andrew's Golf Club (New York) as one of the five founding clubs of the United States Golf Association. Chicago Golf's original architect, Charles Blair Macdonald, won the first U.S. Amateur, contested in 1895. He would also be the USGA's first vice president.
The 2033 U.S. Women's Open will be the first edition of that championship Chicago Golf has hosted, but its 13th overall; eight of them took place prior to 1913. The tournament should build on the success of the inaugural U.S. Senior Women's Open, which the club hosted in 2018.
Chicago Golf joins an already stunning list of courses scheduled to host the U.S. Women's Open, which, like its counterpart event for men, is scheduled out quite far in advance. Pebble Beach Golf Links, which will host next year's event for the first time, is an "anchor site" for the USGA, and will also host the Women's Open in 2035, 2040 and 2048.
Other elite clubs scheduled to host future Women's Opens include several courses that are also scheduled to host the men, including Oakmont (2028 and 2038 U.S. Women's Opens), Pinehurst No. 2 (2029), Oakland Hills (2031, 2042) and Merion (2034, 2046).
In addition to significant infusions of cash into the U.S. Women's Open purse, the incredible list of upcoming venues goes a long way toward dissolving the gaps in prestige between the top men's golf championships and the same for women. Public acceptance of this fact may lag somewhat, but the USGA's actions will help future generations of golfers see the women's game as equal to the men's.
More golf course news and notes
HALF THE GREENS, BETTER COURSE - As part of an 11-month, multi-million-dollar renovation project, Percy Warner Golf Course will be reducing its greens from 18 to 9, while remaining a nine-hole course. Dating back to 1937, the course has had side-by-side "summer" and "winter" putting surfaces for each hole (a practice common among golf courses in Japan, but less so in the U.S.). The upcoming renovation will bring year-round golf-tolerant grass to the course, a new irrigation system and more. [LINK: WSMV.com]
KIRK COUSINS' NEWEST GIG - The veteran NFL quarterback and wife Julie recently purchased Clearbrook Golf Club in Saugatuck, Mich., vowing to continue to operate it as a golf facility, rather than let it fall victim to residential or commercial development. [LINK: HollandSentinel.com]
MUCH-NEEDED #MUNAISSANCE - Asheville Municipal Golf Course, a Donald Ross design that has for decades been a haven for Black golfers, will receive $1.6 million in grant money for the revitalization of its course, which recently came under new management. [LINK: Citizen-Times]
GOLF-ADJACENT - A professional golfer is in a dispute with a hole-in-one insurance company over an as-yet-unpaid $10,000 prize he won with an ace at Virtues Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio. [LINK: Newark Advocate]
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