And, each time, the USGA says it would be a lot of fun to come back again real soon. They even hint that such an announcement just might be possible before the week is over.
There is the slightest of intimations that the USGA Women’s Committee could be developing a rotation of sites around the United States for its major event.
The most-often-visited site for the Women’s Open is Atlantic City Country Club in New Jersey. The Women’s Open has gone to South Jersey in 1948, 1965 and 1975. The most-often-visited “men’s” Open sites are Baltusrol GC (also in New Jersey) and Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Pa. Both have had seven U.S. Opens.
It’s not difficult to see a trend. The Women’s Open moves around a lot. The U.S. Open wanders a little but often comes back to favorite sites. Pinehurst seems to enjoy being on this short list of favored stops.
The “gypsy” in the Women’s Open schedule is due to a number of things. In the past, the Women’s Open was not necessarily a moneymaker for the host club or for the USGA. In fact, there were years when serving as host was a bad investment. That’s no longer the case. Pine Needles and other recent hosts have a plan — selling a lot of corporate tents — which brings cash early to the table and assures a moneyed success.
With that kind of understanding about financial exposure, more and more top clubs have made bids to host the women’s championship.
This week, for example, the USGA announced that the 2005 and 2008 Women’s Opens will be played at Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver and Interlachen Country Club near Minneapolis. These are, as Cora Jane Blanchard, chairman of the USGA Women’s Committee, put it succinctly, “high-caliber sites.”
Next year’s Women’s Open goes to Prairie Dunes Country Club in rural Kansas, a top 50 United States course. In 2004, the Women’s Open returns to Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland, Ore.
Every one of these sites has been a USGA host in the past, and every one has a course which the Women’s Committee would love to return.
See a couple of trends here? Pumpkin Ridge twice in eight years. Pine Needles twice in six years. Some new sites that would look very nice on a Women’s Open rotation.
Blanchard says such a rotation does not exist but might be developing on its own. “It’s not intentional in any way,” she says. “But it might be something that is evolving on its own. We are so happy about where the Women’s Open is played and going to be played.”
The 2003 site, Lake Merced Golf Club near San Francisco, is supposed to be comparable to — by many accounts — the U.S. Open favorite in that town, The Olympic Club.
Judy Bell is past president of the USGA, the first woman to join the USGA Executive Committee as well as its first woman president. “I would like to see us go with four or five key courses on a constant basis and then throw in new courses,” she answered when asked about a possible Women’s Open site rotation list.
“The advantage of going back to a place again and again is that we’ve both been there and done that. The site and the USGA. We can only improve each time. From an operational standpoint, it makes great sense.
“But there has to be this incredible love affair on both sides,” Bell warns. “It has to come from both sides to carry on a long-term relationship. Pine Needles is pretty strong there.
“The Women’s Open is not a losing situation for clubs as it may have been in the past. That encourages clubs to look at this championship.”
Rhonda Glenn is manager of Communications for the USGA, a past player of note, a TV broadcast veteran and author of the seminal book on the history of women’s golf.
“I like the idea of the Women’s Open visiting new sites because we have found some really good ones by being so open to their invitations,” Glenn offers as a counter to adopting a rotation system as firm as that used to identify sites for the British Open.
That’s pretty much a closed shop of sites.
“It’s good to return to sites such as Pine Needles, but I would not want to see a closed rotation for this championship.”
Rotation or not, the “affair” between the USGA and Pine Needles seems to be ongoing, with yet another “marriage” in the offing.
