Wisconsin will further cement its reputation as a hotbed for major golf events when Erin Hills hosts the U.S. Women’s Open later this month.
The tournament, the preeminent championship in women’s golf, will be held May 29-June 1 on the scenic 6,835-yard layout in the Town of Erin, in Washington County. The 80th U.S. Women’s Open will be the third to be played in Wisconsin, with Se Ri Pak winning in 1998 and Na Yeon Choi winning the 2012 championship, both at Blackwolf Run in Kohler.
The U.S. Women’s Open is a pinnacle event for players, United States Golf Association CEO Mike Whan said at a media event at Erin Hills on Monday.
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“If you ask 10 women on the LPGA or the ladies European tour if you’re only going to win one major in your life, which would it be. I’m fairly confident that nine or 10 would say the U.S. Women’s Open,” said Whan, who previously spent 11 years as the commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). “It’s not only the longest-running women’s professional golf event in the world, but it carries the highest perks and it’s played at the greatest venues.”
John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer at the USGA, said the attraction of Erin Hills as a host site goes beyond the course.
“I travel a lot, 40 to 50 venues every year,” he said. “There is no place in America where our staff and our leadership feels more welcome than right here at Erin Hills. Everybody welcomes us and embraces us and we feel like we’re at home when we come to Erin Hills and the state of Wisconsin.”
The USGA is projecting the tournament to have an economic impact of between $20 million and $30 million for the region, with much of that centered on Erin Hills and the city of Hartford, located just a few miles away.
The U.S. Women’s Open is one of 14 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. First conducted in 1946, its winners have included Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Betsy Rawls, Mickey Wright, Hollis Stacy, Annika Sorenstam, Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr, Inbee Park and Michelle Wie.
The championship will be fifth USGA championship conducted at Erin Hills. The course played host to the first U.S. Open in the state of Wisconsin in 2017 when Brooks Koepka shot a final-round 67 to post a four-stroke victory.
Erin Hills was also the site of the 2011 U.S. Amateur and 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links championships.
Located 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee in the Kettle Moraine region, Erin Hills was developed by Bob Lang and designed by Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten. The public facility, which features bentgrass greens and fine fescue fairways, opened for play in 2006. The course, owned by Andy Ziegler, underwent a major renovation in 2010.
Erin Hills will present a considerable challenge for the players, said Shannon Rouillard, USGA senior director of championships.
“It’s a very hilly golf course,” she said. “The mental and physical stamina that’s going to be required to win is going to be vast. Players are going to see a lot of variety. This golf course requires strategic decision making. There are conservative ways to play each of these holes and there’s risk-reward options available.”
Due to the wide-open setup of the course, players won’t have trees to use points of reference, Rouillard added.
She said wind will be the “X-factor” during the tournament. “I’m anticipating wind to come from all sorts of different directions,” Rouillard said.
Tiffany Joh, who won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at Erin Hills and is now a coach with the U.S. National Development Program, said she expects the course to be “fair but tough.”
“It’s a good test,” she said. “What you get with the challenge of a U.S. Open is it’s almost like an enjoyable suffering. You’re out there and it’s tough and you’re getting beat up by this golf course but you’re also just so overwhelmed by the beauty of the place.”
The weight of the moment will only add to the challenge for golfers, Joh said.
“It’s just the prestige of it,” she said. “It’s the extra weight of the week and the extra desire and motivation.”
The USGA has found a home at Erin Hills and announced last fall that it is bringing five of its national championships to Erin Hills over the next 15 years, in addition to the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open. Erin Hills will also play host to the 2027 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball; the 2030 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball; the 2033 U.S. Women’s Amateur; the 2035 U.S. Amateur; and the 2039 U.S. Junior Amateur.
Erin Hills will become just the 16th venue in nearly 130 years to host both the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Open.
In addition to the slew of tournaments planned for Erin Hills, the USGA is also bringing four championships to Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa and Whistling Straits in Kohler. Overall, there have been 17 USGA championships contested in Wisconsin, including 10 since 1998.
“We have some of the most gorgeous golf courses in the nation, right here in Wisconsin. Our state also has a rich history with golf,” Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said.
She called the opportunity to host the U.S. Women’s Open “an incredible honor for our state.”
“This year’s U.S. Women’s Open will put the world’s eyes on the Hartford region, with incredible economic impact for this course and this community,” she said. “People will come from all over to make their way to Wisconsin.”
The event is also important for young women throughout the state, Rodriguez said. “They are going to see women at the top of their game having a once in a lifetime experience and inspire more women and girls to take up golf.”
The eyes of the golf world have repeatedly turned to Wisconsin over the past two-plus decades. Most recently, Whistling Straits in Kohler hosted the Ryder Cup, one of golf’s premiere events, in September 2021. The United States reclaimed the Ryder Cup on the rural Sheboygan County layout with a dominating win over the European squad.
Held over three days on the magnificent course, the Ryder Cup drew large and boisterous crowds – more than 40,000 attended each day – and captured the attention of a worldwide audience.
Whistling Straits also hosted the PGA Championship in 2004, 2010, and 2015. The layout also hosted the U.S. Senior Open in 2007. SentryWorld in Stevens Point hosted the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.
