What it takes to host a major golf tournament

The 2024 U.S. Women’s Open wound down to its exciting finish June 2, with 22-year-old Yuka Saso winning the championship for the second time.

Hours before the trophy presentation, I had an exit interview with Julia Pine, the USGA director of communications. We focused on the experience of holding a major tournament at Lancaster Country Club.

“One of the local newspapers here said we’re Lancaster’s Olympics. It’s really a community that embraced us, and this time around understands and knows the Women’s Open, as opposed to 2015, when we were really a new entity,” Pine said.

She continued, “I think there are two things as we go around the country when we’re asked, ‘Why do you go somewhere and why do you come back?’ It’s the golf course and the community. And here they’re both A+. The players will say that about both of those things. It’s a true championship test of golf. It may not have the name recognition of some of the other golf courses that we go to, but it’s just as good, and I think we’re showing that to people around the world this week.”

The USGA remained hugely impressed with the crowds. “Tuesday [and] Wednesday practice rounds were the highest-attended practice rounds we’ve had since we were here last time. And then same with the championship rounds. We had 16,000 people on site [Saturday] and we expect the same today,” she said. They got that. 

As for broadcast ratings, Pine expected them to match the USGA’s prior experience with East Coast Women’s Opens. “Traditionally we do better in prime time, like when it’s on the West Coast, and we see that with the men’s too,” she said. Pine also expected the Asian broadcast numbers to be equally impressive. 

The decision to return to Lancaster after the 2015 championship was not immediate, but was not that hard a choice, either.

“The ultimate feeling that week on site was, ‘Oh, we’re going to talk to the club about coming back here.’ But it’s not only our decision; we have to be invited. So, all those logistics, what year, what event, it was pretty soon after that we all sat down at the table and said when could we bring the Women’s Open back.”

The competition to host a USGA major is also intense, with prior commitments making snap decisions impossible.

“For us to come back within a 10-year period is almost unheard of,” Pine said. “We’ve only done that once in the modern era at Pine Needles, which has hosted three Women’s Opens [1996, 2007, 2022], and then here. So, to not only say we’re coming back but to also find a spot on the calendar that quickly certainly speaks to everything that happened in 2015.”

The USGA’s decision to adopt what it calls anchor sites for its events, where both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens could be held, also limits options.

“We really made a commitment to the Women’s Open, whether it be the purse but in all aspects of pushing our broadcast partners to be on the same level as the U.S. Opens, trying to align those up a bit,” Pine said. 

Mike Whan said, “We will be back here to Lancaster. When and for what championships, we don’t know yet, but everything we’ve done here has been such a success, and the club is such a good friend of ours. We know we’ll be back. It’s figuring out the details.”

“Anytime we go to a club, it’s a commitment,” Pine continued. “At a bare minimum, they can’t play their golf course for two weeks, there are logistical operations, and there’s a commitment from the club for staffing it with volunteers. That’s something the club has to think about too. Then there’s [club] leadership changing every few years. All those factors go into it.”

Fortunately, USGA support for host clubs has increased. “In 2015, a local agency supported the communications and marketing efforts. Now it’s all in-house at the USGA. Our staff has grown to be able to staff the growth of these events. The USGA communications team is now 18 people deep. In 2015, the actual media operation stuff was done by an agency,” she said.

Pine continued, “We’ve had a staff member living here on and off for two years. That’s really the outside-the-ropes stuff, but everything from public safety, parking and transportation, recruiting for volunteers, that starts happening 18 to 24 months out. That team is behind the scenes more, but they put in a tremendous amount of effort into making this run so smoothly for what is close to 100,000 fans.”

The success of the 2015 and 2024 Lancaster U.S. Women’s Opens speaks volumes about the level of support for the women’s sport in the Mid-Atlantic. Another Women’s Open at LCC does not look likely any time soon, however, considering the issues Pine described. On the other hand, both the club and the USGA might be convinced to provide the beautiful site for other USGA Championships where the course’s strengths and challenges would continue their strong appeal.