The biggest tournament in women’s professional golf has arrived. The will take place at Lancaster Country Club, which last hosted the best female players in the world in 2015. In Gee Chun of South Korea won that year, thanks to spectacular birdies she made on the 16th and 17th holes.
Since then, Chun has become a staple in the Lancaster community. She started a foundation that supports Lancaster Country Club employees and their dependents through educational scholarships. As a result, the Central Pennsylvania community has fully embraced her, too, calling Chun one of their own.
But this town has welcomed this tournament with open arms, too. This championship will shatter attendance records and set a new bar for the number of volunteers assisting. Hospitality packages sold out months ago, too.
The course itself—a William Flynn design—will play anywhere between 6,500 and 6,700 yards during play, with the greens running at 11.5 on the stimpmeter. The will cut the rough between 2.
5 and four inches on Wednesday, growing to five and six inches on the weekend. It's a classic, old-school golf course with numerous elevation changes and incredible vistas. Each hole is unique, too, as this beautiful piece of property will challenge the best female players in the world while entertaining everyone else.
But this year’s event also welcomes a new area for women’s professional golf. Ally Financial has partnered with the USGA to elevate the purse to $12 million, a record for the wom.