Author Archives: sports

Michelle Wie, left, and Chella Choi walk across the birdge on #8 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women's open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Golfers’ final assessment of LCC and the fans is glowing

Posted: July 14, 2015 1:06 am

Amy Yang called it a “good week, great week.”

Stacy Lewis, who tied for third — two shots behind runner-up Yang in the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club — went a step further.

“It was,” she said, “an unbelievable week. … Just the energy in the crowd right off the first tee. The first tee was packed. It gave me some energy. I think I hit my longest drive of the day off the first tee, which I never do.

“The energy of the crowd, just walking up 18, seeing the number of people around that hole was unbelievable.”

A record crowd — 134,016, surpassing the 131,298 at Cherry Hills in Colorado in 2005 — energized the players and even helped crowd favorite Michelle Wie fight though the pain of an injured left ankle, knee and hip.

“Oh yeah, the crowds have been amazing,” said Wie. “It’s been such an amazing crowd to play in front of … Like I said earlier, that’s what pushed me through the round (Sunday).”

Inbee Park, who tied for third, was among those who strode off the 18th green Sunday and wasted no time praising the fans who poured into LCC.

“Since the practice round we had so many people coming out and watching us,” said Park. “It’s just so exciting to see that many people come out and watch us all the time. Over the weekend it was just amazing. There were roars everywhere on so many holes. And the last hole was just great. You really want to hit a great shot into the last green because there were so many people rooting for you.”

Morgan Pressel is a veteran of tournament play, having joined the LPGA Tour in 2006. Yet what she and her fellow golfers experienced this past week in Lancaster was something new, something special.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, even in other U.S. Opens that we’ve played,” said Pressel. “We’ve certainly always had great crowds, but nothing like here.”

Other tour veterans were just as awed by the atmosphere.

Pernilla Lindberg was paired with Wie and the two were saying that if they took all the LPGA events they’ve played so far this year, it probably adds up to the same crowds they were having this past week at LCC.

“It was incredible,” said Brooke Henderson. “It was a lot of fun to be able to play in front of them. Some of the cheers you could hear from holes over were crazy.”

And not just during tournament play, as Lydia Ko and Alison Lee noted. Ko spoke of the big crowds “even on the practice days” and Lee recalled being on the course at 7 a.m. and seeing “tons of people out there in the gallery.”

It wasn’t just the enormous crowds that impressed the pros. Karrie Webb, a pro since 1994, has played on courses around the globe. Lancaster Country Club, she said, is visually stunning.

“Just about every tee shot is right out there in front of you,” said Webb. “It’s an old, traditional-style golf course and that’s what I love to see. We need to play on more courses like this one.”

One look was all it took for Brittany Lang to fall in love with LCC.

“I thought it was great,” she said. “I showed up Monday to see the course. I loved it. Monday I played 18 and I’m like, ‘This is a great golf course.’ ”

The golfers not only soaked up the atmosphere of the crowd and the course, but also of their surroundings.

Lee said she did “the whole Amish town stuff” and Jane Park saw horses and buggies and sampled homemade ice cream. Elizabeth Nagel thought Lancaster a “little quirky and really fun.”

Said Lewis, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re back in this area soon.”

Morgan Pressel tees off on the 15th hole during Round 2 of the US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club on Friday, July 10. (Casey Kreider/LNP)

Mike Gross: A humbling experience on the championship layout

Posted:

A sampler of notes and observations from an historic week at Lancaster Country Club…

Anyone with one shred of disrespect for the skill of pro golfers, male or female, should’ve tried what This Space attempted Monday.

Played Lancaster Country Club, in an outing for USGA officials, media and sponsors the club held as a thank-you for the week.

Same setup — tees, pins and rough (oh, my God, the rough) — as Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Women’s Open.

I feel like I’ve been beaten repeatedly upside the head. I birdied the fifth hole, which Stacy Lewis double-bogeyed Sunday. I drove it over the green from the dramatic short tee on the par-4 16th, my ball-mark only about 10 feet from the hole.

Otherwise, I looked for my ball in the rough, occasionally found it, took a wedge, swung as hard as I could and moved the ball, and an accompanying flurry of grass and dirt, a consistent 7-8 feet.

A staff of actuarials is still running numbers, but I firmly believe I broke 400.

In Gee Chun, your new U.S. Women’s Open champion, shot 66 here Sunday, including birdies on 15, 16 and 17, in the biggest round of her life. I can only conclude that she’s not a golfer, but some kind of alien wizard.

I bumped into a guy I know after the round, a very good player who had played Division I college golf and, I happen to know, who has shot an even-par 72 at St. Andrews.

“Wow,” he said. “I don’t drive it straight enough for this place.”

“I can’t believe this course,” added one veteran national golf writer, who’s played championship layouts throughout the country. “This is definitely a top 100 course.”

‘Top 100’ refers to Golf Digest’s respected bi-annual ranking of American courses. LCC was on it in the 1960s. Now it appears only as No. 8 in Pennsylvania.

The rankings naturally favor courses that have hosted big-time tournaments (now a check for LCC) and/or are associated with big-name designers (increasingly a check for LCC, as William Flynn’s reputation is rejuvenated).

Whether the post-Open impact lasts until February of 2017, when the next rankings come out, remains to be seen.

But No. 8 in Pennsylvania is just silly. Mike Davis, executive director of the USGA, expressed that opinion last week, ranking Lancaster behind only legendary Merion and Oakmont in Pennsylvania.

“Put this course in most other states,” he said, “and it’d be the best course in that state.”
The USGA hosts 15 annual national championships. It seems inevitable that LCC will host more of them in the future.

More self-flagellation
My predictions were, if anything, worse than my golf.

The five picks, in reverse order: 5. Hyo Joo Kim (70-76-missed cut); 4. Suzann Pettersen (79-69-missed cut); 3. Anna Nordqvist (71-75-missed cut); 2. Inbee Park (5-under, tied for third); 1. Lexi Thompson (6-over, tied for 42nd).

Temporary residence
Chun showed up in Lancaster, with caddie Dean Herden on July 1, eight days before the start of the tournament.

A Korean Tour player, Chun had been to America only once before. She wanted to acclimate herself not only to Pennsylvania and the course but to Herden, with whom she was working for the first time.

When she arrived at LCC, she literally asked Herden, “What do I do now?”

“Introduce yourself to the host pro,” Herden said. “Come to a new course, get to know the pro. He can help you.”

Chun played 81 practice holes before Thursday’s first round. She sought info from LCC head pro Rick Gibson, through Herden, since she doesn’t speak English.

“I probably talked to him more than anyone else all week,” Gibson said Monday.

Numbers
Chun made $810,000. If she was an LPGA tour member, she’d be sixth on the money list for one week’s work.

It was Chun’s fifth worldwide win in 2015. By winning the Open, she jumped from 20th to 10th in the Rolex official world golf rankings.

And that wasn’t even the biggest jump of the week. Brooke Henderson, the remarkable Canadian 17-year-old who shot 66 Sunday and tied for fifth, jumped from No. 45 to 32.

Then she got in a car with her dad and sister and drove to Toledo for a Monday qualifier for the LPGA Marathon Classic.

Runner-up Amy Yang went from 15th to ninth in the Rolex rankings. Shiho Oyama, the veteran Japanese Tour pro who played with Chun Sunday and tied for fifth, went from No. 43 to 36.

Alison Lee, the rookie UCLA one-and-done who won the AJGA Tournament of Champions at LCC in 2013, jumped into the top 50, going from 53 to 49, which can be useful for exemptions and such.

Course stats
Inexplicably, the toughest hole at LCC for the week was the par-4 ninth, with an average score of 4.39. Nine isn’t generally considered one of the toughest two or three par-4s on the course.

The par-3 eighth, which is generally considered a beast, was second-toughest (3.32), followed by the 10th (4.31). The stretch of eight through 12 included five of the week’s six toughest.

The easiest holes were the par-5 seventh (4.93), par-4 16th (3.96) and par-5 13th (4.97).

The toughest hole Sunday was 15, a dogleg-right par-4 where it was increasingly hard to drive it in the fairway as the course hardened.

Runner-up Amy Yang barely made bogey on it Sunday, and Stacy Lewis bowed out there with a double-bogey.

Chun, naturally, birdied 15.

Amy Yang watches her tee ball on the sixth hole during the final round of the US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

USWO runners-up left mulling what could have been

Posted: July 13, 2015 3:10 am

There was a lot of excitement for the record-setting crowds at the U.S. Women’s Open to follow over the course of the week at Lancaster Country Club, but it was the big finish that everyone was waiting for — and the golfers delivered.

In the final moments, across the final holes of the championship, the names atop the leaderboard shuffled continuously until In Gee Chun pulled away with a 4-under 66 and a tournament total of 272.

Just one stroke behind was Amy Yang.

The Korean entered Sunday with a three-shot lead and it was assumed she would battle it out with her playing partner Stacy Lewis in a match play-like round for the right to hoist the Harton S. Semple trophy at the 70th Open. Instead she had to settle for her second runner-up finish and fourth top-5 score in the last six Opens.

Yang looked to be in control early on, but struggled on the infamously difficult back nine of LCC. An eagle on 16 pulled her within one of the charging Chun to the delight of the spectators.

“I saw the leaderboard actually on No. 15 and I knew I really had to hit a good drive to the green and I had to make that downhill two-putt,” said Yang. “I’ve been hitting it good, so I felt good about the tee ball. My putting was struggling a little bit yesterday and today, but I had to trust it.”

Her putting game worked in her favor there, but it wasn’t as successful on the 18th green.

After hitting into the rough, Yang hit a pitch shot aiming for the green and setting her up for a putt that would force a three hole playoff. She missed just left, eliciting groans from the crowd and sealing the win for Chun.

“I hit a good putt,” said Yang. “I aimed about a cup to the left side and all I could think was just never leave it short. It didn’t go like what I expected, but I learned some new things and it’s going to make me improve.”

It wasn’t the way Lewis wanted it to end either.

A runner-up to Michelle Wie at Pinehurst last year, Lewis opened Sunday with a birdie to pull within two and even held a share of the lead with just four holes left to play. She finished tied for third with Inbee Park with a combined 275.

“I knew I was tied for the lead, knew where I stood there,” Lewis said of heading to the 15th tee. “Just trying to hit a good drive and probably hit the worst drive of the week. That’s the one I wish I could have over again.”

No. 1 finishes third

Inbee park looks over hole #3 before teeing off Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Entering the championship as the top-ranked golfer in the world, Inbee Park drew swarms of fans as she traversed the course and as those fans watched, they noticed something was off with the reigning KPMG Women’s PGA champion.

Sitting at one-under through her first ten holes, and three-under for the tournament, Park struggled with her putting Sunday.

“That’s not like her,” a spectator remarked as Park missed a birdie putt on 11.

Park, who was celebrating her 27th birthday, fittingly ended her round with a birdie putt on 18 to card a 67 and finish tied for third.

“Earlier in the week my ball-striking wasn’t that great, but over the weekend, my putting was just really off,” she said. “I feel like I left seven or eight putts out there yesterday and today. There were so many putts I should have made but missed. It was a close one, but maybe not my time this time.”

A different kind of card
For 17-year-old Brooke Henderson, this year’s Open carried extra significance.

Qualifying for her third championship after a top-10 finish at last year’s event at Pinehurst, the Canadian jumped from 44th after the first two rounds into a six-way tie for fifth place after carding 68-66-277 on the final two days.

“I think Thursday and Friday you really need to get a good start and I didn’t really quite do that,” said Henderson. “I was sort of close to the cut line on Friday, which is never a good thing, but after that I knew I had to go low to climb up the leaderboard a little bit so I tried to do that.

“The conditions here on this course have changed a lot of the last couple of days and I think paying attention to those and knowing where to hit your shots was really important today.”

The finish is an accomplishment in and of itself for the former No. 1 amateur, but also helps as she continues her quest to get her LPGA Tour card. It’s a goal Henderson can achieve if she can accumulate enough money to put herself in the top 40 money earnings by season’s end and in time for her 18th birthday.

In Gee Chun talks through an interpreter in a press conference after winning the 2015 U.S. Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Mike Gross: Rookie In Gee Chun was already well-prepared for this day

Posted:

Of the top 25 female golfers in the world, 12 are from South Korea, and none of them is better evidence of that country’s golfing eminence than In Gee Chun, U.S. Women’s Open champion.

Chun is 20. She doesn’t even play the LPGA Tour (yet). She is, in essence, a minor-leaguer. A blue-chip prospect and surely not long for the minors, but a minor-leaguer nonetheless.

In her first major championship, she couldn’t have been more ready.

The drama got wild here late Sunday, after simmering for three-plus days. As the dynamite lit, on the middle of the back nine of the final round, Chun was tied for the lead with Amy Yang and Stacy Lewis, all at 6-under par.

Yang and Lewis played together in the final group and, by conventional thinking, were ready to decide it at, effectively, match play.

Chun birdied the par-4 15th, which had been the toughest hole for the field Sunday. The final two butchered it, Lewis gouging a double-bogey from the rough and exiting the stage, and Yang making a struggling bogey.

On 16, the USGA had moved the tee way up, making it drivable. Good idea. Chun drove it in a greenside bunker and made birdie. Yang got it on the green and made eagle.

As Yang was doing that, Chun was stuffing a nervy five-iron to within five feet of a tucked pin at the par-3 17th. Yang’s crowd cheered her as Chun — who’s known as Dumbo for her acute hearing — stepped to her putt. She stepped away, took her time, and drilled it.

Both players drove left, into hopeless rough, at 18. Both whacked out way short, pitched well, and barely missed putts in the 8-10 foot range.

Dumbo was a champion.

This looked for a long time like Yang’s breakthrough. She is a ball-striker, and she was rock-solid most of the day. Then she became a Molotov cocktail, playing the last five holes bogey, bogey, eagle, birdie, bogey.

Chun led the field in greens in regulation, 62 of 72. Her Sunday 66 included birdies on the 69th, 70th, and 71st holes of her first major championship. Strong, strong stuff.

On paper, Chun joins the pantheon of unlikely winners of major championships, led by teenage caddie Francis Ouimet in the 1913 men’s open and including Birdie Kim, who won the 2005 Women’s Open and no other tour event, before or since.

Kim’s Open was the first Chun ever saw, at television, at home in rural Korea at age 10.

Chun is the product of something powerful. She is from a family of very modest means, but they have found a way, within a helping culture, to foster their daughter’s talents and fund her dream.

Dean Herden, a burly Australian tour veteran caddie who was working for Chun for the first time, wrote a recent article on Korean golf for Golf Digest’s European edition. He describes what amounts to a minor-league system.

“It’s support from the parents and all that, but I really think it’s the Korean system,” he said, holding two bottles of something celebratory in brown-paper bags someone had handed him.

“There’s three levels of it, and it’s developmental. There’s the “jump,” level (16 tournaments) and the step-up (22) and then the main tour.

“By the time they get over here, they’re ready. They’ve dealt with sponsors, they’ve played the pro-ams. They know how to do it.”

Herden has worked for Hee Kyung Seo and So Yeon Ryu. He has 40-some worldwide wins and four majors, but said this one might be his favorite.

“Because of (Chun’s) age, and what she’s come from,” he said. “Because of this golf course. It’s a great one. I feel I caddied my (butt) off.”

Chun did come to America early this year, with a group of Korean players, to play in a few LPGA events and work with her coach and interpreter, Dr. Won Park.

She has now won five tournaments worldwide this year, and is an established star in Korea, where her fan club, 700 strong, wears yellow hats with “Dumbo” on them. There will be thousands waiting to greet her in the Seoul airport when she gets back.

With Sunday’s triumph, Chun can join the LPGA Tour immediately, or at the beginning of next season. Herden will work for her again at the Women’s British Open at Turnberry in two weeks. After that, his understanding is that she was obligated to go back to the KLPGA, at least for the rest of the year.

Chun said, through Park, that she isn’t so sure.

“I’ll think about it. I’ll talk about it with my parents and my coach, and I’ll let you know.”

Michelle Wie looks over her putt on the #2 green at Lancaster Country Club during Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women's Open Saturday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

LCC fans help Michelle Wie get through tough weekend

Posted:

The crowd at Lancaster Country Club serenaded Michelle Wie with bursts of applause and shouts of encouragement as she limped up a long stretch of the 18th fairway Sunday toward the end of her final 18-hole round of the U.S. Women’s Open.

With the leaders of the Open at her back, and one of the toughest rounds she ever played almost behind her, Wie sank a short putt for a birdie to finish out an even-par round to stay at 2-under for the tournament, drawing more clapping and shouting and cheering from the fans gathered around her.

“If it wasn’t for the crowds and the fans today,” Wie said, “it definitely would’ve been tough. “They really pushed me forward, and I’m really grateful for that.”

: Michelle Wie tees off on #1 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

: Michelle Wie watches her shot from the fairway on #1 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

: Michelle Wie teeing off on #2 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

: Michelle Wie looks over her putt on the #2 green at Lancaster Country Club during Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Saturday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

: Michelle Wie, left, and Chella Choi walk across the birdge on #8 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

: Stanford University alumni Michelle Wie, sports her Nerd Nation notebook on the 18th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. Nerd Nation, is what Stanford athletes call their school. (Photo/Chris Knight)

: Michelle Wie, reacts after missing her par putt on the 8th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

: Michelle Wie, reaches into a fans bag to retrieve her ball after her tee shot on the 8th hole went into the gallery, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

: Michelle Wie, drops her ball after her tee shot on the 8th hole went into the gallery and a fans bag, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Throughout the week, the fans – 134,016 of them – showed up to welcome Wie and her competitors to Lancaster. Wie played her practice round in front of more fans, she said, than she had ever seen on the Monday before a tournament. As the week continued, they gravitated toward her like Mayflies above the Columbia-Wrightsville bridge.

“This whole time, we’ve had no cameras here,” said Beth Hostetter, of Leola, from her perch above the fifth-hole’s green as Wie’s group approached in front of a five television cameras on tripods and a large gallery.

Many of the fans who followed Wie’s final round Thursday noted the 25-year-old’s lanky, but athletic, 6-0 frame, her unusual bent-over putting stance and her athleticism as factors in their fascination.

“She hits it just like a guy,” Solito Reyes, of Hoboken, New Jersey, said of Wie as she lined up her second shot en route to par on the par-5 seventh hole. “She was a child prodigy. She’s just likable.”

Wie walks the first fairway after a big drive. “She kept her head high,” said a voice in the vast gallery. #LNPOpen pic.twitter.com/4NtweHu2m0

— Tim Gross (@TimGrossLNP) July 12, 2015

Wie made national waves when she became the youngest to qualify for a USGA women’s amateur competition(at 10) and an LPGA Tour event (at 12) and garnered national headlines when she missed the cut of the PGA’s Sony Open at Hawaii in 2004.

“They were talking about her being so good that she could play ith the men,” said Don Herman of Lancaster. “And then she fell to earth.” Wie won four LPGA Tour events, but none since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, battling injuries since she lifted the Harton S. Semple trophy in Pinehurst.

Entering the final day of the 2015 Open at 2-under, her round hit a snag when her tee shot on the eighth hole found its way, on one hop, inside the drawstring bag of Dawn Duvall of Vienna, Virginia, who was attending her third U.S. Open with her husband, Roy.

“I’m having trouble following them,” Duvall said of the shots coming off the eighth tee, “but I did follow hers the whole way.” Wie took a free drop en route to a bogey, joining her bogeys on holes 4 and 9 for a 3-over 38 on the front nine.

“She’s a big draw,” Duvall said of Wie, who stayed at the same hotel as the Duvalls at Pinehurst last year. “She always shows excitement and good sportsmanship. She’s very positive for the game.”

Wie demonstrated her role as an ambassador for the game with a polite wave and a nod to to the fans who applauded her after each hole and shouted words of encouragement as she traversed the Lancaster Country Club course. “What pushed me through the round today,” Wie said, “is, ‘You got this. Keep on going.’ Just hearing that, and the support that everyone gave today really got me through and kind of got me going on the back nine.”

Just wanna take a moment to thank everyone for all their support this week! Without the fans and volunteers relentlessly cheering me on, I would not have made it through the weekend. But you guys kept a smile on my face all week!! Lancaster, you ROCK! #USOPEN #USGA Ps. Really felt like my @nikegolf outfit game this week was on point ?

A photo posted by Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) on Jul 12, 2015 at 4:34pm PDT

At 4-over for the round through 10 holes, the hobbled Wie turned up her game. She birdied the par-5 13th hole and clanked the pin with a tee shot from a 2-hybrid on the par-4 16th hole.

“She has the potential to go on a Tiger (Woods) run,” Reyes said of Wie. “She’s got the skills. People are just waiting to see what will happen.”

Wie finished her day, and her stint in Lancaster, with a birdie on the par-4 18th hole.

“I was out there with the mindset that I wanted to make a charge out there today,” Wie said. “It was tough to do, but I have to say it feels really good to have gotten back to even par for today.”

Even after Wie left the course, her name lingered over Lancaster Country Club like the July humidity and the wafting cigar smoke and the buzz of excitement of the U.S. Women’s Open.

“When somebody says a girl’s going to play with the boys,” Herman said of Wie’s 2004 flirtation with the cut at a PGA event, “people take notice. She’s still in the American psyche because of that, I think.”

Tim Gross is a member of the sports staff. He can be reached at tgross@lnpnews.com or (717) 291-8666. You can also follow @ByTimGross on Twitter.

Female volunteers stand hand in hand across the 18th fairway, during the trophy presentation of the 70th US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Lancaster Country Club’s week in spotlight gets rave reviews

Posted:

When the curtain rose on the world’s stage this past week, the scene was Lancaster and the spotlight was on the Lancaster Country Club.

A field of 156 women’s golfers from 25 different countries descended on the nearly 100-year-old golf course off the New Holland Pike for the U.S. Women’s Open.

With a Fox Sports TV audience looking on and the host course setting a weeklong U.S. Open attendance record of 134,016, the course and championship turned in a performance that drew raves.

“Bringing the Women’s Open to the best courses in America, like we do for the men’s Open, is just what the USGA is looking at,” said Tom ‘OToole Jr., the president of the United States Golf Association, on Fox’s broadcast Sunday. “This is a real hidden gem here in Lancaster. Some knew about it but now the golf world knows about it.”

Nearly every golfer talked about the energy they got from the crowd, a crowd that rode the rollercoaster of Sunday’s final four or five holes, before Amy Yang’s missed par putt on No. 18 made South Korea’s In Gee Chun the 70th U.S. Open champion.

Preparation for the event went back several years and, when it was over, many felt as though the course and the county had hosted a tournament of this magnitude before.

“A fan told me that he wished the USGA ran the country because this is going so smoothly,” said Lancaster’s Steve Buterbaugh, the vice chairman of the U.S. Open planning committee.

Each day of the tournament, the executive committee schedules a 4-5 p.m. meeting. Saturday’s meeting, where the chairmen of each aspect of the tournament go over the positives and negatives, lasted just 20 minutes.
That’s how well everything ran.

Fans follow the leader down the 18th fairway, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Buterbaugh said the course, fans and operation of the tournament received high marks from the USGA, which told LCC officials that they “hit it out of the park.”

“The volunteers are whatever word would be beyond excellent and awesome,” Buterbaugh said. “Out in the heat, doing their thing with a smile on their faces.

“The other thing that’s blown me away, and I’d hoped for this, but the community reaction, especially from non-golfers, or those that said, ‘It’s (just) women’s golf,’ they were amazed at the infrastructure, how well it went and at the talent level of these players.”

Jim West, a disabled Vietnam veteran from Lebanon, was sitting under a tree between the No. 1 tee and the No. 9 green Sunday. He also attended Friday’s round.

“I used to go the Lady Keystone Open (in Hershey) and was so disappointed when they stopped it,” said the 65-year-old West. “With this atmosphere, I hope they can bring something back, even if it’s not a major. The way the Lancaster Country Club and the USGA have staged this, it’s fabulous.”

Now that the U.S. Open has come and gone, will other tournaments be coming?

It appears the course and the way the tournament was run impressed the USGA and one would think those attendance numbers would garner some attention.

Might another USGA event be staged here? How about a PGA or LPGA event?

The answer will have to wait.

“We wanted to get through this event, put the magnifying glass on this one, let the (LCC) members breathe a little bit and then solicit feedback to see if they want to do another one,” Buterbaugh said.

Buterbaugh said, however, that the committees running the tournament received better-than-expected comments from the club’s members.

“They have been engaged and they love it,” he said.

The running of the tournament did, however, require a few tweaks along the way.

For instance, the tournament needed to place more marshals in the area where several greens and tees converge, just to handle crowd bottlenecks.

One concern from spectators was the inability to get to the No. 1 tee upon arrival at the course. The area in front of and behind the clubhouse was closed due to player safety.

So, walking upon the driveway into the course, fans wanting to watch the action on the first hole had to walk down the left side of 10, cross over the 10th fairway and cross the 18th fairway.

“There was the perception that this was hard for fans, but in crossing 18, they got to see what the leaders saw on their approach to the 18th green,” Buterbaugh said.

Hosting the U.S. Open was no small job. The planning proved a monumental task. Pulling it off with a high level of success wasn’t easy, either.

But now that the final curtain has come down, the applause may echo for years to come.

Shiho Oyama, left, makes her way down the hill after teeing off on the 3rd hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Sunday changes to LCC setup made for challenge, TV drama

Posted: July 12, 2015 11:48 pm

Stacy Lewis suggested Saturday that if windmills were placed on a couple of hole locations at this U.S. Women’s Open, “it would be perfect.”

The runner-up heading into Sunday’s championship round at Lancaster Country Club was only half-kidding.

There were hole locations where the ball didn’t roll out as expected, Lewis said, and there were others where the ball rolled out way more than expected.

“There are,” she stated, “a couple of bad (holes).”

But if Saturday was bad, Sunday’s final round — at first glance — looked beastly. Not Ben Hogan-brings-the-Monster-to-its-knees beastly, but a tough test all the same.

It wasn’t just hole locations and greens, though the latter were offering a lot more roll, according to Inbee Park.

Morgan Pressel thought the greens had some “pretty severe slopes” along with “really traditional, long rough.”

Longer, So Yeon Ryu believed, than it had been. And Amy Yang, who landed in the rough on 18 for a bogey that cost her a playoff and possibly the title, thought the rough “sticky.”

There was more. Lexi Thompson spoke Saturday of having to play away from some of the pins “because they’re tucked.”

Sunday, they were tucked tighter than Jeggings on a hippo. Holes 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17 were so tightly placed they left little margin for error. Jane Park thought the pin placements “difficult … a lot of breaking putts.”

It all made for some early drama, promising a day where the course would bare its teeth and bite back after surrendering to Sunday’s competitors a combined 76 rounds of scores at or below par Thursday through Saturday.

Emma Talley, in the fourth group off the tee Sunday morning, was one of the first finishers and was 5-over for the round.

“It could have been a lot worse,” she said.

Her story was a familiar one. Of the first 45 finishers, 29 were over par and six were even.

But two other early finishers, Elizabeth Nagel and Alison Lee, told a different tale.

Lee was 4-under with five birdies, one coming on the 16th, a short dogleg-left that provides several options. The course description states that the par-4, 357-yard 16th provides the last, good chance for a birdie, provided one avoids the array of bunkers inside the dogleg.

“Definitely a birdie hole,” said Lee.

It was even more of a birdie hole Sunday after the USGA moved tee boxes up by some 110 yards. The move was made to entice contenders late in the back nine to gamble with their score in the closing rounds of a major.

The stunningly short yardage to the hole offered a test of skill and strategy, requiring golfers to take time to really consider which club they would choose.

“It is tricky trying to pick your club because I was in between driver and my 3-wood,” said Lee. “It’s risk-reward on that hole.”

The USGA acknowledged it moved the tees up to provide “great entertainment” in the closing rounds.

Ryu said the move left her praying “to the gods.” Nagel stated if she was a spectator, No. 16 is where she would have spent Sunday.

“I think that’s going to be a game-changer coming down the stretch,” she said. “I can see people making bogeys, making birdies, making eagles.

“I think it will be really good TV.”

Muni He, 3 over Sunday, agreed that the course alterations promised late-day theater.

“A lot of tough pin placements, a lot of very tilted hole locations and a lot of tee boxes have moved, so (there are) a lot shorter holes that they are going to be able to play a lot more aggressively,” she said. “It’s sure going to be really fun to watch.”

Brittany Lang, 2 under for the day, applauded the USGA’s moves.

“I love how they set the holes up different,” she said. “It’s fun to have a drivable hole like that. I think coming down the stretch with Amy Yang and Stacy, that could be a big turner right there.”

As it turned out, Yang eagled 16 and Lewis birdied it. In Gee Chun and Inbee Park also gained ground on 16, allowing them to finish first and tied for third, respectively.

The drama and theatre the USGA hoped for were realized in those final, furious rounds.
“A true Open,” said Pressel. “A tough test of golf.”

A course marshall signals the 3rd green that the next group is on their way to the tee box, during third day action of the 70th US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Saturday July 11, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Organization, volunteers to credit for smooth operations at US Women’s Open

Posted:

When you’re organizing an event as big as the U.S. Women’s Open, it takes a lot of forethought to keep things running smoothly.

All that planning seems to have paid off for the Open at Lancaster Country Club. Spectators’ reactions to the event, which ran for a full week and concluded Sunday, were overwhelmingly positive, from the shuttle buses that brought them there to the helpfulness of the volunteers.

Jack Schuring of Lititz was one of the 2,350 volunteers who were crucial to the Open. He said volunteering has been a “wonderful experience” and that he’s pleased with the gold tournament’s execution. Schuring’s father traveled from Indiana to volunteer with him.

Volunteers Jason Lyon, left of Pequea, and Greg Minnich, of Kirkwood, are operating USGA Laser Ball Positioning System on the #3 Fairway at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

“It’s actually very well-organized,” Schuring said. “It could be chaos with 2,300 volunteers, and it seems to run pretty smooth.”

Schuring was designated to monitor the roped-off area around a tee box on the southeast end of the course and raised his arms with other volunteers when a player teed off. Volunteers’ responsibilities varied, from selling merchandise to washing the golf balls.

“There’s teams for everything,” Schuring said. “Each hole has its own team, in this case. … The USGA seems to let their team captains run what they need to run.

“They trust the people they have in charge,” he said.

Christine Fritz and Carolyn Siepiela from Holmesdale are no rookies when it comes to golf tournaments, having attended The Masters on the PGA men’s tour. That prestigious tournament sets the bar high in terms of organization, they said, but they were very pleased with their time in Lancaster.

Fritz and Siepiela said the shuttle bus operation was particularly fine-tuned. The women parked at Conestoga Valley High School, one of two shuttle sites for spectators. (The other being Park City Center.)

“They were just awesome,” Fritz said. “It was nonstop, well-run.”

Siepela said parking was easy, and the shuttles were just as timely on the way back.

“Really, going back yesterday, we just got right on the bus and went back,” Siepiela said.

Judy Erb of Ephrata said she also took a shuttle bus from Conestoga Valley High School. Her experience was just as pleasant.

“That’s been great,” Erb said. “It’s very timely, you don’t have to wait long. That’s been fun.”

Erb said the volunteers were helpful in giving directions around on the course. The only aspect that left something to be desired, she said, were the paths that spectators had to use to get from one part of the course to another.

“I think you can tell that there’s a lot of thought put into it,” Erb said. “The only thing I don’t like is the walk … up from the country club all the way around to get to the other side. You can’t go through behind 18 and the grandstand. That’s a little annoying.

“Other than that, I think they’ve done a really nice job.”

Lancaster Country Club's Alli Weaver putts on No. 8 in Round 3 of the 2015 U.S. Open Saturday morning. Weaver is the "Marker" who is playing along with Haruka Morita-Wanyaolu who was unpaired. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Warwick grad Weaver relishes 2nd day as marker

Posted:

Golf is supposed to be fun, and that is exactly what Alli Weaver tried to do on Sunday, have fun.
“I didn’t keep score today,” said Weaver, who was playing as a marker for the second straight day. “I was just focused on hitting as many good shots as I can.”
While Weaver was not a part of the field, she still felt the pressure of playing in the U.S. Open.
“Today I was a lot more nervous,” she said. “I had more friends watching me and some of the (Lancaster Country Club) members were here, too.”
Although her stats didn’t count in the tournament, playing was still a big learning experience for her, she said — and something that will help in future tournaments.
“One thing’s for sure,” she said, “is that the rest of my tournaments will seem much easier after playing in this one.”

[iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/SB57RUKu53c”]

Megan Khang tees off on hole #2 in Round 3 of the U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Saturday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Megan Khang finishes as top amateur at US Women’s Open

Posted:

There’s no trophy for the top-scoring amateur at the U.S. Women’s Open. But it’s a sure bet those in that field were vying for the title.

“I did know where I was because the two behind me, Mariel (Galdiano) and Muni (He) are actually my friends, so we’re all close. I know we’re all friends, but on the golf course we’re fighting to the last second,” amateur Megan Khang said Sunday. “So I knew where I was, and I wanted it to stay that way.”

Khang entered Sunday as the leader among the bunch of five amateurs still playing into Sunday, one stroke in front of He and Galdiano, two strokes in front Emma Talley and three strokes in front of Hannah O’Sullivan.

He and O’Sullivan dropped off Sunday, both finishing at 8-over par, while Talley had a rough outing, shooting 5-over for the final round to finish 11-over for the week. Galdiano, however, shot 1-over par in Round No. 4, finishing at 6-over par for the week.

Khang admitted she “was looking, but I wasn’t really occupied about” the other amateurs. So she felt a bit of pressure Sunday when she sat at 5-over going into the 235-yard No. 16, which she then birdied in three shots.

“Going into 16, I knew I needed a birdie. But we went in there, it was (235 yards),” she said. “My dad convinced me to hit driver. So I thought I was going to hit a hard 3-wood, but driver was the right play because I could just hit it smooth and it actually went a little long. But I knew that I could get up and down, so I relied on my short game on that hole and luckily I did make birdie.”

Khang later bogeyed No. 18 to finish at 5-over par for the week. So, had she not hit the birdie on No. 16, she would’ve tied Galdiano for the highest amateur score. Instead, Khang finished all alone atop the amateur mountain.

“It’s definitely among the top,” Khang said when asked where this performance stacks up in her career. “I think maybe No. 1 right now, besides (finishing as the top U.S. Open qualifier at) Kingsmill, because it is the U.S. Women’s Open and it is the best women in the world. It’s great to compete out here with them.”

A recent graduate of Rockland (Mass.) High School, Khang is still undecided on if she’ll turn pro or go on to play in college. Her performance this week, though, will play a part in the decision.

“It does — I’m not going to lie, it does influence me a little to come out here and play on the (LPGA) Tour,” Khang said. “We’ll see how this year goes as an amateur.”

Auntie Anne's employees have had a busy week of pretzel-making at the U.S. Women's Open. (Keith Schweigert/Staff)

Auntie Anne’s employees have one of toughest gigs at US Women’s Open

Posted:

There’s no official list of the hardest to easiest jobs at Lancaster Country Club during the U.S. Women’s Open this week. Well, if there is, it hasn’t been disclosed. But there’s a group of several folks in baby-blue shirts at the course this week who could make argument for having one of toughest gigs.

All of them work for Auntie Anne’s, the Lancaster-based soft pretzel chain that has been selling its pretzels among the concessions inside LCC this week.

“The morning hours aren’t so bad, but as the day goes and more and more people find their way to the back parts of the course, that’s when things really pick up,” said Mike McCoy, a Manheim Township grad whose official title for Auntie Anne’s is vice president of franchise sales.

But this week McCoy’s job description would read like that of a cook. He’s the one manning the oven inside a tent next to the 1761 club, down the hill from Hole No. 16.

After one employee rolls out and twists pretzels into their iconic shape, sprinkles on salt, and places them onto a baking sheet, McCoy grabs the sheet and slides it into an oven, which is cranked at just over 600 degrees.

He pulls the pretzels out of the oven a few minutes later, flips the sheet down onto another sheet, and another employee uses tongs to pick up each pretzel individually, dip it in butter and place it in a sleeve.

The same happens to the batch of Pretzel Dogs that follow.

[iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/9jcG9eX1EaQ”]

This may not sound too difficult, but factor in the heat radiating from the oven, the tight working quarters in a corner of a tent — a tent getting beaten down by the rays from the hot July sun — and the fact these employees are on their feet for several hours. The conditions can get quite stifling.

“I’m easily going through 10 to 12 bottles a day (of water),” McCoy said.

He also brings an extra shirt to change into when the first one becomes weighed down in sweat.

There are four of these Auntie Anne’s work stations across the course, with employees running the pretzels ($5 a pop) and Pretzel Dogs ($6.50) to the concessions near the main gate, the walkway between No. 2 and No. 9, and near Hole No. 10.

“We’re also making sliders for the 1761 club,” said Anna Anderson, a Pequea Valley grad who works as an operations support specialist for Auntie Anne’s.

Anderson was found dipping pretzels next to McCoy on Saturday, but earlier in the week she was the driver of a shuttle bus taking employees to and from LCC and the Auntie Anne’s headquarters in Downtown Lancaster. She estimated there are about 30 to 40 employees working at LCC each day.

“We rented a 15-passenger van for this week. The first crew gets brought out around 6 a.m., then another at 9:30 a.m. and then a final group around 2 or 2:30 p.m.”

When things are running at full steam, Anderson estimates each workstation is able to bake about 60 to 70 pretzels every hour, a tally that’s actually been assisted a bit by the humidity and temperatures that have hovered in the 80s this week.

“Usually our dough takes about an hour to rise,” McCoy said. “ Out here it takes half that time.”

Standard-bearer Austin Glass watches Marina drive off the second tee Friday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Standard-bearing gives local kids on-course role in USWO

Posted:

Stacy Lewis and Amy Yang, Saturday’s final twosome, came off the 18th green to cheers and yells from the crowd, followed by a phalanx of security staff, tournament officials and media.

And Erica Corey, 13, an eighth-grader in the Manheim Township School District.

Corey was the standard-bearer, the person who walks the course with each group holding a sign identifying the players and updating their scores.

“It was up and down, up and down,” Corey said. “It made me a little nervous.”

She wasn’t talking about her job, or doing it in such high-profile circumstances.

She was talking about the golf. Corey is a big Stacy Lewis fan, so much so that, after she worked Lewis’ group in a practice round, Lewis, through her mother, requested Corey for the tournament.

It’s usually a bit more random than that. The standard-bearers, a crew of about 80, are largely local kids, many of them participants in the Lancaster County Junior Golf Tour.

One of the tour’s directors. Brian Wassell, oversaw the standard-bearers.

“The kids have been great,” Wassell said in the Lancaster Country Club cart shed, which is his HQ this week. “Everybody has shown up on time, 100 percent. Some of them are here at six in the morning, hanging out.”

Standard-bearers work with the official scorers, who digitally enter scores to central scoring and other data for the U.S.G.A. and Fox TV.

The kids enter their scores on their signs the old fashioned way, with numbers stored in bib-pockets. They try hard to be unobtrusive, and they hustle.

“You have to stay organized,” said Nick Randazzo, 15, a Janus School student who got the prime gig of Michelle Wie’s group Saturday. “I have everything arranged (in his vest) so I can get to it fast.”

A championship golf course is a five-plus-mile walk for a player. For a standard bearer, taking circuitous routes to avoid everything they have to avoid, Wassell said, it’s about six and-a-half.

The best groups have generally been assigned to more experienced, golf-savvy kids. Sunday’s last four groups: Tayler Eynan with Inbee Park and Mi Hyang Lee at 1:32 p.m.; Nick Oleksa with Wie and Chella Choi at 1:43; Tyler Wassell with Shiho Oyama and In Gee Chun at 1:54 and Lewis and Yang at 2:05 p.m.

Erica Corey will watch Lewis from the gallery. She has the day off.

In Gee Chun, center, excepts the trophy from Thomas J. O’Toole Jr., President of the USGA, as Candie Kung, low amateur and Amy Yang, runner-up, watch the action after the final round of the US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

In Gee Chun wins 2015 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club

Posted:

South Korea’s In Gee Chun birdied four of the last seven holes to rally for a one-stroke victory at the U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday in front of a record crowd at Lancaster Country Club.

Following the conclusion of the event, USGA officials announced that Lancaster Country Club set a new attendance record for the Women’s Open, with 134,016 spectators over the course of the week. The previous record had been held by the 2005 Open at Cherry Hills outside Denver. The championship attracted 131,298 that week.

In Gee Chun, center, holds the trophy and high fives members of the grounds crew after winning the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

The 20-year old Chun shot a 4-under 66 in the final round and finished at 8 under, becoming the first player to win her U.S. Open debut since Birdie Kim in 2005. It was her fifth victory this year.

Third-round leader Amy Yang struggled in the middle of her round and then pulled within one by going eagle-birdie at Nos. 16 and 17. But she bogeyed the 18th and fell a stroke short.

Playing in the final group on the last day of the championship for the third time in four years, Yang squandered a three-stroke lead and settled for a 1-over 71 and second at 273.

Two-time champion and top-ranked Inbee Park (67) overcame putting woes and rallied late, tying for third with Stacy Lewis (70) at 5-under 275.

Defending champion Michelle Wie battled hip and leg injuries and limped in with an even-par 70, placing 11th at 2-under 278.

With most of the focus on the final pairing of Yang and Lewis, Chun, playing a group ahead, quietly picked up strokes on the leaders. At 4 under heading into the final round at Lancaster Country Club, Chun picked up two strokes on the front nine, closing within two of the lead.

She got within a stroke with a birdie at the 12th, and then rolled in a nine-foot putt at No. 15 for the first of three straight birdies. She moved into the lead with a birdie at 16 as Yang and Lewis struggled. She added another birdie at the 17th to stretch her lead to two strokes.

Korea’s In Gee Chun, holds up the championship trophy, during the trophy presentation of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

At the troublesome 421-yard, uphill closing hole, Chun drove into the rough, chipped short and went on to make bogey, falling into a tie for the lead with Yang, who birdied 17.

But Yang failed again in her bid to claim the biggest prize in women’s golf. She also drove into the rough at the last hole, chipped short of the green and failed to get up-and-down for par, giving Chun the win.

Lewis’ bid for her first U.S. Open title was foiled by a pair of double-bogeys, with the most costly one coming at 15, a hole after she had moved into a tie for the lead. At the 15th, she drove into the rough, hit her second shot through the fairway, and then dumped her third shot into a greenside bunker before taking a 6 and falling out of contention.

Park had three birdies on the back nine. Within two shots of the lead through 16 holes, the putting woes that dogged the 2008 and 2013 winner returned and her bid ended with a three-putt bogey at the 17th.

Wie grimaced in pain throughout the round. The nagging left hip and leg issues that have made this a forgettable season for the 25-year-old four-time LPGA Tour winner seemed to intensify in the final round.

Wie repeatedly cringed and tried to take weight off her right side after drives. Her final round did have one highlight, with her drive at the 234-yard, par-4 16th hitting the flagstick before she rolled in the short eagle putt.

Megan Khang was the championship’s low amateur. The 17-year-old from Rockland, Massachusetts, closed with a 1-over 71 and finished at 5-over 285. She bested Mariel Galdiano, a 17-year-old from Hawaii, by a stroke.

Fan favorite Laura Davies, who is to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at St. Andrews on Monday, closed with her worst round of the championship, a 5-over 75. The 1987 champion, who was the oldest player in the field at 51, finished at 7-over 287.

Canadian teenager Brooke Henderson helped her bid to lock up LPGA Tour playing privileges for next season. The 17-year-old had a closing 4-under 66 and rocketed up the leaderboard, tying for fifth at 3-under 277.

In Gee Chun, tees off on the 4th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

More coverage

Michelle Wie, reacts after missing her par putt on the 8th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Mike Gross: In Gee Chun was a rookie who was well-prepared for this day

Lancaster Country Club gets rave reviews for its week as host

LCC spectators help Michelle Wie get through a tough weekend

Sunday course changes helped to up the drama at Lancaster Country Club

Sunday’s U.S. Women’s Open photo gallery

Auntie Anne’s employees have one of the toughest gigs at the Open

Todd Bidlespacher’s handiwork comes to the fore at Open

[youtube id=”SB57RUKu53c” align=”center” mode=”normal” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”550″]

Photo Gallery: Sunday at the U.S. Women’s Open

Paula Creamer putts on #4 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women's Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Paula Creamer putts on #2 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Kayakers were out in full force on the Conestoga River during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Members of the media work at the 18th green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Ladies hold hands on the 18th fairway as the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club concludes on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

King Knox, right, takes a photos of his LCC amigos after the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Golf fans watch the action near the seventh green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

In Gee Chun and her caddie work on yardage for the 15th green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

In Gee Chun, hits her approach shot to the 15th green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Golf fans watch the action near the fifth green and sixth tee during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Golf fans watch the action near the fifth green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

The 1761 Club, near 12 green was a great place to watch the action during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Stacy Lewis hits her pitch shot to the fifth green after landing her second shot into Stauffer Run, during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Travis Wilson and Stacy Lewis approach the eighth green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Stacy Lewis reacts after her putt on the eighth green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Travis Wilson and Stacy Lewis look over her putt on the sixth green during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Stacy Lewis watches her second shot into the fourth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Travis Wilson and Stacy Lewis work on yardage on the 12th tee during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Stacy Lewis looks at her golf ball and realizes her dream is slipping out of her hands after a double bogie on the 15th hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang acknowledges the crowd after finishing her round on the 18th hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang hits a pitch shot on the 15th hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang watches her tee ball on the 13th hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang acknowledges the crowd after a putt on the eighth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang watches her putt on the eighth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang and David Poitevent read a putt on the eighth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang and David Poitevent line up a birdie putt on the sixth hole as Stacy Lewis waits to put during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang watches her tee ball on the sixth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang, center, fixes her ball mark on the fifth hole as Stacy Lewis, left, tries to recover after hitting her second shot into Stauffer Run and taking a double bogie during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Stacy Lewis has Amy Yang move her ball marker on the fourth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang watches her tee shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang watches her second shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang watches her putt on the third hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang and her caddie David Poitevent, talk about the break of her putt on the third hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang and her caddie David Poitevent watch her second shot into the third hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

Amy Yang hits her second shot from a fairway bunker on the second hole during the final round of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Photo/Suzette Wenger)

In Gee Chun talks through an interpreter in a press conference after winning the 2015 U.S. Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Michelle Wie tees off on #1 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women's open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Michelle Wie tees off on #1 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Michelle Wie watches her shot from the fairway on #1 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women's open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Michelle Wie watches her shot from the fairway on #1 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Michelle Wie teeing off on #2 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women's open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Michelle Wie teeing off on #2 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Chella Choi teeing off on #2at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women's open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Chella Choi teeing off on #2at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Michelle Wie looks over her put on the #2 green at Lancaster Country Club during Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Michelle Wie, left, and Chella Choi walk across the birdge on #8 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Female volunteers stand hand in hand across the 18th fairway, during the trophy presentation of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Winner In Gee Chun, right, waves to the crowd as runner up Amy Yang, looks on, during the trophy presentation of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Korea’s In Gee Chun, holds up the championship trophy, during the trophy presentation of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Mi Hyang Lee, blasts out of the bunker on the 18th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Fans take in the action on the 18th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Stanford University alumni Michelle Wie, sports her Nerd Nation notebook on the 18th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. Nerd Nation, is what Stanford athletes call their school. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Fans follow the leader down the 18th fairway, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, hits her approach shot onto the 18th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Winner In Gee Chun, kisses the championship trophy, during the trophy presentation of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun holds her trophy after winning the 2015 U.S. Open at Lancaster Country Club. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Amy Yang talks about her finish in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open durig a press conference Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Amy Yang waves to the crowd after finisher the final round of the 2015 U.S. Open with a bogey 18 to finish second. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

In Gee Chun hands her putter to her caddie after getting a bogie on 18 in her final round of the 2015 U.S. Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday. Chun finished eight under to won the championship after Amy Yang also bogied 18. To the left of Chun is Shiho Oyama. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

In Gee Chun hands her putter to her caddie after getting a bogey on 18 in her final round of the 2015 U.S. Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday. Chun finished eight under to won the championship after Amy Yang also bogied 18. To the left of Chun is Shiho Oyama. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Amy Yang tees off at #14 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women's open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Amy Yang tees off at #14 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Stacy Lewis Putts on #14 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women's open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Stacy Lewis Putts on #14 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Patrick Blain)

Shiho Oyama, hits her approach shot on the 1st hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, eyes up a putt on the 2nd hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, left, makes her way down the hill after teeing off on the 3rd hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, hits off the fairway on the 3rd hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, tees off on the 4th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, tees off on the 4th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, putts on the 4th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, hits her approach shot on the 5th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, hits her approach shot on the 5th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, hits out of the bunker on the 8th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, hits out of the rough on the 9th fairway, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, waves to the crowd as she walks onto the 1st green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, kneeling, looks to the crowd for ball placement after Shiho Oyama’s ball hit hers and moved it on the 1st hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, eyes up a putt on the 2nd hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, waves to the crowd after a birdie on the 3rd hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Michelle Wie, putts on the 5th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, reacts after a birdie putt on the 6th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Shiho Oyama, acknowledges the crowd after a birdie on the 6th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Michelle Wie, reacts after missing her par putt on the 8th hole, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

In Gee Chun, slaps hands with fans as she makes her way to the 6th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Michelle Wie, reaches into a fans bag to retrieve her ball after her tee shot on the 8th hole went into the gallery, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Michelle Wie, drops her ball after her tee shot on the 8th hole went into the gallery and a fans bag, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Michelle Wie, chips onto the 8th green, during final day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Sunday July 12, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Morgan Reese, of Hershey, right, watches Morgan Pressel as she makes her way from the #6 tee at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Inbee Park tees off on hole #2 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Mi Hyang Leed tees of at hole #2 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Inbee park looks over hole #3 before teeing off Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Mi Hyang Leed hits out of the sand on hole #3 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Inbee Park hits out of the sand on hole #3 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. On this shot the ball hit the flag stick and rolled back to the rough. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Mi Hyang Leed tees of at hole #4 at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Mi Hyang Lee and Inbee Park and their caddies walk the #4 fairway at Lancaster Country Club on Round 4 of the U.S. Women’s open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Before teeing off Paula Creamer and her caddie discuss hole #3 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Sei Young Kim tees off from #3 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Lala Anai shades herself with and umbrella while on the #6 green at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Alison Lee tees off on #6 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Jayne Marie Green tees off on #6 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Spectators make their way down the hill to the Conestoga River from #3 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Mirim Lee tees off on #6 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 4 of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sunday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)