Posted: July 8, 2015 1:54 am

The last time the U.S. Women’s Open was played in Pennsylvania, Paula Creamer was the champion. Five years later, the open is back in the state and Creamer is hoping for a repeat performance.

“I feel very good,” Creamer said. “I think that I’m driving the ball really well. I’m hitting my irons well. I’m putting so much better than I have, I think, in the last four years. And it’s just putting a good week together.”

Creamer won that U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, a course that presents a demanding test. Creamer passed and finished as the only player under par for the tournament. She sees some similarities between Oakmont and Lancaster Country Club.

“It’s actually very similar in tees to greens. There are lots of rolling hills, side hills,” Creamer said. “You cannot get above certain greens. That was the number one thing at Oakmont and that’s a big part of it here. Sometimes you have to realize that you’re going to have a 25-footer downhill because the false fronts are so big. But other than that, staying below the hole is definitely identical to Oakmont.”

While the course is tough, Creamer sees some birdie opportunities, particularly on the front nine.

“I think more of the birdie holes are on the front nine,” she said. “I think one, you hit a good drive and you can feed your second shot into there. On two — three, I think is a good par hole, it’s just that drive, that tee shot, and where they put us on the box, either way, it’s kind of a sloping green. Four you have a good chance with a wedge in your hand.”

Also, in typical U.S. Open fashion, there are plenty of hard holes that present a multitude of challenges.

“Ten is a great par-4,” Creamer said. “Eleven is going up the hill with that green, I don’t know — thank goodness it’s not firm and fast on that. I don’t know how you could hit a shot into that.
“But I think with the big holes you really just take your par,” she added.

One of the biggest holes at LCC is the finishing hole. A long uphill par-4, many players were hitting woods into the green as their second shots, something not usually seen with a par-4. Creamer however, has embraced the challenge.

“Eighteen is a great finishing hole,” she said.

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