COVERAGE: USGA Returns To ‘Golf Gem’ Fox Chapel With Women’s Senior Open

FOX CHAPEL, Pa. — While the Seth Raynor-designed Fox Chapel Golf Club opened more than one hundred years ago, and the players in this week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open are naturally quite experienced, the championship itself is rather youthful.

Established in 2018, the Senior Women’s Open is the youngest of the 14 national championships the United States Golf Association conducts every year. For comparison’s sake, its counterpart on the men’s side was launched back in 1980.

Regardless of the delay for an open championship option for females 50 and older — for reference, the USGA has played the Senior Women’s Amateur since 1962 — the Senior Women’s Open has produced fan-friendly results in its short history.

Popular European pros Laura Davies (2018) and Annika Sörenstam (2021) have won the event already; erstwhile American star and recent World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Juli Inkster has finished runner-up twice. And last year in Oregon, 58-year-old Englishwoman Trish Johnson out-dueled recent Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew of Scotland to claim the title, making it five winners in the five years this championship has been held.

All five previous winners are in the field this weekend, including 2022 winner Jill McGill of Colorado, who is the only American to claim the trophy so far. However, with all due respect to the rest of the field, there will be a distinct hometown favorite treading Fox Chapel’s fairways, even if her serious competitive days are behind her.

Sewickley native Carol Semple Thompson, 75, received a special exemption into the field, an honor befitting her remarkable seven USGA championships, which rank fifth all-time regardless of gender.

“When I received this special exemption, I was absolutely thrilled,” Semple Thompson told a USGA media day congregation last month. “I thought about trying to qualify, but I wasn’t sure I would’ve qualified.

“My game is a little more mature than I would like,” she added with a smile.

Semple Thompson is one of six Hall of Famers in the 120-player field, along with contenders Davies, Sörenstam and Inkster, plus fellow venerable ‘super-seniors’ Hollis Stacy (70 years old) and JoAnne Gunderson Carner (85).

This is the 122nd USGA championship for Semple Thompson, whose father served as USGA president in the mid-1970s. She previously played at Fox Chapel — where she is an honorary member — in the 1985 Women’s Amateur and the Curtis Cup team competition in 2002.

It was in the latter event that Thompson, then 53, nailed a 30-foot putt on the final hole of competition to allow the American team to retain the Cup against Great Britain and Ireland.

“I think the golf course might be a little long for me, but I’m really looking forward to being here,” Semple Thompson said. “It’s one of my favorite golf courses. It’s my favorite in the Pittsburgh area, certainly. It’s absolutely wonderful.

“I find that each hole is different. The yardage will be healthy. It’s a good length, I think. It’s too long for me, but it’ll be a good challenge for so many of the good players who are still in their primes in their 50s and 60s. It’s beautiful and it’s challenging.”

Fans who attend the tournament — adult tickets start at $16 for a daily pass, with kids 17 and under free — will notice some unique features in the USGA’s presentation.

For one, the only areas roped off will be the tees and greens, so ticketed customers will be able to traverse the Fox Chapel fairways along with the competitors.

“I compare it to courtside seats at an NBA game,” said tournament assistant director Katherine Khoury. “Even if you don’t follow women’s golf closely, come out and walk this course and see what the golfers are going to face in a championship setup.”

Khoury also highlighted the option of a $35 ticket, which gains the holder entry to the upgraded experience of the ‘Pittsburgh Pavilion’ — a hospitality depot that will offer copious views of the course along with an open-air sports bar.

USGA director of championships Laura Martinsen said the course will play to a par 71 at just under 6,000 yards. Greens will stimp around 12, with a directive to keep the conditions “firm and fast,” at least as much as weather cooperates. Players will compete in stroke play over four rounds Thursday through Sunday, with a two-hole aggregate playoff waiting to break a tie through 72 holes.

“We showcase the best players by competing at the cathedrals of the game,” Martinsen said. “We provide golf’s ultimate test, where players have to compete physically and mentally, and get every club in the bag dirty.”

Fox Chapel catches the eye immediately due to that distinctive Raynor look, which combines inspiration from British Isles classics with sharply squared-off greens.

The layout got away from the original design for a while, but capped by a Tom Fazio renovation in 2020, Fox Chapel looks very much as it did back in its opening years. Martinsen said the recent changes included moving fairway bunkers forward to match modern players’ length off the tee, plus a focus on returning the greens to their original looks.

“I think overall when we’re looking at the golf course, we’re looking for ‘tough but fair,” Khoury added. “From a club perspective, we’re looking for a community that is behind the championship. We’ll have some ‘anchor sites’ for this championship, but you’ll see some new courses in the upcoming years. Places we’ve played a long time ago and would like to go back to.”

Fox Chapel would certainly fall in that category of rediscovered classics, especially now that its original features have largely been rejuvenated.

And when it came to this course landing this championship, it helped that the USGA is accustomed to visiting Pittsburgh regularly, a trend highlighted by the U.S. Open’s ritual return to Oakmont Country Club every several years or so.

“Pittsburgh is a major city, and I think this community supports golf and supports sports in general,” Khoury said. “Western Pennsylvania is truly a golf gem, and Fox Chapel in particular.”

Oakmont has hosted the U.S. Women’s Open twice and will again in 2028, but this is nevertheless a first for the seniors in this region.

“I certainly hope Pittsburgh will turn out to see these wonderful players,” Semple Thompson said. “I believe women (golfers) don’t get as much credit as they deserve.”

Martinsen said the reunion-like atmosphere of this championship has been striking in its short history, to the point that she thinks it adds to the fan experience.

“It’s not only a challenging competition, but also a gathering of lifelong friends,” Martinsen said. “It’s a who’s who of women’s golf. When the players arrive onsite, you’ll really feel this unbelievable strong connection and energy. They care for each other.”

PSN’s Alan Saunders contributed reporting to this story.