Waverley Country Club, in Portland, Ore., has been chosen by the USGA as the host site for the 5th U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship. The dates of the competition are Aug. 24-27, 2023.
“The USGA and Waverley Country Club have worked closely together for decades, and it’s always exciting to return to a club where we have such robust women’s golf history,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “The U.S. Senior Women’s Open has been conducted at incredible venues, and we can’t wait to bring it to Oregon.”
The Portland club will be hosting its eighth USGA championship. Waverley Country Club first hosted the 1952 U.S. Women’s Amateur, won by Jackie Pung, followed by the 1964 U.S. Senior Amateur, won by William Higgins. In 1970, Lanny Wadkins defeated Tom Kite by one stroke in the sixth of the eight U.S. Amateur Championships that were conducted at 72 holes of stroke play. In 1981, Juli Inkster captured the second of her three consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur titles, while in 1993, Tiger Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur. In 2000, Marcy Newton won the 100th U.S. Women’s Amateur, and most recently, Judith Kyrinis captured the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Waverley will join Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club and Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., as the only clubs to host a USGA championship in each of the eight decades since the 1950s (Merion has hosted in 13 consecutive decades, since the 1900s).
“Waverley Country Club is such a special venue and brings back wonderful memories of my USGA title,” said Kyrinis, of Canada. “To have this club be one of the first to host the U.S. Senior Women’s Open is incredibly exciting. As Juli Inkster said at our U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur players’ dinner, ‘You have to golf your ball around Waverley, there is no faking it.’ This championship is just getting started and I can’t wait to see what is in store.”
The 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be the 40th USGA championship to take place in Oregon. In 1896, Waverley became the second private golf club established west of the Mississippi River. Two-time U.S. Amateur champion H. Chandler Egan designed the present course on the east bank of the Willamette River, south of downtown Portland, between 1912 and 1924, and continued to make improvements to the classic layout until his death in 1936. In 2012, Gil Hanse led a course restoration project, reestablishing greens and bunkers and removing trees to uncover long hidden river views.
“All of us at Waverley are very excited to host the 5th U.S. Senior Women’s Open,” said Linda Williams, president of Waverley Country Club. “Championship golf has been at the core of the club’s 126-year history. We are thrilled to be a part of a growing championship like the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. The golf course will provide an incredible stage, and the membership and community will provide unmatched hospitality.”
The U.S. Senior Women’s Open is open to professional females, and amateur females with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 7.4, who have reached their 50th birthday as of the first day of the championship. The field will include 120 players, who will earn entry into the championship via qualifying at various sites nationwide or through an exemption category.
The format is a walking-only, 72-hole stroke play competition over four consecutive days with a 36-hole cut to the top 50 players, including ties. Laura Davies of England won the inaugural edition in 2018 at Chicago Golf Club, and Helen Alfredsson of Sweden won in 2019 at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C. Annika Sorenstam of Sweden won the 3rd U.S. Senior Women’s Open by eight strokes in her championship debut at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn. The 4th U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be contested Aug. 25-28, 2022, at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio.
