U.S Women’s Open Will Play on Courses Once Reserved for Men

The U.S. Women’s Open tees off Thursday from Erin Hills, as the USGA continues the trend of hosting the major championship at prestigious golf courses once reserved for its men’s counterpart.

This marks the first time the U.S. Women’s Open is being played at the Wisconsin course, which was the site of the 2017 men’s U.S. Open won by Brooks Koepka. 

Over the next two decades, the U.S. Women’s Open is scheduled to be played at nine more courses that are also hosting men’s U.S. Opens—many of them multiple times.

It’s a trend that kicked into high gear in 2023 when the U.S. Women’s Open was played at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links for the first time. The famous California course will host the women’s major again in 2035, 2040, and 2048, while hosting the men’s in 2027, 2032, 2037, and 2044.

Next year’s U.S. Women’s Open will be held at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, the site of the 2031 men’s U.S. Open and the host of the golf competition at the 2028 Olympics. In 2028, the U.S. Women’s Open will go to Oakmont Country Club, the difficult Pittsburgh course that is hosting the men’s championship next month, and return in 2038.

In 2029, the women’s and men’s U.S. Opens will be played in consecutive weeks at Pinehurst No. 2. It will mark the first such instance since 2014 at the same course.

Other courses hosting both the men’s and women’s championships include Oakland Hills Country Club, Los Angeles Country Club, Merion Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, and The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. 

Taking the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens to so many of the same courses is made possible in part by the USGA’s new “anchor sites” strategy that allows it to build permanent infrastructure at many sites it plans on returning to on a regular basis.

Money Talks

Once again, the U.S. Women’s Open is offering a record $12 million in prize money, which is the same amount as last year’s edition and still the most lucrative event in women’s golf. The winner will pocket $2.4 million, also equal to what Yuka Saso made for winning at Lancaster Country Club in 2024. 

That’s not the biggest winner’s check in women’s golf, though, as last year’s CME Group Tour Championship, the LPGA’s season-ending tournament, paid out $4 million to Jeeno Thitikul from an $11 million purse.