Friday, May 02, 2008

2009 US Women's Open Course Preview



I traveled quite a bit last month, and one stop was at the Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, PA, which is the home of the former Bethlehem Steel.

I played the Old Course, which will be the venue of the 2009 US Women's Open. The Old Course is the oldest and one of three courses along with the Grace Course and the Weyhill Course.

As you can see from the pictures, it's a traditional course, which I prefer. The fairways are pretty wide, but I suspect as the leaves grow in the fairways will appear narrower. The greens were pretty fast, even as they were recovering from being punched and sanded. I can only imagine the stimpmeter reading when the ladies take on the Old Course in the Open.

I saw some of the holes of the other two courses and can only imagine the difficulty of the Weyhill Course. Besides the difficult layout, it would be fun to play on a course originally built because Mr. Eugene Grace, the founder of Saucon Valley, forbade women from playing on it. Today women can play it if they're up for the challenge.

Saucon Valley even has its own guest house, The Weyhill Guest House, which is quaint and built in 1788.

I've been fortunate to have played SF Country Club, Medinah Country Club, and Pebble Beach thus far. I now add Saucon Valley and would be honored to play any and all again.

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