U.S. Senior Women’s Open: Everything you need to know

Event starts Thursday at NCR Country Club

The fourth U.S. Senior Women’s Open begins Thursday at NCR Country Club in Kettering.

Here’s a breakdown of what fans need to know about the tournament:

Tournament format: Golfers will play four rounds of 18 holes Thursday through Sunday. A field of 120 golfers will be cut to the low 50 scores and ties after 36 holes.

Ticket info: Fans can buy tickets at usseniorwomensopen.com. Daily grounds tickets cost $30, or fans can buy two for $50. All juniors 18 and under receive complimentary admission with a ticketed adult.

Broadcast info: The event will air live from 3-6 p.m. on Peacock on Saturday. The Golf Channel will rebroadcast the Saturday coverage from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

On Sunday, the tournament will air live on Peacock from 2:30-5:30 p.m. The Golf Channel will have coverage from 7-9 p.m.

Purse: A total of $1 million is on the line. The winner receives approximately $180,000 as well as a championship exemption for the next 10 years or through the age of 65, an exemption for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, a gold medal and custody of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open trophy for one year.

Tournament history: The USGA announced on Feb. 6, 2015, it would establish a U.S. Senior Women’s Open. The first tournament took place in 2018. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Past winners: Laura Davies won the first championship at Chicago Golf Club, beating Juli Inkster by 10 strokes. Helen Alfredsson won at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in 2019. In 2021, Annika Sörenstam led wire to wire and beat Liselotte Neumann by eight strokes at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn.

NCR Country Club history: This will be the fifth USGA championship at the club, which opened in 1954. Jane Geddes won the U.S. Women’s Open at NCR in 1986. In 1998, John “Spider” Miller won the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Allen Doyle won the U.S. Senior Open in 2005. NCR Country hosted the Women’s State Team championship in 2013, and New Jersey won the title.

The tournament will be played on the South Course, which is 6,119 yards in length. Par is 37-36–73.

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Ohio’s USGA history: This will be the 41st USGA championship in the Buckeye State, which most recently hosted the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2019 in Toledo. Only Inverness Club (8) in Toledo and Canterbury Golf Club (5) in Cleveland have hosted more events than NCR.

Who’s the favorite: Sörenstam, a three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion (1995, 1996 and 2006), returns to defend her title. The field also includes the two other U.S. Senior Women's Open champions: Alfredsson and Davies, who won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1987

Eight other U.S. Open champions will compete for their first Senior Open championship: Amy Alcott (1980); JoAnne Carner (1971, 1976); Geddes (1986); Inkster (1999, 2002); Neumann (1988); Alison Nicholas (1997); Hollis Stacy (1977, 1978 and 1984); and Jan Stephenson (1983).

Ohio golfers: Cheryl Fox, 55, is from Tiffin. She’s the director of golf at Fostoria Country Club. She has played in the U.S. Senior Women's Open three times.

• Adele Snyder, 52, is from Lebanon, Ohio. She was a three-time All-American at Stanford and is now a director of sales for Kroger.

• Suzi Spotleson, 55, is from Canton. She played college softball at Northwestern University. She picked up golf after college and won the Ohio State Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur titles in 2017, 2018 and 2021. She works as a banking compliance leader at Synchrony Financial.

Age range: The oldest golfer in the field is JoAnne Carner, 83, of Kirkland, Wash. She’s an eight-time USGA champion. Christine Lindsey, 50, of Lousville, Ky., is the youngest golfer. The tournament is open to golfers who turn 50 before the first day of competition.

Nations represented: There are 93 golfers from the United States. The other countries represented are: Japan (7); England (4); Sweden (4); Canada (6); Scotland (2); Australia (2); India (1); Italy (1); and Peru (1).

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