ERIN — With the 80th edition of the U.S. Women's Open Championship just under nine months away, preparations are underway at Erin Hills Golf Course.
“While we've had four previous USGA championships here—quite notably the 2017 U.S. Open—the women are going to play this course a bit differently than the men did,” Shannon Roullard, USGA senior director of championships, shared.
With a tumbling terrain shaped by glaciers, Erin Hills is truly a course like no other.
The course opened in 2006 and covers 652 acres. Erin Hills will be set up at 6,835 yards and will play to a par of 36-36-72 at next year's championship.
“It's a great golf course, but just the very natural setting that you have is pretty special,” Darin Bevard, USGA senior director of championship agronomy, expressed.
Watch: Erin Hills offers 'first look' ahead of 2025 U.S. Women's Open Championship
During Tuesday's media availability, which offered a "first look" at the championship course, Rouillard said the goal is to "let Erin Hills be Erin Hills."
“There are times where the USGA is known to go in and just really narrow a golf course,” she explained. "We didn't want to do that to Erin Hills. This golf course is meant to play wide.”
It’s been a championship several years in the making, with Erin Hills stretching the tee grounds on five of its holes in preparation for next May.
However, that isn't the biggest change Erin Hills has seen since the U.S. Open in 2017.
"We had fine fescue fairways, but those fairways also had some contamination in them," Zach Reineking, Erin Hills senior director of course maintenance, shared.
The course underwent a huge transformation in summer 2022, converting its fairways from fine fescue to bentgrass.
“There was concern—because Erin Hills is supposed to play firm and fast—that going with bentgrass would alter that," Bevard explained. "If you looked at them when you were walking around (today), they're pretty much like carpets, so the transition's gone very well.”
Additionally, after four-plus inches of rain at the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur, Erin Hills renovated all 138 of its bunkers to help increase the course's infiltration rates.
“Our bunkers were 15 years old," Reineking explained. "New sand was placed back in, new drainage was installed, and what that does is it really provides us a consistent playing surface.”
Erin Hills closes to the public on Oct. 13 and won’t open until after the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Championship ends in mid-June.
The tournament takes place May 29 to June 1.
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