The Country Club’s new foursome
Open back in 2038; Women’s in 2045
The Country Club is quickly becoming a favorite of the United States Golf Association.
Over a span of 15 years beginning in 2030, The Country Club will host four USGA championships — including its first-ever US Women’s Open and its fifth US Open — the USGA announced Thursday at the historic Brookline club.
The return of the men’s major, which also was played at The Country Club last summer, will be in 2038, a 16-year gap markedly shorter than previous waits between 1913, 1963, 1988, and 2022.
The US Girls’ Junior will return in 2030 for the first time since 1953, followed by the US Amateur in 2034.
The US Women’s Open will be played in Brookline in 2045. By then, said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer, the “supercharging” of women’s sports that began this decade should be in full force.
“Women are playing more than ever before and they’re competing more, at least in our championships,” said Bodenhamer. “We think it’s a great trend for the game and it really gets to one of our strategies, to make the game more inclusive. We want everybody to be welcome.”
Lyman Bullard, president of the 141-year-old club, said conversations about bringing more events to Brookline began before the 2022 US Open but the USGA wanted to wait to see how that tournament went.
“I’d say it went pretty well, so we sat down then to look at the right mix of championships and sort of spread out the championships,” said Bullard.
Given that The Country Club is not a golf-only facility, it can’t host large tournaments with great frequency. But club officials understand the value of becoming a regular on the USGA calendar.
“We couldn’t be more excited to host this wonderful foursome, if you want to call it that, of future championships,” said Bullard. “We strongly share the USGA’s goal to grow participation and the profile of women’s golf worldwide. So we’re thrilled to be hosting the girls for the first time since 1953 and the Women’s Open for the first time ever.
One compelling factor in the timeline for the US Open was that 2038 will mark the 125th anniversary of Brookline native Francis Ouimet’s US Open victory at The Country Club in 1913.
“We started there,” said Bodenhamer. “We toyed with a number of championships. We talked about a Women’s Open first but we thought, ‘No, let’s have a US Amateur like we did right before the US Open, let’s have a Girls’ Junior, and then that can transcend into something a few years later for the girls playing in the Women’s Open.’ ”
Ouimet, who grew up across the street from The Country Club and caddied there, won the US Open as an amateur, a victory that helped launch golf into the US sports mainstream.
Half a century later, Julius Boros won the 1963 US Open in a playoff against Arnold Palmer and Jacky Cupit. Twenty-five years later, the US Open returned and again required a playoff, in which Curtis Strange beat Nick Faldo.
Last year, Matt Fitzpatrick won the 122nd US Open, the second time in his career he lifted a trophy at The Country Club. Ten years earlier, Fitzpatrick won the 2013 US Amateur, the last USGA championship held at the club before the return of the US Open.