The golfers who tee up at Lancaster Country Club for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open will have their work cut out for them, according to two experienced local golfers who know the course well and have tamed it in the past.

A reporter for LNP | LancasterOnline, who teed up at a media event last month, is not one of them. The reporter (me) mentally unraveled almost from the first touch of the golf cart accelerator.

Faced with blind dog-leg turns, rough-cut grass that swallowed balls and putting greens that could’ve been serviced by a Zamboni, this unpolished golfer with a gravity-defying slice was more insurance liability than athlete.

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Elle Overly of Warwick, hits her approach shot on the 18th hole during the Lancaster-Lebanon League Golf Championship at Tanglewood Manor Golf Club on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Overly won the Girls Tournament and finished in 5th place overall shooting a three-over par 75.

Warwick High School junior Elle Overly, on the other hand, has kept her central nervous system fully intact when at the Lancaster Country Club, enough to develop fond memories of her time playing the challenging course. She won the Lancaster County Junior Golf Tour Championship there last summer. 

“It’s probably the most beautiful course I’ve ever played,” Overly, 17, said. “It’s fun to play, like it’ll challenge you, and it makes you think.” Overly has also caddied at the course and watched others succumb to its dirty tricks.

She said the 12th hole, a par 3, is fun because of the precision it requires from players. Lay the ball up in front of the pin, Overly said, and you risk landing on the green’s false front, a hard-to-detect slope that guides balls off of it, likely adding a stroke to the hole.

Aim past the pin, Overly said, and players can end up in a bunker behind the green.

 

MORE COVERAGE AHEAD OF THE U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

In her championship run last year, Overly said she birdied No. 12 — holing out in just two shots — outmatching the historic course’s architect, William Flynn.

Lancaster Ladies City-County Golf Assoc. Amateur
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Haley Goodling, waves to the gallery after finishing up on the 18th green, during the Lancaster Ladies' City County Golf Association's Amateur Tournament at Bent Creek Country Club Monday July 13, 2020.

Haley Goodling, of Mount Joy, is someone who also knows the joys, and the pain, of the course.

The former Monmouth University golfer said she’s played the course periodically for years and said it requires power. It’ll be interesting to see how far back the tee boxes will be for the Open.

Players would likely benefit from a local caddy who knows the greens, Goodling said. “There’s a lot of tricky slopes, and they’re pretty big too, so when you’re on the wrong side of the green, that can be a problem.”

The par-5 seventh hole, Goodling said, is a good example.

“The green is tucked up right against the water,” she said.

Even a pretty good shot on the wrong end of the green could make its way into the water.

Goodling, 27, now an auditor at Trout CPA, knows from experience. At an amateur tournament several years ago, Goodling said at the seventh hole she had hit a chip right on the spot in the green she had wanted.

But the greens were hard and fast.

“It just kept going and going, and then it just went into the water,” Goodling said with a laugh.

Goodling and Overly both said they’ll be attending the tournament and are excited to see how the best in the world cope with some of the same shots and conditions.

Goodling said she’ll likely pay special attention to the 16th hole, a short par 4 that could be set up for some players to try to get on the green in one shot.

Overly will be checking to see how many of the best in the world can match her birdie on the 12th.

On golfers who struggle with the game, the teen put it all in perspective: “It’s not a game of perfect,” she said, “and you can’t be perfect all the time, but if you practice and play as much as you can, you’ll get better.”

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