Why Is the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open Turning Into a Nightmare: Hole 12 at Lancaster Golf Club Explored

The Lancaster Country Cub has been one of the toughest and most sought-after golf courses to defeat in golf’s history. And when coupled with the nightmarish Hole 12, things turn for the worse for the golfers. The world no. 1 Nelly Korda knows all about the ordeal of the par 3 12th hole but she was not the only one.

Andrea Lea, who secured T2 position on the leaderboard after the first round and reigning U.S. Women’s Open winner Allisen Corpuz also found the 12th hole to be one of the toughest to play on at the Lancaster CC. But what might be the reason that the par-3 12th hole saw 48 penalties and had the golfers puzzled?

Two reasons why the 12th hole created havoc at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open

A few reasons could be the water creek that Gaby Lopez and Ingrid Lindblad came across on the back side of the 12th hole. Then the difficult choice of the correct iron that needed to be used at the 12th hole. Korda recalled before hitting her tee shot, “I was in between a 7-iron and a 6-iron. I just didn’t really know what to hit.” She eventually selected the 6-iron and things just didn’t end well for her when the wind did its part and dropped the ball on the sand bunkers. Korda called it a bad day in the office for the various failed chips at the par-3 12th hole.

The 2023 U.S. Women’s Open’s winner, Allisen Corpuz, also struggled on the 12th hole, where she made her only double bogey of the round. The 12th hole in the William Flynn-designed course, as apparent, was hard to beat, especially with the wind and the question of which club and yardage works best. It also bugged Corpuz. The 26-year-old remembered her 12th hole shot and said, “Just kind of misclubbed on 12 and made a mess out of it.” Copruz was confused between 6 and 7 iron too and went with the longest one.

Well, it didn’t work out but she was satisfied with the 5 over 75. The havoc created by the 12th hole at Lancaster was a nightmare for many, including Lydia Ko and Charley Hull who made double bogey while Caroline Inglis made a triple. One of the few to make a birdie was Andrea Lee; however, even for her, achieving this on the 12th hole was not an easy feat.

Andrea Lee says she got lucky on the 12th hole of the U.S. Women’s Open

Andrea Lee is among the three golfers to shoot 1 under 69 after the opening day of the U.S. Women’s Open finished. Lee shot four birdies, including the one at the 12th par-3. How was her experience? The 25-year-old stated that it was a “very tough hole” indeed. The tee shot being the highest wind plays a major role in deciding whether the ball would fall into water creek or right on the green.

Lee, unlike Korda and Copruz, selected the 7-iron to be her choice of club when facing the monster of the Lancaster CC. It miraculously worked! Lee at the press conference said, “Hit a nice 7-iron to maybe the middle back of the green and made a 40-foot putt for birdie.” She believed it to be a gift and expressed, “I think I actually got a little bit lucky that I made the putt,” because she was concerned it would meet the water creek too.

As day two moves closer, the golfers would be better prepared to tackle the par-3 12th hole of the Lancaster CC. It remains to be seen if Korda and others will yet again struggle to defeat it on day two of the U.S. Women’s Open.