Newport Country Club in Rhode Island will host the 2024 US Senior Open

NEWPORT, RI – History making will forever be woven into the fabric of Newport Country Club.

It all began in 1895, when Newport – one of the five founding members of the United States Golf Association – hosted the first U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open on two consecutive days in October.

Exactly 1,000 championships later, the USGA returns to its roots Thursday through Sunday to host the 2024 U.S. Senior Open on Rhode Island’s most feared and revered golf course. This will be the fifth USGA championship for the historic venue, which was scheduled to host the 2020 Senior Open before a pandemic-related cancellation. USGA championships in Newport tend to have historic significance – Tiger Woods won the 1995 U.S. Amateur and Annika Sorenstam won the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open. It takes a great champion to conquer a great golf course.

Newport is the sixth golf course to host the US Open, US Women’s Open, US Amateur and US Senior Open, joining Colorado’s Cherry Hills Country Club; Minnesota’s Hazeltine National Golf Club; Pennsylvania’s Oakmont Country Club; North Carolina Pinehurst No. 2 and New York’s Winged Foot Golf Club.

If you’re a fan of golf architecture and truly unique tournament venues, the 2024 U.S. Senior Open may be one of the best golf spectator opportunities of the summer. The panoramic Atlantic Ocean views and stately hilltop clubhouse will amaze you, not to mention legends from Ernie Els to Bernhard Langer trying to cement their place in history. Plus, there’s no telling when the USGA might return to the Ocean State.

“It’s such a classic venue,” said Billy Andrade, one of two Rhode Island natives who tee off here. “It’s been here since the first U.S. Open in 1895. It’s old-fashioned and it all depends on the weather. If balmy weather comes in from the Atlantic, the golf course will be very difficult to play.”

What makes this championship so unique is Newport’s reliance on nature for the course’s appearance and playability. The course has no irrigation system in the fairways or rough. A wet spring has produced thick rough, although the USGA hopes the fairways and greens will be as firm and fast as possible to challenge players.

The USGA flipped the nines, turning two par 5s (holes 3 and 10) into long par 4s to create a 6,490-yard par 70 layout. Tournament officials wanted the ocean view to be a prominent feature on the back nine holes, as this is the windier, more exposed and most difficult part of the course.

“Overall, it offers a great variety of short and long holes that will change throughout the day with the rising and falling sea breezes. It really has the feel of a links golf course,” said Ben Kimball, USGA chief championship director.

Players should get off to a quick start and have the opportunity to make their first birdies on the 568-yard first hole, followed by Newport’s shortest par 4, the 321-yard second hole.

The par 3s could have the biggest impact on victory. They are all exciting and dangerous. The par 3s number 4 and 5 come back to back at the start of the round. The fourth hole, which requires an uphill shot to a blind green, will play between 120 and 160 meters to a green surrounded by six bunkers.

The 203-yard fifth hole cannot be missed to the left or the ball will land about 20 feet under the green. The 13th hole, which can play from 220 to 241 yards, runs along the Atlantic Ocean with a prevailing crosswind that could force players to aim over the out-of-bounds line near a coastal road to get their ball on the green.

Newport Country Club is brimming with history, from the golf course to its distinctive Beaux-Arts-style clubhouse overlooking Brenton Point.

William F. Davis designed the Newport Country Club in 1894 as a nine-hole course. Architect CB Macdonald won the first U.S. Amateur rounds on this short course with scores of 12 and 11, a record that still stands today. The following day, the first U.S. Open featured just 11 players. Horace Rawlins, an assistant golf professional at the club, won $150 and a gold medal after beating Willie Dunn.

The Newport Country Club was finally expanded to 18 holes around the turn of the century. In 1923, AW Tillinghast redesigned the course, which Ron Forse retained during a restoration in 2004.

Despite its ties to the USGA, the club hosted some of the first professional senior tournaments starting in the 1970s. Participants included Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Gary Player.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary, the club and the USGA rekindled their relationship. Another future legend – Tiger – won at drought-stricken Newport Country Club in 1995, defeating Buddy Marucci 2-0 to claim his second of three consecutive US Am titles. In 2006, Sorenstam defeated Pat Hurst in an 18-hole playoff to win the US Women’s Open.

If the U.S. Senior Open goes according to plan, Langer could be the next legend to win at Newport CC, cementing his reputation as the greatest senior golfer of all time. After tearing his left Achilles tendon on Feb. 1, Langer shocked golf fans by returning at the Insperity Invitational in May.

More good news would be if Andrade or local favorite Brett Quigley won in front of what is expected to be a large crowd. “Newport had the aura of a special place where only championship golf was played. It held a special place in my heart when I was growing up,” Quigley said.

Whoever lifts the trophy will be delighted to have won on one of golf’s most hallowed grounds.