A First-Timer's Experience at a Women's Major

For the better part of three and a half, going on four years, I've had the privilege of covering women's golf. The first two years I was following along from home, being freelance, it's more challenging to get credentialed without specific assignments. But over time you make connections and build relationships and in November of 2023 I got to cover my first golf tournament as a member of the media—the LPGA's finale, the CME Group Tour Championship. For the sake of keeping a long story short, I had to idea what the hell I was doing. Inside the media center I was sat between two greats of women's golf coverage in Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek and Amy Rogers of NBC/Golf Channel. I closely observed what they did, when they moved I moved, but quickly I learned that at least for me, being in the media center of any event is kind of the last place I want to be.

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And that's not to knock how much effort the tours and tournament hosts put in to make us all so comfortable, but I just feel like if I'm at a tournament I want to see the tournament. From the practice facilities to concessions, I'm soaking in the delights of each course and each event. A golf tournament, just like any other sporting event is rooted in being an experience—and every one is different.

In preparing for the 80th U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills, I had no expectations, I simply wanted to just feel it out. It was my first time covering a USGA sanctioned event and my first women's major and all I wanted was to be ready for just about anything.

The Course

One of the first things I like to do on site is walk the golf course, scope out some of the best spots to post up and watch as many groups as possible. When I arrived on Wednesday, it was a bit of a wash. Rain was coming down hard and steady all day long, so I pivoted and familiarized myself with course info. Looking over the course map, hole locations, tee times/groupings, etc., so that I could hit the ground running for the first round. Depending on how much rain hits the day before a tournament starts can impact course set up, so it's also good to pay attention to pre-tournament pressers and see how players react to conditions and how it'll impact their prep.

But once Thursday hit, I knew I wanted to follow the supergroup of Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, and Lexi Thompson (I wrote my thoughts on that here)—so I headed out to the first tee which was conveniently close to the media center and walked most of their first nine. Once you get to the third hole at Erin Hills, holes 4 and 5 go a bit out of the way and loop back around to hole 6, so I hung back to watch top-ranked amateur Lottie Woad and a few others come through.

My Favorite Holes

Speaking of hole 6, it ended up being one of my favorite holes at Erin Hills. I love a long par 3 (sorry hole 9). And this hole is a beast. Number 6 plays uphill with fescue covering both sides. From my vantage point, you couldn't really see the putting surface so you're really gauging player reactions off the tee to figure out how the ball faired. When I made my way up toward the flag...my goodness, that green is magnificent. It's massive but don't be fooled into thinking that it's easy to hit. I think it's one of the rarest holes on the course that you can hit it a half a club too long and be relatively okay depending on pin location.

My other favorite was 18. I'm a sucker for a finishing par 5 that also isn't a guaranteed birdie hole...as we saw from Nelly Korda and the rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez. (Hitting a shot from the scoring tent is insane, I'm obsessed with her.)

How severely the drop from 18 green is to the rough/pedestrian walk way can't be depicted well enough on TV. As I would walk around I just kept looking up. At one point I was walking by and I couldn't tell who was on the 18th but I just saw their figures. It looked like a scene from Dune, but instead of a fiery, sandy hell in Arrakis, it was lush green grass that's unbelievably captivating.

The biggest take away is that Erin Hills is a gorgeous, mammoth of a course. There's so much space and it's all pristine, and it's heavily encouraged for folks to take a seat and stay a while.

These gents did it right.

What to do When You're Not Watching the Golf

Something that doesn't get talked about enough in golf is when you're physically at the tournament...what do you actually do? The reality is, you're not going to walk a full 18 following your favorite golfer—some of you may, but for the casual fan or families you're going to want down time.

Erin Hills had some fun little activations set up for juniors. There was a massive putting short course complex in the middle of the fan zone for the kiddos to roll some putts and participate in a competition.

The concessions were tasty! I've always loved cheese, but little did I know that a fried cheese curd served with a garlic aioli would change my life so much. Can confirm, Dairyland didn't disappoint, but I on the other hand disappointed myself. I regret to inform you all that I did not do my due-diligence—I failed to consume a single signature Erin Hills cookie and I'm honestly gutted. (The media center provided local ice cream all week and I was busy researching which flavor profile was the best.) So golf gods, please grant me another opportunity to go back to Erin Hills in the near future so I can rectify this horrid cookie-less situation.

But the best way to cure all ailments it retail therapy—and the merch tent gets a solid 8.5/10 for me. Filled with Peter Millar and other classic golf brands, it was a standard merch tent set up, but the Erin Hills x USWO logo rocked. Oh, and the Sasquatch t-shirt goes insanely hard.

The Hosts...The USGA Knows What They're Doing

I gotta give props to the organization behind it all. The USGA team, in their matching navy quarter-zips and khakis, looked like an army of a small country. Their people were everywhere, doing everything.

The content on social kicked ass. It was fun, engaging, and honestly a fantastic way to stay in the know whether you were on site or watching from home.

The comms team kept us well informed and hydrated.

(I'm not a beer drinker but the can is adorable.)

Player Interactions

This was a unique week in terms of players I got to see up close and interact with. I had a brief exchange with two-time LPGA Tour winner Lauren Coughlin heading to the range, but for the most part I'd only see players for their pressers. Which I didn't mind. For my first major I just wanted to get a sense of what I can do, but more importantly what I can't.

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This tournament is very player-centric, and you can tell that it prides itself on being an event where players are well taken care of every step of the way.

The U.S. Open is the only major championship that doesn't host a pro am before the tournament—presumably so each player gets a shot at enough prep time and it's a massive field (156 players), deciding who plays with who seems like a tall task. Lexus provided courtesy cars. There was a wellness and physio tent set up for recovery. Caddies had their own space to go and have some down time—the details were well thought out and executed.

All in all, the week went by like a blur but it was a special milestone for me and one that I'll cherish for quite a while. Erin Hills has a place in my heart and hopefully the first of many, many more to come. Because I'm trying to get like the Ron Sirak one day!

P.S.— And even if you're not in media, if there's an LPGA stop coming near you...get your ass there because you won't regret it! (Everybody watches women's sports!!!!)