The 122nd Open Championship heads to Lancaster Country Club for the first time in event history July 13-14.
| History |
The historic Lancaster, Pa. venue will welcome a field of 144 (110 amateurs, 34 professionals).
The Open Championship is a two-day, 36-hole stroke-play event with a cut to the low 60 and ties after Round One. It is a William Hyndman, III Player of the Year event.
In last year’s edition at Bidermann Golf Course, Merion Golf Club’s Drue Nicholas became the second player in GAP history to win the Philadelphia Amateur and Philadelphia Open in the same season. GAP Hall of Famer R. Jay Sigel pulled off the feat in 1987.
“Beating the professionals last year was a great feeling,” Nicholas said. “I hit a lot of quality shots exactly when I needed them last year. I felt a lot of my wins were a result of me and my opponents not finishing well. Last year at Bidermann, I closed as well as I possibly could. I really focused on doing something special.”
Nicholas secured medalist honors in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship in June, but fell in the first round to Jack Melville of LuLu Country Club, 3&2.
“I was happy with how I played at Sunnybrook Golf Club, but the back-to-back long days wore me out,” Nicholas, 24, of Philadelphia, Pa., said. “I am feeling refreshed and excited to get back at it in a GAP Major. I like Lancaster. It will be a good test.”
The treacherous William Flynn design hosted the 2020 BMW Philadelphia Amateur as well as the U.S. Women’s Open in 2015 and 2024.
“At Lancaster the constant elevation can wear you down,” Rick Gibson, Lancaster’s Director of Golf for 26 years, said. “You find yourself working uphill a lot. The greens are severely undulating and fast. To play well here, you need patience. Being able to take what the course gives you and not putting yourself in bad positions around the greens will be the keys to success for the eventual champion.”
The winner of the Open Championship is awarded the John J. McDermott Trophy. McDermott won the Open on three occasions (1910-11, 1913). At the age of 19, he became the first American-born golfer to win the U.S. Open Championship (1911). He is one of five individuals to win the U.S. Open in addition to the Philadelphia Open. That list includes 1921 U.S. Open Champion Jim Barnes (1917), 1925 U.S. Open Champion Willie Macfarlane (1921), 1927 U.S. Open Champion Tommy Armour (1928) and 1928 U.S. Open Champion Johnny Farrell (1925, 1927).
“We are excited to host the Philadelphia Open for the first time and show off our championship course to the best players in the GAP region,” Gibson, 58, of Lancaster, Pa., said. “Solidifying our club as part of the Philadelphia Open’s history is extremely important to us.”
Open Championship participants include professionals who are members in good standing of the Philadelphia PGA Section, head professionals of GAP Member Clubs, assistant professionals of Member Clubs who are active members of the New Jersey Section PGA and male amateurs who are members of GAP Member Clubs and hold a GAP/USGA Handicap Index of 5.0 or less.
The low professional receives $8,000.
In addition to Nicholas, past champions in the field include: Braden Shattuck of Rolling Green Golf Club (2023), John Brennan of Philadelphia Cricket Club (2022), Matthew Mattare of Saucon Valley Country Club (2017), Rich Steinmetz of Spring Ford Country Club (2009), Mark Miller of Philadelphia Cricket Club (2007) and David Quinn of Laurel Creek Country Club (2006).
Connect with the Open Championship via GAP’s social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube).
Public and media are welcome to attend. Live scoring will be available at www.gapgolf.org. Any media inquiries should be directed to Martin D. Emeno, Jr., GAP Director of Operations, at 610-687-2340 ext. 0027 or via email at [email protected].
Open Championship
The Philadelphia Open is the third oldest championship of its kind in the country, behind only the U.S. Open and Western Open. It formed at the behest of the best – professionals that is. “Professional golfers in and around Philadelphia have some cause for satisfaction in that their claims to official recognition have at last been acknowledged. The Golf Association of Philadelphia announces a tournament for the pros to be held over the links of the Philadelphia Cricket Club at Wissahickon Heights Oct. 23-24,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 1903. GAP Magazine profiled the Philadelphia Open in its Summer 2024 issue.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 140,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
