The Olympic Club has a history with the USGA that dates nearly 70 years.
With 45 holes spread across the renowned Lake Course, the Ocean Course and the nine-hole Cliffs Course, the historic club in San Francisco has been the site of nine USGA championships, including five U.S. Open championships, since 1955. Something the club has never hosted is a women's event. Until now.
The best women's players in the world will tee off at Olympic on June 3 when the 76th edition of the U.S. Women's Open comes to San Francisco.
"This is huge for our club," said director of golf maintenance Troy Flanagan. "Our partnership with the USGA is a long one that has benefitted both sides.
"It is receiving a lot of attention because it is at Olympic. It is going to be great for the game in general and great for women's golf."
Flanagan, 52, came to Olympic seven years ago after eight years at Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nevada. When he arrived in San Francisco, the Olympic Club was two years removed from its last U.S. Open in 2012.
Since then, Flanagan has focused on creating the same processes, standards and programs across all 45 holes. The greens throughout are a mix Tyee and 007 creeping bentgrass, the fairways and tees are predominantly Poa annua with some ryegrass, and the roughs are mostly rye with a little Poa.
"We started spending more money on the Ocean Course to make sure our programs were the same," Flanagan said. "Now, greens construction and grasses are nearly identical, and the experience on the Ocean Course is just as good as the experience on the Lake. It took five years to accomplish that."
When players arrive for the Women's Open, they still will find a formidable foe in the Lake Course.
"With the sloped fairways, the challenge at Olympic is even if you hit it straight that might not be the play," said USGA agronomist Darin Bevard. "They might have to pick one side to hit it so it doesn't run out of the fairway. That's the interesting thing about Olympic, you might have to hit it to the left side of the fairway to get it to stop on the right side of the fairway."
The Olympic Club was founded in May 1860, a full year before the first shots of the Civil War were fired. It boasts 11,000 members who participate in a variety of sports, including basketball, swimming, soccer, rugby and golf.
When Flanagan came to the Olympic Club, the width and breadth of what is billed as the country's oldest and largest athletic club took a little getting used to.
The Olympic Club was founded in May 1860, a full year before the first shots of the Civil War were fired. It boasts 11,000 members who participate in a variety of sports, including basketball, swimming, soccer, rugby and golf.
"The biggest thing for me was learning the Olympic Club," Flanagan said. "It's such a big club, and I didn't understand how big it was. At most clubs, the golf course is king. At the Olympic Club, golf is big, but it is a sport among many others. We have 11,000 members, and 1,000 are golf members. It is a different dynamic than what I was used to."
Jack Fleck won the first U.S. Open played at Olympic in 1955. Since then, Open champions there include Billy Casper in 1966, Scott Simpson (1987), Lee Janzen (1998) and Webb Simpson (2012). Next week will be the first time the Women's Open will be held at the 1924 Willie Watson-designed Lake Course where Thom Irvin is in his last lap as superintendent before heading to Claremont Country Club across the Bay in Oakland.
For the Women's Open, Olympic's greens will be mowed at 0.95 inches with a target Stimpmeter reading of 12-12.5 feet, and fairways will be maintained at 0.4 inches, Flanagan said.
"We would like to bring them down," Flanagan said. "But because of the steep slopes, we don't want shots on those slopes to roll off the fairways."
There will be no intermediate rough, and all areas outside the ropes will be kept at 4.25 inches, nearly 3 inches taller than what Flanagan and Irvin produce for member play.
"This is a hard course. We've made the fairways wider because of the slopes. There will be a premium on hitting fairways."
This year's Women's Open will be the third in the past 11 years held on a course synonymous with the men's national championship, including Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 and Oakmont Country Club in 2010.
"From my perspective, this is a great venue and a great location, and it has a great history in the game and a great history with the USGA," Bevard said. "The Olympic Club has been a great partner for a lot of years, and it is always in immaculate condition.
"This event is receiving a lot of attention because it is at Olympic. It is going to be great for the game in general and will continue to raise the stature of women's golf."