Hole	Par	Yardage	Hole-by-Hole Notes
1	4	396	The opening hole will be pretty straightforward today, playing slightly under 400 yards to a front-left hole location. This hole location is guarded by the front-left bunker, so a tee shot down the right half of the fairway will give the best angle of approach. It is very likely that we will see players starting off on the front nine get off to a great start this morning as long as they execute.
2	4	383	This par 4 requires a very demanding tee shot as the fairway cants severely from right to left. The farther a player can hit it up the right side, the flatter the lie and a better angle to the green is available.
3	4	355	We are playing this uphill par 4 from the 361 teeing ground area today to a front-right hole location that is well guarded by bunkers. I would suspect that the majority of the field will be hitting their approach shots from a very awkward stance (ball above their feet), given the severe upslope in this drive zone.
4	4	352	One of the more beautiful par 4s on the course plays at what will be its max yardage for the week. A shorter tee shot may run the risk of finding the creek short and right, but it may also give you the best angle to attack today's back-left hole location. The hole location is deep on the green but is probably one of the easier ones to putt to.
5	4	367	The tee markers have been pushed up today on this hole, forcing players to make a tougher decision on what to play from the tee. I would envision seeing many 3-woods here today, but cutting the corner on this dogleg is never really the best option. The outer edge of this dogleg gives you the flattest lie and best look at the back-right hole location near the creek
6	3	156	The tee markers are slightly up today, playing to a very accessible front-right location that should yield some birdies given the softer conditions.
7	5	489	Nothing exciting with the par-5 7th hole today except the back-center hole location that sits on a very small plateau. An approach shot that is hit long will leave a difficult recovery from any of bunkers that surround the back of the green.
8	3	205	Playing as the longest par 3 today, the 8th hole begins a stretch of really long holes. We are using the back-right teeing ground today, which will force some players to think about whether their usual ball flight path will work for this shot. I suspect we will see a lot of players in the front-right bunker or in the approach. The hole location, which is center back, breaks severely when putting from hole high so the best placement will be below the hole.
9	4	414	Very straightforward hole today with the tee markers only being 2 yards in front of the hole sign, however the front-left (10-6L) hole location should be accessible on this long approach shot.
OUT	35	3,117
10	4	431	The 10th hole today is playing as the longest par 4 on the course due to the back-center hole location. However, this hole location will give the players plenty of room to get the ball onto the green. A ball left below the hole will leave the player with a relatively straightforward uphill putt. A score of 4 on this long opening hole will certainly be welcomed by any of the players.
11	4	416	A middle-left hole location (15-6L) can yield some birdies if players can get up onto this green with ease.
12	3	164	The 12th hole is playing from the hole sign today at 164 yards to a front-right hole location that should be easy to attack; however, players need to be mindful of how much spin (if any) is on the ball so that it doesn't catch the creek in front. Putts from the back to front are quick and players will have to be mindful of speed. Given the soft conditions today, the players should be in attack mode on this hole, since birdie opportunities won't be plentiful on the back nine.
13	5	504	The tee markers are 10 paces forward of the tee sign today, keeping this par 5 in the 504-yard range. Two quality shots are required to get a good look at this putting surface. The hole location (21-11C) is in the middle-center portion of the green and should be a reasonable opportunity for players to score. Putts from hole high have quite a bit of break, so again being below the hole here is key.
14	4	368	The forward teeing ground at 368 yards is being used today (25+ yards up) to give players a little bit better access to the back-right hole location (16-7) on this green. Ideally you want to leave your approach below the hole but a false front to this green forces you to the center of the green, which leaves players with a very tricky left-to-right breaking putt.
15	4	409	The tee markers are 8 paces forward of the tee sign today, which hopefully will allow the players to be a little more aggressive off the tee, knowing that their tee shots will hold when they land due to the soft conditions. Today’s hole location is just over halfway into the green and just a few paces over the severe false front that chews up about half of this green. Players will need to hit it on to the back portion of this green to have a shot at birdie.
16	4	346	A front-left hole location (8-7L) is well protected by the front greenside bunker. From the back tee today players should have anywhere between an 8-iron to a wedge left into this green.
17	3	176	A very difficult back-left hole location (24-4L) here today. The tee markers have been moved up 11 paces from the tee sign to give players a more reasonable angle to attack this hole location. The pronounced hump in the center of this green would normally repel balls from the hole, but it is likely players can use it to their advantage today. Putts coming from anywhere but below the hole will have to navigate this hump, which will make judging speed of the putt very difficult for the player.
18	4	422	A forward teeing ground at 415 yards is being used today on hole 18. That's 22 paces forward of where the tee sign has been during the practice rounds. Regardless, this long, uphill par 4 will probably play as the most difficult hole today and maybe for the week.
IN	35	3,236
TOTAL	70	6,353

Green Speeds

Green speeds are a little bit slower than the past 3 days, averaging 11 feet today due to the moisture we received this morning during course setup.

Firmness

Greens remain very receptive due to the rain we received this morning but the changing weather conditions for later today and Friday/Saturday should allow us to get to a better place with firmness for later in the championship.

Weather Forecast

UPDATE FROM 5:30 a.m. - Officially we just tipped the rain bucket over to .01" with the light rain showers/sprinkles in the last 30+ mins. Look for this mini-warm front to keep the possibility of light showers/sprinkles through 7 a.m. under mostly cloudy skies. Then we should transition during the rest of the morning to partly sunny skies with mostly sunny skies even possible around lunchtime or early afternoon. To start this morning, the center of today's storm system is still in Ohio and all the models forecast its track to bring the heavier rain and storms across the northern half of Pa. this afternoon.

Since we will be in the warm sector of today's storm, temps will race into the mid-to-upper 80s this afternoon as winds become breezy out of the south and west with gusts of 10-15+ possible mid-to-late afternoon. Showers and storms will move much faster with the storm system this afternoon (40-50 mph), so we will want to be on our toes from 2 p.m. on with the best chance of showers and storms (60 percent) coming from 5 to 8 p.m. Some storms may be strong to severe if enough factors come together. After 8 p.m., the showers and storms will begin to exit our area with some leftover clouds possible Friday morning and a 20 percent chance of a sprinkle.

Otherwise Friday should become mostly sunny by afternoon with breezy and drier conditions. In fact, the models are starting to show north/northwest winds on Friday with speeds of 10-15 mph more possible than previous runs as dewpoints dip into the upper 50s. We'll keep an eye on those Friday winds for the 11 a.m. update. Saturday still looks good as the next storm system likely stays to our south and west. Then another storm system will approach from the west on Sunday, but once again we still look to be good as of right now.

2015 US Womens Open Round 1 Course Setup Notes

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