Why Venues Matter - The 15th Hole at Erin Hills (2025 US Women's Open)
- aspoiledwalk
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
By Mason Savage
In Major Championship Golf, I think that venues are the most important element in the tournament. Sure we will have unique graphic packages on TV and increased purses for the players but for me, the draw of a major championship is the venue. What unique course (or in the case of the PGA Championship or the Chevron... bland course) are we going to see and how will the aura and architecture of the venue elevate the event?
This year I had the honor to attend the US Womens Open at Erin Hills. Erin Hills is a course made for championship golf but instead of talking about the course, I want to highlight one hole specifically and talk about how the architecture impacted the championship. That is the 15th Hole. On Saturday, I sat at the 15th hole for about 3 hours. I was mesmerized by this golf hole and how it had the worlds best players completely stumped. On Saturday, this Par 4 played just 248 yards. So how did a hole so short confuse the best players in the World?
The answer begins with the green complex. On saturday, the Pin was back right. Back and Right of the Pin in that location is a slope that rejects balls down a hill 40 yards away. Left of the pin is a spine (running back to front) that can funnel balls down towards the hole or reject balls back towards the left potion of the green. Working back from the green, there a giant slope short of the green with a smattering of deep and penal bunkers. Due to the layout of the hole and the distance, there were two plays off of the tee. Players were hitting drivers and trying to get the ball on the green or players were laying up off the tee 40-80 yards short of the green between all of the bunkers. (See image above for what the 15th green complex looks like)
It seems like a no brainer that you would want to hit driver and have a potential eagle putt but the players that I saw that made the green with driver, all of them 3 putted in my time there. In fact, every birdie I saw came from players who laid up short of the green including Charlie Hull (see her birdie putt here). The distnace only being 248 yards tricked players into thinking it was a birdie hole and while birdie was possible, with that penal pin location, it was actually a par hole. The confusion from so many players led to some insane outcomes in my 3 hours of sitting there. Below are a few of my favorites.
As mentioned earlier, Charlie Hull making birdie was awesome. While her playing competitors waited for the green to clear so they could hit driver, she hit iron. Upon hitting the iron she left her playing partners on the tee box and stood up in the fairway before sticking a wedge and rolling in her birdie putt.
Saki Baba had about 60 feet for birdie and she putted it off of the green. Any time you see the best players in the world make catastrophic mistakes, you know the conditions are hard. Kudos to Saki though, she got up and down to save bogey. A routine 2 putt.
The countless players I saw 3 putt from the left side of the green.
Esther Henseleit Driving the green, having a putt for eagle and walking away with double bogey
These are just a few examples and all of these things were made possible by the architecture and pin placement of the 15th hole at Erin Hills. Architecture matters for major championship golf!