Stunning views and stunning play

The tee box for the par three eighth hole at Lancaster Country Club requires a march uphill from the beautiful seventh hole green perched alongside the Conestoga River. Golfers then look up across a sharp-angled valley to an elevated green 15 to 20 yards above them.

A small bridge across the valley partially reduces the burden of the uphill walk, but the players still can’t see much of the green until they stand next to it.

The yardages for the eighth hole are much like the other par threes at LCC. As the club’s director of grounds, Josh Saunders told me the elevation changes and other features produce different challenges despite the rough equality in distance.

For U.S. Women’s Open fans watching the eighth hole, the views were stunning in the bright sun and pleasant temperatures. 

And sometimes the play on that hole was equally stunning.

Sophia Popov won the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open and gave birth to a daughter last June. When the 31-year-old returned to golf in 2024, she missed cuts in every event until the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in mid-May.

Perhaps her T-14 finish there was inspirational. On the eighth hole during the first round at Lancaster, Popov hit from 205 yards and watched with increasing excitement as the ball bounced and rolled forward into the cup for an ace. The green-side crowd roared. 

Popov leaped up and then into the arms of equally excited playing partner Amelia Garvey. 

The golfers playing the eighth during the second round could not take advantage of the back hole location Popov played for her ace the day before. This time, the hole sat only seven yards from the green’s front edge. The green’s sloped front was nowhere near as potentially disastrous as the 12th hole, but still needed to be respected.

Past U.S. Women’s Open winner Ariya Jutanugarn’s tee shot flew into the left green-side bunker, about hole-high and 42 feet away. The green sloped away from her, but Jutanugarn hit a fine bunker shot to 6 feet past the hole. She earned the applause for her par-saving putt.

Ally Ewing challenged the front slope with a daring tee shot that finished 5 feet below the hole. The crowd urged the ball to stay in place as Ewing walked up the hill, and the ball listened. Her birdie putt slid a foot past, and it became a simple par.

New Jersey amateur Megha Ganne landed her tee shot 2 feet away and hole high. Judging from the accents I heard, the resulting applause from the crowd for her birdie was also locally sourced.

Georgia Hall showed off her recovery skills from the hole’s right green-side bunker, 14 yards from the hole. The next shot spun to a halt 18 inches away for an eventual sandy par.

Ashleigh Buhai came up a few yards short of the eighth green with her approach shot in the second round. Undaunted, she chipped her second shot to 8 inches away for a tap-in par.

Nelly Korda came to the eighth hole needing something special to increase her chances to make the cut after her disastrous first round. The huge crowd surrounding the green did their part as she hit her tee shot, shouting all the way and openly willing the ball to land in the hole for another ace.

That didn’t happen, but Korda’s birdie putt earned another huge round of applause.

The eighth hole’s 3.232 scoring average put it in 11th place for the second round overall and third hardest among the par threes.

Not every NASCAR fan goes to the races just for the crashes. Neither did the large and appreciative crowd at LCC’s eighth hole, which thoroughly enjoyed a batch of birdies, some great par saves and the only hole-in-one of this year’s U.S. Women’s Open.

Note: This is the second in a four-part series.

Local club competition results

The Kings Creek CC Ladies 9-Hole league played a Best 2 of 4 Shamble game July 30.

Sherry Schaffer, Marty Jaxheimer, Alicia Polsky and Donna Romer won first place in the first flight, followed by Lisa Powell, Deborah Chase, Barbara Morales and Kaye Allison in second.

Sandy Neverett, Susan Julbe, Tish Brey and Annette Stellhorn took first in the second flight, with Megan Dupre, Hope Lavachia, Sally Chamberlin and Terry Barrera finishing second.

The Mulligan’s Pointe Ladies played a 1, 2, 3 Best Ball team game July 30. Brenda Lewis, Valerie Gribb and Donna Dolce won first place. Maxine Ansbach, Wendy Michaelson and Peggy Clausen took second.

The Kings Creek CC Ladies 18-Hole league played a 3 Blind Mice game July 25. Scores from three blind-drawn holes are deducted from the total.

Jackie Everett won first-place gross in the first flight, with Jeannine Doane taking first gross in the second flight.

Candy Robinson won first-place net in the first flight, with Erin Reid in second. Linda Kelleher won first-place net in the second flight, followed by Lisa Smith in second.