Sixty-four golfers from around the world played the final weekend of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. One of them was from Lititz.
Amateur Alli Weaver, a 2009 Warwick High School graduate, played the final two rounds as a non-competing marker, evening out the field after an odd number of players made the cut at 4 over par.
An amazing text
“It was quite an amazing text to get,” Weaver said of the early-morning message that she would play Saturday. “I never thought in my right mind that I’d be able to play in the U.S. Open after I didn’t qualify for it.”
Weaver had played a sectional qualifier that spring at Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey but did not advance. It seemed she was destined to play anyway: she interned in the pro shop at Lancaster Country Club.
“Between me working there, and it being convenient, it worked out in my favor,” she said.
Hometown crowds
Playing her home course in front of hometown fans made it special.
“I had so many people tell me they were going to walk along and they were cheering for me. It made the experience that much more heartfelt,” said Weaver, who was paired Saturday with Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu. On Sunday she played alongside American Liz Nagel.
“More members came out to watch, and a lot more people found out that I was able to play,” she said. “There were a lot of people out there that I knew.”
Rough like never before
Though she usually played nine to 18 holes a day at the club, the championship setup was unlike anything she had seen.
“I have never seen the rough that long in my days of playing there,” she said of the 4- to 4½-inch rough. “It was really something to avoid. It was very thick. It wasn’t the length as much as how thick it was.”
The USGA chose not to cut the rough on the eve of the final round, penalizing anyone who strayed from the fairway.
“On the second day, I hit in the rough on the left side of number 11, and I think I hit a 9-iron out of it because my ball buried so far you could barely see it,” she said. “I have never actually witnessed my ball buried that deep before.”
Proud of the par 3s
Local caddie Sean Hennessey carried her bag; she shot 82 on Saturday and was pleased with how she struck the ball.
“I hit the ball well,” she said. “Surprisingly, I did the best on the par 3s, which typically are more the high-scoring holes. I was pretty proud of myself that I could play them well, because they have a lot of pressure. People tend to sit at par 3s and see what kind of mistakes people will make.”
Parents race home
Her favorite moment came on the back nine Sunday.
“My parents left for the beach on Saturday, about half an hour before I found out that I was going to play,” Weaver said. When she called Saturday night to say she would play again, “they decided at 6 o’clock on Sunday morning they were going to drive home and watch my back nine. That was kind of a highlight, because my parents were there to watch the last nine holes that I got to play.”
Built at Warwick
Weaver credits Warwick’s golf team, where she was the only girl, for her competitiveness. “It got me ready to be competitive,” she said. A two-time Lancaster-Lebanon League champion, she graduated from Murray State University in Kentucky in 2013.
Looking ahead
Weaver, “slowly working towards turning pro,” said the roaring crowds were a lesson in itself.
“When you hit a great shot there, whether it was a routine par or you made a great putt, the crowds were so loud, it just made you feel like you did something so good,” she said. “It was so much bigger, and it meant so much more. That was a really cool feeling.”
She hoped to qualify for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open at CordeValle in California. In Gee Chun of South Korea won the 2015 championship.
This article was originally published in July 2015.