October
3 ,
2003
2004
U.S. Women's Open: A History of The Orchards
|  Photos:
(l to r) Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections,
Todd M. LeMieux
The
Orchards clubhouse: today (above, right) and circa 1933 |
When Laurie Priest,
Mount Holyoke's director of athletics, announced to the
College community that the United States Golf Association wanted
to hold the 2004 U.S. Women's Open at Mount Holyoke's
golf course, The Orchards, people were stunned and thrilled.
The Open is the world's most prestigious women's
championship, drawing players such as Annika Sorenstam and
Karrie Webb and prime-time television coverage across the globe.
How could The Orchards attract such a huge sports event? Simple:
It's one of the best golf courses in the country.
In 1922, Holyoke industrialist Joseph A. Skinner decided that his daughter Elisabeth,
an avid and talented golfer, should have her own course. Wanting the very best,
Skinner called upon Donald J. Ross, the Frank Lloyd Wright of early twentieth-century
golf course architects. He provided Ross with a rolling 200-acre site across
the road from his summer estate, just north of the Mount Holyoke campus. The
course became known as The Orchards, for the rows of apple trees Skinner planted
there in the early years. Mount Holyoke students have taken golf lessons at the
course since it first opened.
Joseph A. Skinner enjoyed a long relationship with Mount Holyoke. He served as
president of its board of trustees from 1912 to 1931. At the time of his death
in 1941, The Orchards was sold to the College for the modest sum
of $25,000.
The golf course was a worthy addition to Mount Holyoke's ambitious physical
education program instituted by Mary Lyon, who founded the College in 1837. At
a time when women were discouraged from physical activity, Lyon believed that
intellectual and physical education were of equal importance. She required students
to do daily calisthenics and take one-mile walks. Although the College's
athletic activities have changed since Lyon's day, they are still going
strong. In September 2000, Sports Illustrated for Women rated Mount Holyoke the
number one women's college for women athletes.
|
Photos:
Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections
In
the 1930s, Mount Holyoke was the only college in New
England that had golf in its curriculum. |
Even before The Orchards
existed, Mount Holyoke students were enthusiastic golfers.
A Mount Holyoke newsletter from May 1897 announced, "The Golf Club has
been organized and will begin to play as soon as the ground can be laid out and
the sticks procured. A professional player will give the members their first
lessons, and 'golfing' promises to be the popular means of exercise
and entertainment at least for this season."
In 1970, pro Bob Bontempo came on board and started the College's golf
team. The NCAA Division III team has held its own in intercollegiate competition.
This is no small feat, given that most of the teams it plays--including
Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth--are Division I and II. Over the years, many
MHC golfers have advanced to the Division III Women's National Championships,
including team captain Audry Longo '05, who came to Mount Holyoke in large
part for the golf program. "It's a privilege to play here," she
said. She is looking forward to the U.S. Women's Open. "Everyone
on the team is so proud to be able to show off their facility to the world."
Golf team coach Shawn Durocher said she expects to see more
recruitment activity in the wake of the U.S. Women's Open. "I tell people we have a beautiful
course, a 20-minute walk from the farthest point on campus," Durocher said. "When
they see it on TV, they'll realize what I'm talking about."
Big changes came to The Orchards in 1999 when Mount Holyoke entered into a
25-year lease of the property with Arnold Palmer Golf Management. The arrangement
has been a tremendous boon for the course and the College. Palmer has invested
$1.5 million in improvements, including $800,000 to restore the course to Ross's
original design. In 2000, the organization donated $500,000 to establish an endowment
fund in support of the College's golf program, named in honor of Winifred
W. Palmer, late wife of Arnold. "[The Palmer people] are very supportive
of the College, very professional in their attitude toward the team," Priest
said. "Our students finally feel like they have a home course. When I ask
for something, they say, 'Whatever you want. It's your course.' It's
a joy to work with them."
It was Priest who first drew the USGA's attention to The Orchards. Three
years ago, just after the course renovation, Joan McAnaney Fay '73 came
to play in the College's Friends of Athletics golf tournament. She mentioned
to Priest that her husband, David Fay, executive director of the USGA, had always
loved The Orchards. Priest responded that people were still raving about the
success of the 1987 USGA Junior Girls Championship. Ten days later, Priest received
a telephone call from David Fay, who told her the USGA was interested in holding
a championship there. Priest was busily taking notes of the conversation, and
when he said it would be the 2004 U.S. Women's Open, she was silent with
disbelief. "Yes, Laurie," he repeated, "the U.S. Women's
Open."
Within the week, the USGA top brass were on site checking out the course. Priest
recalled, "I never thought The Orchards could accommodate such a big
event, but as we walked around the course, they saw places where grandstands
could go, how it would work, and all of a sudden we were on track."
The Orchards has hosted several significant tournaments, including the 1987
USGA Junior Girls Championship, the National Golf Coaches Association Division
II and III National Championship, and the 2002 NCAA Division III Women's National
Championship. Capturing the U.S. Women's Open marks it as a truly great
course. LPGA tour veteran Cathy Mockett of East Longmeadow commented, "All
USGA events are played at special places. The best of the world play at the Open." Past
winners include Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Betsy Rawls, Pat Bradley, Annika Sorenstam,
and two-time winner Karrie Webb.
The U.S. Women's Open is a big event for western Massachusetts, which has
never before hosted a major golf championship. The tournament is expected to
draw more than 100,000 spectators to South Hadley. It will require 2,300 volunteers
and have more than 15 hours of live television coverage on ESPN and NBC. "We
will be the center of the golf world," said Gene Hallman, president and
CEO of Bruno Event Team, which is handling promotion of the event. If the 2004
U.S. Women's Open is a success at The Orchards, the course might be put
in a rotation for future championships.
Priest sums up her pride and satisfaction in having 156 of
the world's
best women golfers compete at Mount Holyoke: "How many courses were
designed for a young female player? And at a time when women had no exposure
to golf and restricted time to play? This is a prestigious women's
college and we're
hosting the most prestigious golf event for women. It's a perfect story." Joseph
A. Skinner would certainly agree.
Tickets to attend the 2004
U.S. Women's Open
June 28–July 4
Ticket prices: $12 for a practice
round (June 28–30);
$25 for a championship round (July 1–4). Children 16 and
under will receive free admission daily when accompanied by a
ticketed adult. Season pass for $80 includes seven tickets, one
for each day of the tournament, including practice rounds on
June 28–30. $170 flex book includes ten tickets that may
be redeemed for a daily ticket on any of the seven days.
Special Offer for Members of the Mount Hoyoke Community
$90 season pass includes seven daily tickets, one for each day of the championship,
including practice rounds on June 28–30, and a custom championship
hat featuring the U.S. Women's Open and Mount Holyoke College logos.
Ticket prices will be raised after December 31, so get your tickets early.
Tickets are available by calling 1-800-513-OPEN from 9 am to 5 pm. They may
also be ordered from www.2004uswomensopen.com, or at The Orchards.
For more
information on the U.S. Women's Open and volunteer opportunities, go to www.2004uswomensopen.com.
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