Glenview, Ill. – The Women’s Western Amateur Championship will return to Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, Illinois, in 2024, leaders of the Women’s Western Golf Association and Western Golf Association have announced.
The 124th Women’s Western Amateur will be contested July 15-20, bringing the championship back to its founding site for a fifth time. The renowned club hosted the first two editions of the Women’s Western Amateur in 1901 and 1902 before hosting again in 1924 and 1944.
Held without interruption since its inception at Onwentsia in 1901, the Women’s Western Amateur is the oldest annual championship in golf. It attracts many of the top amateurs in the world, with past competitors going on to win a combined 135 major championships. Past winners include legendary stars Patty Berg (1938) and Louise Suggs (1946, 1947) along with more recent standouts Stacy Lewis (2006) and Ariya Jutanugarn (2012).
Jasmine Koo, a 17-year-old from Cerritos, California, won the 123rd Women’s Western Amateur in July, outlasting Stanford senior Sadie Englemann in the championship match to become the first junior to win since 2015.
“Onwentsia Club is honored to welcome the game’s top amateur players back to our historic golf club for a fifth time,” said Amy Lincoln, Onwentsia tournament co-chair and a WGA Director. “We’ve witnessed some incredible moments over the decades since this championship established its roots at Onwentsia. We’re looking forward to adding another chapter to our storied relationship with the Women’s Western Golf Association and Western Golf Association.”
Onwentsia’s beginnings can be traced back to 1893 when the club, known then as Lake Forest Golf Club, consisted of a diminutive seven-hole course in the yard of Sen. Charles B. Farwell. Players navigated flowerbeds and used sunken tomato cans for holes.
In 1895, the club moved to its current location on Green Bay Road and was given its present name – Onwentsia.
The club hired Charles Blair Macdonald, who founded Chicago Golf Club, to design the first nine holes. The second nine were designed in 1898 by famed golf course architects Herbert J. Tweedie, James Foulis and Robert Foulis. The course was renovated by Tom Doak in 1996.
In addition to the Women’s Western Amateur, Onwentsia has hosted a collection of golf’s most prominent championships, including the 1899 U.S. Amateur, 1900 Western Amateur, 1906 U.S. Open, the 1949 and 1965 Women’s Western Juniors and 2021 Western Junior.
Over more than 120 years of hosting championship golf, Onwentsia has continued to challenge the top amateurs in the game. Its timeless charm was on display during the 2021 Western Junior when Caleb Surratt – a U.S. Walker Cup Team member and 2023 First Team All-American – topped an elite field with a four-day total of 7-under-par.
“We’re excited to bring another elite championship to Onwentsia,” said Vince Pellegrino, WGA senior vice president of tournaments. “Our successful Western Junior in 2021 showed that this classic layout is capable of presenting a challenging – but fair – test for every competitor in the Women’s Western Amateur.”
The Women’s Western Amateur field will consist of 120 amateurs with a handicap of 5.4 or less. The first and second day of competition will each include 18 holes of stroke play. After 36 holes of stroke play, the field will be reduced to the top 32 players for the match play portion of the championship.
“It’s always special when you can bring a marquee championship back to its original host site,” said Susan Buchanan, WWGA president. “We look forward to continuing to build the legacy of the Women’s Western Amateur at Onwentsia and celebrating our proud tradition of attracting the finest amateurs in women’s golf to compete for the W.A. Alexander Cup.”
In addition to its rich championship history, Onwentsia has been a steadfast supporter of the Evans Scholars Foundation, a nonprofit administered by the WGA that has awarded full college tuition and housing scholarships to more than 13,000 caddies since 1930.
Onwentsia has had 36 youth caddies graduate as Evans Scholars, beginning with Charles Van Etten, who earned an Evans Scholarship in 1948 to attend Northwestern. Seven current Evans Scholars caddied at Onwentsia. The club has also been a supporter of the WGA Caddie Academy, a summer program that provides caddie opportunities to at-promise high school students from across the nation.
Attendance and parking for the Women’s Western Amateur are free.
WWGA and WGA Championships Hosted by Onwentsia
- 2021 Western Junior, won by Caleb Surratt
- 1965 Women’s Western Junior, won by Jane Bastanchury
- 1949 Women’s Western Junior, won by Pat Leith
- 1944 Women’s Western Amateur, won by Dorothy Germain
- 1924 Women’s Western Amateur, won by Edith Cummings
- 1902 Women’s Western Amateur, won by Bessie Anthony
- 1901 Women’s Western Amateur, won by Bessie Anthony
- 1900 Western Amateur, won by William Waller