Inverness Club returns to men’s major championship rotation, awarded its fifth US Open

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[Photos: Patrick Smith]

Inverness Club will host a fifth US Open, the USGA announced this past weekend, with the club slated to host the 2045 US Open – 66 years after its last national championship. It will be 52 years since Inverness’ most recent major championship, the 1993 PGA Championship won by Paul Azinger in a playoff over Greg Norman.

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The historic Ohio club has a long tournament history, having hosted the 1979, 1957, 1930 and 1921 US Opens, the 1993 and 1986 PGA Championships, the 2021 Solheim Cup, the 2021 US Junior Amateur, the 1973 US Amateur, the 2003 and 2011 US Senior Open and the 2009 and 1944 NCAA Championships.

Inverness will look much different than the last men’s major it hosted, as Andrew Green performed a complete restoration of the course in 2018, returning the course to its Donald Ross roots. The work followed changes to the course before the 1979 US Open made by George and Tom Fazio that eliminated four original Ross holes from the layout in an attempt to make the course play more difficult.

The club remains one of just 21 courses in the United States to have been ranked on every edition of US Golf Digest‘s list of America’s 100 Greatest Courses. It’s currently 62nd on the list.

The club was also awarded the 2033 US Girls’ Junior and the 2036 US Women’s Amateur. Inverness had already been named host of the 2027 US Women’s Open and the 2029 US Amateur.

Here are some comments from US Golf Digest course-ranking panelists on Inverness Club:

“Inverness charms you at the first tee with the blended fairway, practice putting green with the tees, and the memorials to past golf legends.”

“There were some excellent holes, including the 12th – the only par 3 remaining that was designed by Ross; the 10th, a shortish par 4 with an outstanding green setting, the seventh, a difficult bunkerless hole, and the 18th a devilish, short par 4.”

“The short par-4 18th hole was a great example of how bunker placement can challenge players off the tee. One of the toughest courses in the country to get home.”

“A great test of golf. Use of elevation to run out fairways makes club selection very important. Very much a shot-maker’s course, but extremely playable and fair.”

“Aside from the slight variations in trap locations and pin placements design variety (and memorability) lacks. Every hole started to feel the same, with a drive to the end of a plateau, followed by a drop in elevation to the creek that is crossed on nearly every hole and rise back up to the green.”