U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Accepts Historic Number of Entries

Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr are two notables who will look to play their way into Pebble Beach.

For the first time in U.S. Women’s Open history, more than 2,000 women have filed entries for the championship, which will take place July 6-9 at Pebble Beach Golf Links. 

The exact number—2,107—includes 13 former champions and all of the top 25 players in the word. In addition to the likes of Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda, as well as the 2022 U.S Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee, a 9-year-old from Brazil and a 60-year-old from Maryland will attempt to qualify for the tournament. They are the youngest and oldest entrants. 

The previous record was 1,874 for last year's U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles. In 2015, 1,873 entries were accepted for the championship at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania. 

Qualifying will take place at 23 sites across the country—as well as sites in Canada, Japan and Belgium—from May 9-June 7. Players with handicaps not exceeding 2.4 or professional golfers were eligible to submit entrees, and the qualifiers will be 36-hole one-day contests. 

Some notable players who will look to qualify include Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer. Kerr won the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles and Creamer won in 2010 at Oakmont. 

As of Thursday, May 4, 87 players are already fully exempt for the championship. 

Two of those players are amateurs: Rose Zhang, the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, and Yana Wilson, the 2022 U.S. Girls Junior winner. 

Pebble Beach has hosted six men’s U.S. Opens, five U.S. Amateur championships and two U.S. Women’s Amateurs, but never a U.S. Women’s Open.