A logo provides an identity. When it comes to USGA championships, a logo offers an opportunity to bring not only a sense of pride to that club/course that is hosting, but also a way to deliver extra attention to that event. When individuals don a piece of merchandise or apparel, they often wear such attire with pride. A flag or other logoed piece of memorabilia can be a priceless keepsake, making a statement that said individual loved the experience of attending or watching the event.
So, when it comes to designing a championship logo, the USGA, in partnership with host clubs, often spend as much time brainstorming the logo as the maintenance staff does in prepping the fairways and greens for the competitors.
In many cases, a club will spin off its own logo; see Merion (wicker baskets), Pebble Beach (cypress tree) or Pinehurst (Putter Boy or Golf Lad).
But Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club, which is hosting its second U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally from May 30-June 2, took an entirely different approach. The club’s normal logo is a scripted “L” sandwiched between equally scripted “Cs”. Deciding it wanted to also honor the community and draw from the city’s English roots, Lancaster eschewed the status quo and designed a championship logo reflecting its historic past and the community that means so much to the success of the Women’s Open.
According to 2024 U.S. Women’s Open vice chair and unofficial club historian Rory Connaughton, the heraldic rose, a key feature of the 2024 logo, originally was associated with the House of Lancaster, dating to the 14th century. There is also a white heraldic rose for the House of York. When the War of Roses ended in 1487 after 32 years of conflict, the Tudors merged the roses into the Tudor rose (red outside, white inside) when the Houses of Lancaster and York became one.
The flag of Lancashire, England, is the red rose in a yellow field. Yorkshire, meanwhile, has a white rose in a blue field. The Pennsylvania cities of Lancaster and York are just 23 miles apart as the crow flies.
Connaughton adds, “The red heraldic rose is used frequently in England. It appears, among other places, on the crest of the Manchester City [soccer] jersey as well the Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers [of the English Football League]. It appears all over the Manchester and Liverpool area. The English Golf Union and Lancashire Golf Union also use a version of the rose.”
West Lancashire Golf Club, which has been a past site for Open Championship final qualifying as well as the nascent Rose Series (started by 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and his wife, Kate, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic) and Hillside Golf Club, site of the 2023 Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A), both have incorporated the rose into its logos. It’s also been heavily used by certain units within the British Army.
The heraldic White Rose is utilized at Silloth on Solway Golf Club and the Leeds United Soccer Club.
As it relates to the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open, the rose is part of the seal of the City of Lancaster.
“In 2015, a hex sign was used as the championship logo,” said Connaughton, an attorney by trade who served on Lancaster Country Club’s Executive Committee. “We pride ourselves on the massive community involvement in this event. The goal was to use something that was representative of the community as a whole and not Lancaster Country Club. When Bryan Megee (director of U.S. Women’s Open championships) arrived [on-site], there was discussion about doing something similar in 2024 and the Red Rose of Lancaster was decided on.”
It was Connaughton’s sister, Orla Duffy, an Irish-based graphic designer, who came up with some of the first designs for the 2024 logo. That version was shared with the USGA design team, and the final product reflects a collaborative effort.
Nine years ago, Lancaster Country Club proved to be a home run for the players, club and fans as the 2015 championship, won by Korea’s In Gee Chun by one stroke over countrywoman Amy Yang, set attendance records with some 135,000 spectators entering the grounds.
With a star-studded field excited to return to the classic William Flynn design and the hope of matching those ticket sales, one can only expect the logo to bring plenty of civic pride to this Pennsylvania locale.
David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.
