Ask some top players in the world—the 12th hole in U.S. Women’s Open has been a nightmare

The most punishing hole at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open is one of its shortest. Lancaster Country Club’s 12th, an unassuming 161-yard par-3, downhill hole, had 52 players—a third of the field—put a ball into the creek in front of the green on Thursday.

Those splashes contributed to the 49 double bogeys or worse carded on the hole during the first round, with Nelly Korda’s disastrous septuple-bogey 10 its Mona Lisa of high scores. The par 3 was responsible for 13 of the championship’s 28 triples or worse in the first round. The field averaged 3.8 strokes—three-tenths higher relative to par than the second hardest hole on the course, the par-4 10th (4.5).

In Friday’s second round, the carnage continued through the morning wave of play. The 12th still had more double bogeys (14) or triples or worse (four) than any other hole on the course through the middle of the second round.

The damage on Thursday came partly from the flag’s proximity to the false front that fed into the water; it was just six paces off the front of the 21-yard-deep green. For the second round, the USGA placed the hole in the back left, giving 17 yards of breathing room from the front to stanch some of the disastrous scores. Missing long keeps players dry, but they face a shot with a green sloping from back to front. Hit a chip too hard, and the ball can still accelerate into the creek.

Korda nearly foreshadowed her demise during her pre-tournament press conference Tuesday, pointing out the array of ways players can end up in trouble on the 12th.

“From the tee box you can’t see how sloped of a green that is, but then once you get onto that green you’re like, ‘oh, my gosh, you’re coming in with a 6-iron,’” Korda explained. “If you’re long, in a sense, you’re kind of screwed. If you’re short, you’re screwed too.”

After the first-round telecast, Golf Channel had Mel Reid, the 2020 ShopRite LPGA Classic winner, walk through how hard the chip shot into the green after ending up in the creek. Players needed to pitch into the upslope of the false front to try and end up close. Any miss short or not hitting it hard enough, the ball would end up back in the creek. Hitting it to the back and putting just a touch too much pace on the putt would have the shot end up in another splash.

“She’s a beauty, but she played like an absolute beast today,” Reid explained.

Defending champion Allisen Corpuz tripled the hole Thursday. In between clubs with a 6- or 7-iron off the tee, Corpuz went with the longer club and ended up in the back rough. She bladed a wedge into the creek and couldn’t get up and down to salvage a double.

“It was really just one bad shot,” Corpuz said. “Even that was just kind of unlucky.”

Andrea Lee, 2022 Portland Classic winner, was one of only 10 to birdie the hole on Thursday. Lee dealt with swirling winds mostly off the left and into her, hitting it to 29 feet above the cup before draining the long-birdie putt for a 2 that gained almost two strokes on the field.

“Anywhere on that green is a good shot in my opinion,” Lee said.

Lee’s good fortune on the 12th didn’t continue Friday, as she found the creek while tied for the lead. Lee carded a double-bogey to fall back to even par for the championship.

Staying in contention may require getting through the 12th unscathed. Yuka Saso and Minjee Lee, the two players who finished 36 holes under par, are one over and one under on the par 3, respectively.