Winged Foot Golf Club (East)

The shorter of Winged Foot's two 1923 Tillinghast courses, valued for its narrow-entry, back-to-front greens and its par 3s, and host of two U.S. Women's Opens.

Winged Foot opened both of its A.W. Tillinghast courses in June 1923. The West became the U.S. Open course, while the East, roughly 600 yards shorter, has hosted the U.S. Women's Open in 1957 and 1972 and the 1980 U.S. Senior Open. It also served as a stroke-play course for the 2004 U.S. Amateur. At 6,808 yards and par 72 from the back tees, it is modest by modern standards, which is why championships have mostly gone next door.

The greens are the main event. Most tilt from back to front and are pinched at the entrance, which the press called 'bottlenecks' when the club opened. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner's restoration, completed around 2020, widened corridors, cleared trees planted in the 1960s and '70s, and reintroduced short grass on the high side of green entrances, so running shots are now a real option. Many members argue the East is the better design of the two, citing the par-3 13th and 17th.

Holes to know

13

Par 3

One of the two short holes regulars point to as the best par 3s on the property.

17

Par 3

A late par 3 that, with the 13th, shows off Tillinghast's narrow, sloping green complexes.

Championships

• U.S. Women's Open 1957, 1972
• U.S. Senior Open 1980
• U.S. Amateur (stroke-play co-host) 2004

Design history

• 2010s–2020: Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner restoration of greens, fairways and tree lines (plan presented 2013)