Play in the 64th US Women's Open begins tomorrow at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, PA.  In Bee Park is the defending champion on a course that will play to a yardage of 6740 yards and a par of 71 (though, as I'll talk about later today, par doesn't really matter).  Hound Dog expects that there will be no players under par at the end of the tournament, though.

Again, Mike Davis and his staff are behind the setup of the championship.  Last year at Interlachen, Davis had five par 5s on the card.  This year, there are just three.  There is the possibility of two driveable par 4s on the back nine, intentionally placed by Davis to incite excitement and shot value for the players and spectators.  Fairways will range from 25 to 35 yards in width and the rough setup will be similar to what you would see at a US Open.

As mentioned in other stories, several players of note are not in the field - in part due to a change in the selection criteria of the USGA for the championship.  Still, the field is very strong.  It also features 29 amateur players and, as Mark Wogenrich notes, 26 teenagers.  Among those players are both Alexis Thompson (14) and Kimberly Kim (17) who have a career's worth of experience in this championship already.

This is the title that every female golfer wants to win.  Dottie Pepper noted in her golf.com column this week that she would trade in her two major championships for having a single US Women's Open crown.  On top of that, though, the money certainly is good.  The $3.2 million purse is the largest on the Tour by far and will award $585,000 to the winner.

In a prior post, I said that my favorites were Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, and Jiyai Shin.  Regardless of the winner, I expect some great golf this weekend.