SAN FRANCISCO – The Olympic Club has long been on the USGA’s short list of go-to clubs for its championships.
A USGA Championship at Olympic is sure to attract more interest from spectators and TV viewers and more respect from the players than most venues. Its thick air is rarefied indeed.
The legacy of the club will only grow by hosting the 2025 U.S. Amateur this week, its first USGA Championship since a significant redesign by Gil Hanse completed in 2023. The championship will be televised by Golf Channel and Peacock.
2025 U.S. Amateur TV schedule
Wednesday, August 13: Peacock: 3–4 pm; Golf Channel: 4–6 pm (Round of 64)
Thursday, August 14: Golf Channel: 4–7 pm (Round of 16)
Friday, August 15: Peacock: 3–4 pm; Golf Channel: 4–6 pm (Quarterfinals)
Saturday, August 16: Golf Channel: 12–3 pm (Semifinals)
Sunday, August 17: Golf Channel: 4–7 pm (36-Hole Championship Match)
* All times Pacific
The Lake Course itself is familiar to veteran golf fans who tuned in for the 2012 U.S. Open, the most recent of its five U.S. Opens. It also hosted the first U.S. men’s Four-Ball in 2015. In an interesting plot twist, The Olympic Club will host its first PGA Championship in 2028. That locked in the 2033 Ryder Cup, which is also run by the PGA of America.
The reverse-canted fairways at holes 4 and 5 – where the hole bends one way, but the ground kicks balls in the opposition direction – are the layout’s signatures. At roughly 7,214 yards on the championship scorecard and lined with juicy rough, many matches will go grind mode, instead of full shootout.
The Hanse renovation introduced a more modern and member-friendly Lake Course, where expanded fairways 25 percent larger, widened runways into greens and putting surfaces 35 percent larger overall give golfers more room to miss. Hundreds of trees were removed – both by Hanse and by a winter storm – opening up incredible views of the surrounding cityscape. Playing the Lake Course is arguably “easier”, but scoring will never be easy.
To learn more about the changes, take a hole-by-hole tour of one of golf’s most iconic venues.
