1997 U.S. Women's Open: Alison Nicholas wins at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club (Witch Hollow Course)
Alison Nicholas won the 1997 U.S. Women's Open at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club (Witch Hollow Course), North Plains, Oregon, United States with 274 (−10), by 1 stroke over Nancy Lopez.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- July 10, 1997 to July 13, 1997
- Course
- Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club (Witch Hollow Course), North Plains, Oregon, United States
- Edition
- 52nd edition
- Counted as a major
- yes
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 71 · 6,365 yards
- Entries
- 830
- Field
- 156
- Made the cut
- 64 (cut at 147)
- Purse
- $1,300,000 · winner's share $232,500
- Champion
- Alison Nicholas · age 35 · England · born Gibraltar
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event · 1st major
- Winning score
- 70-66-67-71 = 274 (−10) · won by 1 stroke
- Runner-up
- Nancy Lopez (275)
- 54-hole leader
- Alison Nicholas
- Caddie
- Mark Fulcher
- Low amateur
- Jenny Chuasiriporn (297)
- Run by
- United States Golf Association
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alison Nicholas | 70 | 66 | 67 | 71 | 274 | −10 |
| 2 | Nancy Lopez | 69 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 275 | −9 |
What happened at the 1997 U.S. Women's Open
Nancy Lopez, 40, became the first player to shoot four rounds in the 60s at the U.S. Women's Open (69-68-69-69) but finished one stroke behind.
On the 72nd hole Lopez's 15-foot downhill birdie putt slid past and Alison Nicholas holed a three-foot par putt to win by one.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's U.S. Women's Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: womens-golf-majors_dataset_2026-10-20.json (GNN's women's majors research set, "master" row for this year, research dated October 20, 2026).
Also from GNN's U.S. Women's Open set (entries, runners-up round by round, values the majors set does not hold).
Sources
- usga.org: 26USWomensOpen
- Wikipedia: 1997 U.S. Women's Open
- mediacenter.usga.org: 2026 U.S. Women's Open Fact Sheet V2
- Wikipedia: Women's major golf championships
- Wikipedia: U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: Alison Nicholas
- golfcompendium.com: 1997 us womens open
- golfcompendium.com: low amateurs us womens open
- filecache.mediaroom.com: 21 U.S. Women's Open
- asapsports.com: show interview
- vault.si.com: open and shut playing like her old self nancy lopez had…
- where2golf.com: alison nicholas