A champion gives back

As 2023 enters its final month, the countdown is underway for the 79th playing of the U.S. Women’s Open, set for May 30-June 2, 2024, at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

This marks the second time the club will host a Women’s Open. The first was in 2015 when In Gee Chun, then a month shy of her 21st birthday, played in her first event in the United States and was virtually unknown outside her native Republic of Korea, and emerged victorious.

Nathan Schnell is eagerly anticipating the 79th edition of the championship. Schnell is the club’s senior assistant superintendent, working under director of grounds Josh Saunders and superintendent Matt Wolfe.

Schnell’s ties to the club run deep. He didn’t join the crew until 2017 but Chun’s victory in 2015 profoundly impacted his life — then and since.

A Penn State graduate, Schnell was a recipient of a scholarship from the Lancaster Country Club Educational Foundation that helped finance his education. The foundation was founded by Chun in the wake of her Women’s Open win for the purpose of supporting the educational efforts of club employees and caddies, and their dependents.

After 54 holes of that 2015 Women’s Open, Chun was in third place, four shots off the lead. But she had a sense Saturday evening that championship Sunday would be a day to remember.

“We had dinner at a restaurant,” she says. “On the way back to (where I was staying) I saw a lot of fireflies. When I saw the fireflies, I thought about a lot of things from my past. I wanted to be that person who gives back.”

The next day, with the support of local golf fans, Chun fired a 4-under 66 to score a one-shot victory. The win was a life-changing experience and fueled her resolve to give back.

“The Lancaster community gave me a lot of energy,” she says. “So, after I won the Open, I wanted to give back to the Lancaster community. That’s why I started the foundation here.”

Schnell received a scholarship for the first time in 2019 after going through an interview process that included submitting an essay and being interviewed by members of the foundation’s board of directions, all of whom are Lancaster Country Club members.

“That was during the infancy of the program,” he says. “That was Year 1 of when it came to be, and I was fortunate enough to get that money and just see how (the club) was banding together to host the (2024) Women’s Open and create a community within itself.

“It’s been really intriguing to see over the last couple years how In Gee has continuously impacted Lancaster along with the members, reinvesting resources into the internal growth of the employees and the community in general.”

Schnell graduated from Penn State in the fall of 2021 with a degree in turfgrass science. His academic roadmap included a stint as an intern at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Since his graduation, he’s been part of the team at Lancaster Country Club, where Saunders has been a mentor to him.

“He kind of led me in a way that influenced me,” Schnell says. “It was very eye-opening at a young age, looking to be in this industry because he said to me, ‘There going to be good times. There are also going to be times when you just have to keep your head down and persevere.’”

Chun takes a hands-on approach to her foundation. She returns to Lancaster Country Club regularly to meet with members and recipients of her foundation’s scholarships, including Schnell. She is committed to supporting those recipients as they pursue their dreams, as others supported her in her quest to become one of the finest golfers in the world.

When the Women’s Open returns to Lancaster Country Club next June, the native of Gunsan, Republic of Korea, will be the hometown favorite.

For his part, Schnell appreciates being able to use his education and professional skills at the club that supported his ambitions.

“I’m very prideful that I’m able to reinvest my experiences through past internships,” he says. “And also contribute back to the community that gave me a lot of financial support and just the confidence that I’m doing the right thing through my career path and education.”

Rick Woelfel is a Philadelphia-based writer, senior Golf Course Industry contributor and host of the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast.