Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Merion Golf Club to Host 2022 Curtis Cup Match

Biennial competition will be club’s record 19th USGA championship

(FAR HILLS, N.J.) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) has selected Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., as the host site of the 42nd Curtis Cup Match, to be contested June 10-12, 2022. This will be the 19th USGA championship conducted at Merion, the most by any club, and its second Curtis Cup.

A five-time U.S. Open host site (1934, 1950, 1971, 1981 and 2013), Merion hosted its first USGA championship in 1904 – the U.S. Women’s Amateur. It has since hosted three additional U.S. Women’s Amateurs (1909, 1926 and 1949), six U.S. Amateurs (1916, 1924, 1930, 1966, 1989 and 2005) and the 1998 U.S. Girls’ Junior. Merion also hosted the 1954 Curtis Cup, in which the USA Team defeated Great Britain & Ireland, 6-3, and the 2009 Walker Cup, also won by the USA, 16½-9½.

“The USGA is thrilled to return to Merion Golf Club for this biennial celebration of women’s amateur golf,” said Stuart Francis, chairman of the USGA Championship Committee. “An exemplary championship host, Merion has always provided the comprehensive examination and hospitality expected of USGA championships, and we are confident the club will deliver a memorable experience for all during the 2022 Curtis Cup Match.”

Merion is one of only two clubs in the United States to have hosted both the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup matches. The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Minn., hosted the 1957 Walker Cup and 1998 Curtis Cup matches. Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., will join this list next year when it hosts the 2018 Curtis Cup Match. It also hosted the 1997 Walker Cup Match.

“Merion is proud to have the opportunity to host this historic team competition featuring some of the best amateur golfers from the United States, and Great Britain and Ireland,” said club president James B. Bradbeer Jr. “We look forward to adding to our long history in hosting and celebrating women’s championship golf, and creating a new generation of golf memories at this special international competition.”

Founded in 1896 as the Merion Cricket Club, Merion’s East Course was designed by Hugh Wilson and opened in 1912. A lifelong amateur golfer who was a member of the golf team at Princeton University, Wilson was assigned the task of creating the East Course by the Merion Cricket Club Golf Committee. He also planned Merion’s West Course (1914) and Cobb’s Creek Golf Club (1916). Today, every effort is made to ensure that people playing the course compete on the same course as the champions of old.

Several of the game’s greats have won USGA championships at Merion, including Charles “Chick” Evans Jr. (1916 U.S. Amateur); Bob Jones (1924 and 1930 U.S. Amateurs); Dorothy Porter (1949 U.S. Women’s Amateur); Ben Hogan, who defeated Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in a playoff (1950 U.S. Open); Lee Trevino, who defeated Jack Nicklaus in a playoff (1971 U.S. Open); and Justin Rose (2013 U.S. Open). Relive some of these moments in this video.

The 2022 Curtis Cup will be the 89th USGA championship conducted in the state of Pennsylvania. In 2016, the Keystone State hosted four USGA championships, including the U.S. Open, won by Dustin Johnson at Oakmont Country Club. The next USGA championship slated to take place in Pennsylvania is the 2020 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club from May 23-27.

The Curtis Cup Match is a biennial team competition contested by female amateur golfers. One team representing the United States and one team representing Great Britain and Ireland alternate hosting the Match. The teams consist of not more than eight players and a captain. The United States leads the all-time Curtis Cup series with a record of 28-8-3. The GB&I Team won the 2016 Match, which was conducted at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in Dublin, Ireland, by an 11.5-8.5 margin.

The 2018 Curtis Cup Match will take place June 8-10 at Quaker Ridge Golf Club and the 2020 Match will be contested at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales, June 12-14.

For more information about the USGA, visit usga.org.

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