Kinloch Golf Club to Host 2020 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship

Independence Golf Club will serve as stroke-play co-host course

(LIBERTY CORNER, N.J.) - Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va., has been selected by the USGA as the host site for the 40th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. Independence Golf Club, a nearby public facility in Midlothian, Va., will serve as the stroke-play co-host course for the championship, which will be contested Sept. 12-17.

Designed by the team of two-time USGA champion Marvin "Vinny" Giles III and Richmond-based architect Lester George, Kinloch Golf Club opened 20 miles outside of Richmond, Va., in 2001. Kinloch previously hosted the 2011 U.S. Senior Amateur, won by Louis Lee. The course winds through a remote setting featuring a heavily wooded outward nine with an inward nine dominated by a 70-acre lake that factors heavily on the 18th hole.

“The USGA is pleased to return to Kinloch Golf Club and to bring this championship to the venue for the first time,” said Stuart Francis, USGA Championship Committee chairman. “The U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship consistently identifies the world’s best mid-amateur players. With its risk-reward holes, Kinloch will challenge the players to think and execute in their quest to hoist the Robert T. Jones Memorial Trophy.”

Lee won the 2011 U.S. Senior Amateur at Kinloch with a 4-foot par putt on the 18th hole to edge Philip Pleat, 1 up. Defending champion Paul Simson earned medalist honors after a 36-hole score of 139.

“We are proud and excited to host one of golf’s most prestigious amateur competitions,” said Jonathan Ireland, general manager of Kinloch. “We are thrilled to welcome back the USGA, which always puts on a world-class event. We know Kinloch will present a challenge to test every aspect of the competitors’ games amid an incredible backdrop.”

Independence Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio in 2011 and redesigned by Lester George in 2014, leading to it being named one of Golf Digest’s Top 10 Best Remodels in the country in 2015. Fazio also designed a nine-hole short course to complement the championship course.

The 2020 U.S. Mid-Amateur will be the 21st USGA championship in Virginia and the first since Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton hosted the 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links.

The U.S. Mid-Amateur was first played in 1981. The championship is open to amateur golfers age 25 and older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4. The winner of the championship receives the Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy and as of 2017 earns an exemption into the U.S. Open. The 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur will be played Sept. 22-27 at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club. The 2019 championship will be played Sept. 14-19 at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo.

To learn more, visit usga.org.