Women’s Open Moves to May; Inaugural Senior Women’s Open Slated for July
(LIBERTY CORNER, N.J.) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) confirmed the sites and dates for its 2018 championship schedule, which includes 14 annual championships and four international competitions. The season begins with this weekend's fourth Latin America Amateur Championship, which will be played from Jan. 20-23 at Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, Chile.
“The courses hosting in 2018 are excellent partners and we appreciate their efforts in preparing to conduct exemplary championships,” said Stuart Francis, USGA Championship Committee chairman. “The USGA has always honored the history of the game, so it is fitting that we are returning to two of the Association’s five founding clubs. Shinnecock Hills is the lone venue to host U.S. Opens in three centuries and Chicago Golf Club was founded by Charles Blair Macdonald, a major figure in early American golf.”
This will be the 10th time the U.S. Open has been played on Long Island. Shinnecock Hills hosted the second U.S. Open in 1896, with James Foulis defeating defending champion Horace Rawlins by three strokes. In 1986, Raymond Floyd shot a final-round 66 to break out of a tightly bunched field to win by two strokes. In 1995, Corey Pavin clinched his two-stroke victory over Greg Norman with a memorable 4-wood approach to the final green. In 2004, Retief Goosen outlasted Phil Mickelson by two strokes to claim his second U.S. Open title.
The U.S. Women’s Open will begin in the month of May for the first time since 2001 and is part of a reorganization of the USGA’s championship schedule. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, Shoal Creek will host its third USGA championship. It previously hosted the 1986 U.S. Amateur and 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur championships.
The inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be the 12th USGA championship at Chicago Golf Club. The championship is open to both female professional and amateur players with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 7.4 who have reached their 50th birthday as of the first day of competition. The format for the 120-player field will mirror the other USGA Opens. Chicago Golf Club, the oldest golf club in the U.S. in continuous use at the same location, was renovated in 1923 by Seth Raynor and remains largely unchanged today.
The Broadmoor will host its eighth USGA championship with the U.S. Senior Open and the sixth on its East Course, originally designed by Donald Ross. Eduardo Romero became the second Argentinean to win the Senior Open in 2008, while So Yeon Ryu won the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open in a playoff. In 1959, Jack Nicklaus won the first of his two U.S. Amateur triumphs, while Annika Sorenstam claimed the first of her three U.S. Women’s Open titles in 1995. The East Course also hosted the 1962 Curtis Cup Match.
The 40th Curtis Cup Match, a biennial competition between female amateur teams from the United States and Great Britain and Ireland, will be contested at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. The USA Team will look to reclaim the Curtis Cup June 8-10, in between the U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Open.
Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links will host the 118th U.S. Amateur from Aug. 13-19 with Spyglass Hill Golf Course serving as the stroke-play co-host venue. The two courses also combined to host the U.S. Amateur in 1999. The Golf Club of Tennessee will be the host site for the 118th U.S. Women’s Amateur, the 16th USGA championship in the Volunteer State.
The 71st U.S. Junior Amateur and 70th U.S. Girls’ Junior championships will be played the same week, July 16-21 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., and Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif., respectively. The 38th U.S. Mid-Amateur and 32nd U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur will also be held the same week, Sept. 22-27 at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club and Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, Mo., respectively. The Junior Amateur and Mid-Amateur champions will earn full exemptions from qualifying into the 2019 U.S. Open, while the Girls’ Junior and Women’s Mid-Amateur champions will be exempt into the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open.
2018 USGA Championship Schedule
April 28-May 2 - 4th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, El Caballero Country Club, Tarzana, Calif.
May 19-23 - 4th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, Jupiter Hills Club (Hills & Village courses), Tequesta, Fla.
May 31-June 3 - 73rd U.S. Women’s Open, Shoal Creek, Shoal Creek, Ala.
June 14-17 - 118th U.S. Open, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, N.Y.
June 28-July 1 - 39th U.S. Senior Open, The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colo.
July 12-15 - 1st U.S. Senior Women’s Open, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Ill.
July 16-21 - 71st U.S. Junior Amateur, Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, N.J.
July 16-21 - 70th U.S. Girls’ Junior, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach, Calif.
Aug. 6-12 - 118th U.S. Women’s Amateur, The Golf Club of Tennessee, Kingston Springs, Tenn.
Aug. 13-19 - 118th U.S. Amateur, Pebble Beach Golf Links & Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Pebble Beach, Calif.
Aug. 25-30 - 64th U.S. Senior Amateur, Eugene (Ore.) Country Club
Sept. 22-27 - 32nd U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, Norwood Hills Country Club, St. Louis, Mo.
Sept. 22-27 - 38th U.S. Mid-Amateur, Charlotte Country Club & Carolina Golf Club, Charlotte, N.C.
Oct. 6-11 - 57th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club, Vero Beach, Fla.
International Competitions
Jan. 20-23 - 4th Latin America Amateur, Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago, Chile
June 8-10 - 40th Curtis Cup Match, Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale, N.Y.
Aug. 29-Sept. 1 - 28th Women’s World Amateur Team, Carton House Golf Club, Dublin, Ireland
Sept. 5-8 - 31st World Amateur Team, Carton House Golf Club, Dublin, Ireland
To learn more, visit usga.org.
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