(FACT SHEET) - April 28-May 2, 2018, El Caballero Country Club, Tarzana, Calif.
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Course Setup
El Caballero Country Club will be set up at 6,330 yards and will play to a par of 36-36–72. Based on the setup, the Course Rating is 77.6 and the Slope Rating is 147.
El Caballero Country Club Hole by Hole
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Par 5 4 4 4 4 3 5 3 4 36
Yards 498 406 356 375 340 174 503 190 428 3,229
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
Par 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 5 4 36
Yards 137 337 519 350 368 395 156 458 381 3,101
Note: Yardages subject to change.
About El Caballero Country Club
Designed in 1957 by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and named for the creek that meanders through the San Fernando Valley property, the course was renovated in 2005 by John Harbottle, who revamped bunkers, water features and a few greens. El Caballero was a three-time host of the LPGA Tour’s Office Depot Championship, which was played for nine years and won by Se Ri Pak in 2002 and Annika Sorenstam in 2003 and 2004 at El Caballero. The club has also hosted several USGA sectional qualifiers, for the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Senior Open.
Admission
Admission is free. Tickets are not required for this USGA championship and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Entries
The championship is open to sides of female amateur golfers, each of whom has a Handicap Index® not exceeding 14.4. The USGA accepted 276 entries for the 2018 championship. Entries closed on Aug. 16, 2017.
Championship Field
A starting field of 64 sides (128 golfers) will compete in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Following 18-hole rounds of stroke play on April 28 and 29, the field will be cut to the low 32 sides for match play. Five 18-hole rounds of match play will determine the champion.
Sectional Qualifying
Sectional qualifying was conducted over 18 holes at 26 sites between Aug. 29, 2017 and April 11, 2018.
Exempt Players
The following four sides – eight players – are fully exempt into the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball:
- Gigi Stoll and Haley Moore (top 400 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking)
- Momoka Kobori and Hira Naveed (top 400 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking)
- Yachun Chang and Lei Ye (top 400 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking)
- Brianna Navarrosa and Zoe Antoinette Campos (top 400 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Schedule of Play
Practice rounds will take place April 26-27, and the championship schedule is as follows:
April 28 (Saturday): First round, stroke play
April 29 (Sunday): Second round, stroke play
April 30 (Monday): First round, match play
May 1 (Tuesday): Second and quarterfinal rounds, match play
May 2 (Wednesday): Semifinal and championship rounds, match play
What the Winners Receive
- A 10-year exemption from qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, provided the side remains intact
- A gold medal and custody of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Trophy for one year
2017 Championship
Alice Chen and Taylor Totland, former teammates at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., won a pair of matches on the final day of play at the par-72, 6,298-yard Dunes Golf & Beach Club to win the 3rd U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Totland, 22, of Tinton Falls, N.J., just finished her senior year at Furman, while Chen, 21, of Princeton, N.J., has one year left. The longtime friends from New Jersey defeated Jennifer Chang, 17, of Cary, N.C., and Gina Kim, 17, of Chapel Hill, N.C., in the morning’s semifinal match, 3 and 2. They followed suit with a resounding 4-and-3 triumph in the afternoon’s 18-hole final against Sammi Lee, 22, of Athens, Ga., and Mary Ellen Shuman, 22, of St. Simons Island, Ga., both of whom just finished their senior years at the University of Georgia.
Championship History
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship was inaugurated in 2015 on the Pacific Dunes Course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. With the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, which also debuted in 2015, the championships were the first annual additions to the USGA competitive schedule since the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur began in 1987.
Future U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Sites
April 27-May 1, 2019: Timuquana Country Club, Jacksonville, Fla.
What is the Difference Between Four-Ball and Foursomes?
While each involves four players, four-ball and foursome are different formats.
In four-ball, matches are played in pairs (a player and a partner, called a side, against another player and partner), with each golfer playing his or her own ball on each hole. At the end of each hole, the player with the lowest score wins that hole for the side. In stroke play, the low score is the side’s score for that hole.
Foursomes matches are also played in pairs (one side against another side), but each pair only plays with one ball. In this format, each player takes turns hitting the ball from the teeing grounds and during play of each hole, with “Player A” hitting the tee shot, “Player B” the second shot, “Player A” the third, and so on. While the side can choose the order, if “Player A” hits the tee shots on odd-numbered holes, “Player B” must hit them on even-numbered holes.
USGA Championships at El Caballero Country Club
The 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball marks El Caballero’s USGA Championship debut.
USGA Championships in California
The 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will be the 80th USGA championship contested in California, the most of any state. Additional upcoming championships in the Golden State include the 2018 U.S. Amateur, 2019 U.S. Open and 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach; the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego; and the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.
