USGA Announces Local Qualifying Sites for 118th U.S. Open Championship

112 Local Qualifiers Will Be Conducted in 45 States and Canada Between April 30-May 17

(LIBERTY CORNER, N.J.) – The United States Golf Association announced local qualifying sites for the 118th U.S. Open Championship. The U.S. Open will be contested at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, in Southampton, N.Y., for the fifth time from June 14-17. Local qualifying, conducted over 18 holes at 112 sites in 45 states and Canada, will take place between April 30-May 17.

“Thousands of professional and amateur golfers will have an opportunity to take part in U.S. Open qualifying due to the work of Allied Golf Associations, supported by the USGA’s five regional affairs offices, along with Golf Canada,” said Stuart Francis, USGA Championship Committee chairman. “The two-tiered qualifying process will culminate in the championship at historic Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the only course to host the U.S. Open in three different centuries and one of the USGA’s five founding member clubs.”

Those players who advance out of local qualifying will join a group of exempt players in sectional qualifying, which will be conducted over 36 holes at 12 sites, 10 of them in the U.S., one in England and one in Japan. All 10 U.S. sites and the England site will host sectional qualifying on Monday, June 4, while Japan will host its qualifier on May 21. It will mark the 14th consecutive year that England and Japan have hosted international sectional qualifying.

In 2017, the USGA accepted 9,485 entries for the championship at Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis. The record of 10,127 was established for the 2014 championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 2, in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

Forty-nine courses return as U.S. Open local qualifying sites from last year and several have a long history as hosts. Illini Country Club, in Springfield, Ill., will conduct a U.S. Open qualifier for the 40th consecutive year. Maketewah Country Club, in Cincinnati, Ohio, will be a local site for the 42nd time in the last 43 years. Riverton (Wyo.) Country Club has hosted local qualifying since 1998, while Collindale Golf Course, in Fort Collins, Colo., has been a host site since 2003. Ironwood Country Club, in Palm Desert, Calif., will hold a local qualifier for the 20th time in the last 21 years.

Five clubs will host U.S. Open local qualifying for the 10th consecutive year. They are: The Club at Admirals Cove (North/West Courses), in Jupiter, Fla.; The Club at Ruby Hill, in Pleasanton, Calif.; Holston Hills Country Club, in Knoxville, Tenn.; La Purisima Golf Course, in Lompoc, Calif.; and Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia Course), in Pinehurst, N.C.

Several local exemptions for the U.S. Open were amended prior to the 2014 championship. The top 500 point leaders and ties from the Official World Golf Ranking™ (OWGR) as of March 5 will be exempt from local qualifying. Any player in the OWGR’s top 500 (as of April 23) who has filed an entry prior to the deadline of 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 25, will also earn a local exemption. In the past, only the top 150 point leaders were exempt. Additionally, any player who has had multiple finishes in the top 400 of the year-ending OWGR in the past five calendar years (2013-2017) is exempt from local qualifying.

Ken Venturi (1964) and Orville Moody (1969) are the only players to win the U.S. Open after qualifying through both local and sectional play. Last year, 21 players advanced through local and sectional qualifying to the 156-player U.S. Open Championship field at Erin Hills. Of those 21, four players made the 36-hole cut, including Jack Maguire, who started his journey at Orange Tree Golf Club, in Orlando, Fla., which will host a local qualifier for the seventh consecutive year.

Several U.S. Open champions have advanced to the championship through both local and sectional qualifying at some point in their careers, including Lucas Glover, David Graham, Lou Graham, Hale Irwin, Tony Jacklin, Lee Janzen, Tom Kite, Johnny Miller, Corey Pavin, Curtis Strange, Lee Trevino and Fuzzy Zoeller.

To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4, or be a professional.

There are 15 local qualifying sites in the state of Florida, the most of any state. Fourteen local qualifiers are scheduled in California, while Texas will host six local qualifiers.

Online player registration for the 2018 U.S. Open will begin in the first week of March (https://champs.usga.org/index.html).

2018 U.S. Open Championship Local Qualifying Sites (112)

Monday, April 30 (2)
Marietta C.C., Kennesaw, Ga.
Gleneagles C.C., Plano, Texas

Tuesday, May 1 (1)
UNM Championship G.C., Albuquerque, N.M.

Thursday, May 3 (1)
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Silver Lakes, Glencoe, Ala.

Friday, May 4 (1)
The Club at Admirals Cove (North/West Courses), Jupiter, Fla.

Sunday, May 6 (1)
Ka’anapali G.C. (Royal Course), Lahaina, Hawaii

Monday, May 7 (26)
Tonto Verde G.C., Scottsdale, Ariz.
Fort Washington G. & C.C., Fresno, Calif.
Indian Ridge C.C. (Grove Course), Palm Desert, Calif.
Beacon Hall Golf Club, Aurora, Ontario, Canada
Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, Westminster, Colo.
Great River G.C., Milford, Conn.
LPGA International (Rees Jones Course), Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lago Mar C.C., Plantation, Fla.
The Founders G.C., Sarasota, Fla.
Ridgecrest G.C., Nampa, Idaho
Cog Hill G. & C.C. (Dubsdread Course), Lemont, Ill.
South Bend (Ind.) C.C.
Muskegon (Mich.) C.C.
Old Warson C.C., St. Louis, Mo.
Hidden Creek G.C., Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
Spring Lake (N.J.) G.C.
Essex County C.C., West Orange, N.J.
Canyon Gate C.C., Las Vegas, Nev.
Ravenwood G.C., Victor, N.Y.
Southampton C.C., Southampton, N.Y.
Riverside G. & C.C., Portland, Ore.
Westwood G.C., Houston, Texas
The Club at Comanche Trace (Valley/Hills Course), Kerrville, Texas
Alpine C.C., Highland, Utah
Meridian Valley C.C., Kent, Wash.
Stonewall Resort (Palmer Course), Roanoke, W.Va.

Tuesday, May 8 (9)
Hot Springs C.C. (Arlington Course), Hot Springs, Ark.
Yocha Dehe G.C., Brooks, Calif.
Andalusia C.C., La Quinta, Calif.
The Club at Ruby Hill, Pleasanton, Calif.
Fox Hollow G.C., Trinity, Fla.
Mount Kisco C.C., Mount Kisco, N.Y.
Beechmont C.C., Cleveland, Ohio
The Rawls Course, Lubbock, Texas
Troy Burne G.C., Hudson, Wis.

Wednesday, May 9 (11)
Oak Creek G.C., Irvine, Calif.
CommonGround G.C., Aurora, Colo.
Orange Tree G.C., Orlando, Fla.
Hombre G.C. (Bad/Ugly Courses), Panama City Beach, Fla.
Wichita (Kan.) C.C.
Blue Mash G.C., Laytonsville, Md.
Duke University G.C., Durham, N.C.
Butler (Pa.) C.C.
Columbia C.C., Blythewood, S.C.
Jackson (Tenn.) C.C.
Holston Hills C.C., Knoxville, Tenn.

Thursday, May 10 (9)
Sewailo G.C., Tucson, Ariz.
Bermuda Dunes (Calif.) C.C.
La Purisima G.C., Lompoc, Calif.
DuPont C.C., Wilmington, Del.
OakWing G.C., Alexandria, La.
Pinehills G.C. (Nicklaus Course), Plymouth, Mass.
Hurricane Creek C.C., Anna, Texas
Farmington C.C., Charlottesville, Va.
Wine Valley G.C., Walla Walla, Wash.

Friday, May 11 (2)
The Legacy G. & T.C., Port Saint Lucie, Fla.
River Landing G.C. (River Course), Wallace, N.C.

Monday, May 14 (22)
Wigwam G.R. (Gold Course), Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Classic Club, Palm Desert, Calif.
The Grand G.C., San Diego, Calif.
Pelican Marsh G.C., Naples, Fla.
The Wanderers Club, Wellington, Fla.
Orange County National G.C. & Lodge (Crooked Cat Course), Winter Garden, Fla.
Georgia National G.C., McDonough, Ga.
Illini C.C., Springfield, Ill.
Delaware C.C., Muncie, Ind.
Glen Oaks C.C., West Des Moines, Iowa
Stockbridge (Mass.) G.C.
Hillendale C.C., Phoenix, Md.
Creekmoor G.C., Raymore, Mo.
Pinewild C.C. (Magnolia Course), Pinehurst, N.C.
New Mexico State University G.C., Las Cruces, N.M.
Edgewood Tahoe G.C., Stateline, Nev.
Maketewah C.C., Cincinnati, Ohio
Catawba Island Club, Port Clinton, Ohio
Kinsale G. & F.C., Powell, Ohio
Pawtucket (R.I.) C.C.
Belfair Plantation (West Course), Bluffton, S.C.
Dakota Dunes (S.D.) C.C.

Tuesday, May 15 (9)
Ironwood C.C. (South Course), Palm Desert, Calif.
Collindale G.C., Fort Collins, Colo.
Southern Hills Plantation G.C., Brooksville, Fla.
Sawgrass C.C. (East/West Courses), Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Ocean Course Hokuala, Kaua’i, Hawaii
Knollwood C.C., West Bloomfield, Mich.
Missoula (Mont.) C.C.
Cedar Ridge C.C., Broken Arrow, Okla.
Whistling Straits (The Irish Course), Sheboygan, Wis.

Wednesday, May 16 (10)
Palmer (Alaska) G.C.
Industry Hills G.C. (Eisenhower Course), City of Industry, Calif.
Pasatiempo G.C., Santa Cruz, Calif.
Mission Inn R. & C. (El Campeon Course), Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
The Wilds G.C., Prior Lake, Minn.
Cherry Valley Club, Garden City, N.Y.
Quicksilver G.C, Midway, Pa.
C.C. of York, Pa.
The Hills C.C. (Flintrock Falls Course), Austin, Texas
Riverton C.C., Riverton, Wyo.

Thursday, May 17 (8)
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes G.C., Maricopa, Ariz.
Granite Bay (Calif.) G.C.
The C.C. of Winter Haven, Fla.
ThunderHawk G.C., Beach Park, Ill.
Kearney Hill G.L., Lexington, Ky.
Omaha (Neb.) C.C.
Turning Stone Resort (Kaluhyat Course), Verona, N.Y.
Glenmaura National G.C., Moosic, Pa.

To learn more, visit usga.org.