Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: Matthew Rose on February 21, 2019, 04:56:57 PM
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LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (Feb. 21, 2019) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced sites for six U.S. Amateur Championships, from 2021 through 2026. Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club will host the U.S. Amateur in 2021 and will be followed by Ridgewood (N.J.) Country Club in 2022 and Cherry Hills Country Club, in Cherry Hills Village, Colo., in 2023. The 2024, 2025 and 2026 championships will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minn.; The Olympic Club, in San Francisco, Calif.; and Merion Golf Club, in Ardmore, Pa., respectively.
2021 Oakmont
2022 Ridgewood
2023 Cherry Hills
2024 Hazeltine
2025 Olympic
2026 Merion
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Cherry Hills surprises me most of that list, because of its (short) length. Will they have to turn the fairways into bowling alleys, and let the rough grow, to keep it challenging -- sort of like what they did to Merion at the U.S. Open? Or can they stretch the course out by moving tees back?
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Cherry Hills is like 7700 yards. Even at altitude it can handle match play.
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The 2020's will be a busy decade for Olympic. US Women's Open in 2021. US Am in 2025. PGA in 2028.
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What a daily double in the DelVal with the 2026 PGA Championship as well at Aronimink!
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I’m very interested to see the stroke play co-host for Ridgewood.
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What a daily double in the DelVal with the 2026 PGA Championship as well at Aronimink!
Cobbs Creek should be used for the medal play.
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I've wondered why SFGC never sees any of this action. Is the course too short or just not interested in all the bother?
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I highly suspect that this mean's Merion will host the 2030 U.S. Open to celebrate the Centennial of Bobby Jones' Grand Slam.
I'd be 71 years old, so hope I'm around to see it.
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Cobbs Creek should be used for the medal play.
Mike,
I like it.
It could be too tough for them, though. ;)
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I've wondered why SFGC never sees any of this action. Is the course too short or just not interested in all the bother?
Both
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I thought it was strange that they are not taking the Amateur to places that want to host a US Open in the future. Like Southern Hills (hosted in 2009) but maybe it is too hot in August. After three straight public courses, Pebble, Pinehurst, Bandon, they are going back to the private courses route. I would have liked to have seen Streamsong, or.... Not Torrey Pines.
What other public courses should be considered for the Amateur?
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I thought it was strange that they are not taking the Amateur to places that want to host a US Open in the future. Like Southern Hills (hosted in 2009) but maybe it is too hot in August. After three straight public courses, Pebble, Pinehurst, Bandon, they are going back to the private courses route. I would have liked to have seen Streamsong, or.... Not Torrey Pines.
What other public courses should be considered for the Amateur?
Maybe Chambers Bay will get an Amateur before it gets another Open. Erin Hills last hosted the Amateur in 2011.
Bethpage Black can challenge anyone and it would be cool to see the Red as the companion course but I'm guessing they are only interested in the events that bring in a lot of revenue.
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Cherry Hills surprises me most of that list, because of its (short) length. Will they have to turn the fairways into bowling alleys, and let the rough grow, to keep it challenging -- sort of like what they did to Merion at the U.S. Open? Or can they stretch the course out by moving tees back?
They played the Am there in 2012, at its current length I believe. No one went terribly low in their stroke play round. 64 was the lowest, if I recall correctly.
They also had the 2014 BMW (PGA Tour Playoffs event, formerly the Western Open, more or less) there, and again the course held its own. Winning score for the week was -14 and there was a dispersion of guys over par, as well. They narrow the fairways a bit, but really the key is that those greens are small and pretty sloped and they keep them firm. I remember both the ams and the pros bombing drives and then going mad as they realized, too late, that trying to approach some of those greens from 100 yards with a lob wedge isn't really the ideal shot.
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So happy for Ridgewood! Todd Raisch and his staff have been crushing it for years, glad they continue to get rewarded for their awesome work!
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Cherry Hills is like 7700 yards. Even at altitude it can handle match play.
It is a matter on how hard they want to make it. List of winning scores on major tournaments at Cherry Hills. 1978 Andy North was survivalist golf.
1938 E
1941 -4 PGA stroke play medalist
1960 -4
1978 +1
1985 -6
1993 -6
2005 +3 Womens
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I would like too see more variety in the clubs hosting the Amateur. It should not be a Major venue, pick others clubs that have a great course that haven’t hosted a major in the last 20 years.
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I would like too see more variety in the clubs hosting the Amateur. It should not be a Major venue, pick others clubs that have a great course that haven’t hosted a major in the last 20 years.
At the end of the day, a club has to really want to host the US Am. It isn't a money maker for the club and the members lose the course for more than a week in prime season for much of the country. At the same time, the field is largely made up of college kids who bomb it, which can limit where it can be played.
I have some friends at Hazeltine and I'm glad they are getting another US Am. The club was formed with the clear goal of hosting big events. They are on a really nice run. In the next 10 years, they will host the Women's PGA, the USGA Junior, the US Am and a Ryder Cup. When they host the US Junior next year, they will have hosted seven different USGA championships (Open, Sr. Open, Women's Open, Mid-Am, Am, State Team and Junior) in a little more than 50 years of club history.
I think it is awesome when clubs want to do this.
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I’m very interested to see the stroke play co-host for Ridgewood.
I’d be surprised if it was anything other than Arcola.
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I would like too see more variety in the clubs hosting the Amateur. It should not be a Major venue, pick others clubs that have a great course that haven’t hosted a major in the last 20 years.
I’m under the impression it’s kind of a package deal with the US Open. It gives both the club and the USGA a test run of sorts. Of course, I could be completely mistaken, that’s merely my impression, not born of any insider knowledge.
They sure as heck should do that before another Open at Shinney.... :)
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So happy for Ridgewood! Todd Raisch and his staff have been crushing it for years, glad they continue to get rewarded for their awesome work!
Cheers to that!!!!
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I would like too see more variety in the clubs hosting the Amateur. It should not be a Major venue, pick others clubs that have a great course that haven’t hosted a major in the last 20 years.
I’m under the impression it’s kind of a package deal with the US Open. It gives both the club and the USGA a test run of sorts. Of course, I could be completely mistaken, that’s merely my impression, not born of any insider knowledge.
They sure as heck should do that before another Open at Shinney.... :)
I also think the USGA uses the carrott of if you host the US Amatuer, Senior Amatuer, Mid Am, Women's Am etc. then we can evaluate the venue for a shot at a US Open. We see that in the TV deal, which I love as we get TV coverage of many more USGA events now so that was successfully leveraged.
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I would like too see more variety in the clubs hosting the Amateur. It should not be a Major venue, pick others clubs that have a great course that haven’t hosted a major in the last 20 years.
I’m under the impression it’s kind of a package deal with the US Open. It gives both the club and the USGA a test run of sorts. Of course, I could be completely mistaken, that’s merely my impression, not born of any insider knowledge.
They sure as heck should do that before another Open at Shinney.... :)
I also think the USGA uses the carrott of if you host the US Amatuer, Senior Amatuer, Mid Am, Women's Am etc. then we can evaluate the venue for a shot at a US Open. We see that in the TV deal, which I love as we get TV coverage of many more USGA events now so that was successfully leveraged.
Your analysis rings true with LACC, Erin Hills and Chambers Bay. In the case of LACC it was a Walker Cup rather than a U.S. Amateur that preceded the U.S. Open. I thought Southern Hills might pop back up in the future site announcements but nothing through 2026. Their last big USGA event was the 2009 U.S. Amateur but the PGA was there in 2007.
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I'm gonna go out on a limb that Chambers Bay is done for future consideration, at least in the short long term sense, next 10 years.
Is Erin Hills in same boat?
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I'm gonna go out on a limb that Chambers Bay is done for future consideration, at least in the short long term sense, next 10 years.
Is Erin Hills in same boat?
I think they will both get another one with Erin Hills going first. North of 10 years is probably a good bet. I saw that Southern Hills got the PGA in 2030 so I doubt they would want a U.S. Open within a few years of that as sites are announced through 2026.
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I've wondered why SFGC never sees any of this action. Is the course too short or just not interested in all the bother?
You still have the old guard in firm control and they still want to protect the clubs privacy. It's a little ridiculous since its fairly easy to get on and pictures of the club are over the internet.
As for the course, it wouldn't be that hard to toughen it up. The 1st and 18th would be reachable but if the greens ran over 12 it would be difficult.
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Thanks for the feedback JB and Joel. The course look fantastic and no doubt a prime location.
Looking at Google Maps again, looks like it would be a tight fit anyways from a logistics perspective. Small range, not much parking, etc. Not sure you could stage a normal tour event there much less an Open, but a smaller event like a Walker Cup would be nice.
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Has SFGC started allowing women and Jewish members yet? If not, that'd probably stop them from hosting any USGA events.
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I'm gonna go out on a limb that Chambers Bay is done for future consideration, at least in the short long term sense, next 10 years.
Is Erin Hills in same boat?
Until the new poa greens are tested in the 2021 Fourball, Chambers won't be receiving anything new until then. If it is successful, I could see a US Womens Open or something else being announced.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Erin Hills be announced for something in 2020
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Has SFGC started allowing women and Jewish members yet? If not, that'd probably stop them from hosting any USGA events.
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I know for many years the club hosted sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open but stopped because of club discrimination regarding membership practices which I am sure is what you are referring to. You would hope those issues would have been taken care of in today's world but who knows.
-JB
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What other public courses should be considered for the Amateur?
I don't know the number for a US Amateur, but to host a US Mid-Am a club has to raise $650,000. There aren't very many public courses that can do this unless they're guaranteed to host a US Open a few years later.
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Has SFGC started allowing women and Jewish members yet? If not, that'd probably stop them from hosting any USGA events.
I've been playing out there (As a guest) for 20 years and didn't know that existed. The best player at SFGC has been Sally Krueger who has won the SF City a record 10 times. Condi Rice is a member as well so you can double check the race and gender card.
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Has SFGC started allowing women and Jewish members yet? If not, that'd probably stop them from hosting any USGA events.
I've been playing out there (As a guest) for 20 years and didn't know that existed. The best player at SFGC has been Sally Krueger who has won the SF City a record 10 times. Condi Rice is a member as well so you can double check the race and gender card.
I guess that means they've changed their policy then. I know 10-15 years ago they didn't allow women members and there was speculation they didn't allow Jewish members either, hence why I asked.
It wasn't intended as an attack on the club; it's just a reality that the USGA would not host an event anywhere that had those policies.
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What other public courses should be considered for the Amateur?
I don't know the number for a US Amateur, but to host a US Mid-Am a club has to raise $650,000. There aren't very many public courses that can do this unless they're guaranteed to host a US Open a few years later.
Clubs incur $650,000 of additional expenses to host the US Mid Am and the USGA doesn't reimburse them?
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What other public courses should be considered for the Amateur?
I don't know the number for a US Amateur, but to host a US Mid-Am a club has to raise $650,000. There aren't very many public courses that can do this unless they're guaranteed to host a US Open a few years later.
Clubs incur $650,000 of additional expenses to host the US Mid Am and the USGA doesn't reimburse them?
I'm not sure of specifics. But the head of the committee at a club hosting an upcoming Mid-Am told me that number specifically; it's fact. Between course adjustments and maintenance, food for a week (often at two clubs), the Players Dinner and Host Committee Party, producing yardage books, players gifts, etc., it adds up. And a US Am has 20% more players.
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Matt, that is a huge number and beyond the financial capabilities of most clubs. Also, the total doesn't pencil out based on your list (food, gifts) unless the course adjustments you mention are significant. No club would spend that amount of money without a guarantee of a future USGA windfall (a US Open...the only windfall), and I don't think that is a bet worth taking based on hosting the Mid-Am...there are no "US Open" venues among Mid-Am sites. If Kinloch or another future site is spending that kind of $$ to host the Mid-Am, then more power to them but that is a bad financial decision IMO.
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I would like too see more variety in the clubs hosting the Amateur. It should not be a Major venue, pick others clubs that have a great course that haven’t hosted a major in the last 20 years.
I’m under the impression it’s kind of a package deal with the US Open. It gives both the club and the USGA a test run of sorts. Of course, I could be completely mistaken, that’s merely my impression, not born of any insider knowledge.
They sure as heck should do that before another Open at Shinney.... :)
George, it certainly used to be that way, but in the case of Hazeltine, I doubt that the members believe there's much chance that the U.S. Open will return there. They made the decision to throw in with the PGA years ago, and have been richly rewarded with two PGA championships and two Ryder Cups. I think Hazeltine's willingness to host another U.S. Am speaks more to the club fulfilling its mandate as an asset to championship golf in all its possible iterations.