St Andrews, Scotland: The R&A has announced that some of the finest golf courses in Great Britain and Ireland will be the venues for its Championships and International Matches in 2017.
Royal St George’s, where Darren Clarke won The Open in 2011, will host the Amateur Championship for the 14th time, with the qualifying stroke play rounds also being played at nearby Prince’s.
The Amateur Championship will return to the famous links at Sandwich for the first time since 2006 when Frenchman Julien Guerrier defeated England’s Adam Gee by 4&3 in the 36-hole final.
Among the winners of the championship at Royal St George’s are the great amateurs John Ball Junior, Freddie Tait and Harold Hilton.
Open champion Rory McIlroy is one of several champions and Ryder Cup team members who have played in the Amateur Championship over the years including Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo, Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen, Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal, who won in 1984, and Sergio Garcia, who won in 1998.
The Boys Amateur Championship will be played at Nairn Golf Club and nearby Nairn Dunbar Golf Club. It will be the second time the championship has been played at Nairn and the first occasion since 1989 when Carl Watts lifted the trophy.
A field of 252 of the world’s leading boy golfers will take part in the championship which featured 23 nationalities in the 2014 event. Previous winners include Garcia, Olazabal and Sir Michael Bonallack while Major championship winners Sandy Lyle, Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer and McIlroy have all played in the event.
Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said: “We are looking forward to staging the 2017 championships at some of the most renowned courses in Great Britain and Ireland. The venues each have illustrious histories and will provide wonderful tests of golf. I’m sure the players will enjoy the challenge they present and that spectators will take the opportunity to come and watch some top class amateur golf.”
The Boys Home Internationals will be played at St Annes Old Links, which was a Local Final Qualifying venue for The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2012.
The Jacques Leglise Trophy will be held at Ballybunion’s Old Course for the first time. The County Kerry links hosted the Irish Open in 2000 and the Palmer Cup, which is contested by teams of European and American students, in 2004.
The Seniors Amateur Championship, meanwhile, will make its first visit to Sunningdale’s Old Course.
The 46th Walker Cup match between Great Britain and Ireland and the United States will be played at Los Angeles Country Club in California.