Liberty Corner, New Jersey, United States: The United States Golf Association (USGA) has announced several updates to its 2020 championship schedule, as the organisation continues to reconfigure its season due to uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 120th US Women’s Amateur, scheduled for August 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland, and the 120th US Amateur, scheduled for August 10-16 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, will be conducted as scheduled, provided that CDC recommendations and state and local government guidelines make it possible to do so.
In addition, the USGA announced that the remaining four 2020 amateur championships will be cancelled – the US Women’s Mid-Amateur (which had been scheduled for August 29-September 3 at Berkeley Hall Club in Bluffton, South Carolina); US Senior Amateur (August 29-September 3 at Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan); US Mid-Amateur (September 12-17 at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, and Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Virginia); and US Senior Women’s Amateur (September 12-17 at The Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Alabama).
“Throughout this process, our primary focus has been the safety and well-being of everyone involved, including our players, volunteers, host club representatives and staff,” said John Bodenhamer, Senior Managing Director of Championships for the USGA. “We have not taken these decisions lightly and wish we had more options. But with a continued, keen interest in doing what is best for all involved, although we are extremely disappointed, this is the right decision.”
The USGA previously announced the cancellation of six 2020 championships: the US Amateur Four-Ball, US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, US Senior Open, US Senior Women’s Open, US Girls’ Junior and US Junior Amateur.
The USGA will thus conduct four championships in 2020, all at their originally scheduled sites. In early April, the USGA announced that the 120th US Open will be played at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, from September 17-20, and the 75th US Women’s Open will be played at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, from December 10-13. Testing and robust health and safety protocols will be in place at each of the four championships.
All four championships will be conducted without qualifying, which means the fields will be filled entirely through exemptions. Given continued health and safety concerns, as well as the potential burden on Allied Golf Associations and the courses scheduled to host qualifying, conducting hundreds of qualifiers across the country for the US Women’s Amateur, US Amateur, US Open and US Women’s Open was not seen as a viable option.
“As you can imagine, this was an incredibly difficult decision, as qualifying is a cornerstone of USGA championships,” said Bodenhamer. “We take great pride in the fact that many thousands typically enter to pursue their dream of qualifying for a USGA championship and we deeply regret that they will not have that opportunity this year. But this structure provides the best path forward for us to conduct these championships in 2020.”
