Wellesley Country Club to Host 2016 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship
Far Hills, NJ (PRWEB) January 16, 2014 -- The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced Wellesley (Mass.) Country Club as the host site of the 2016 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. The dates of the championship are Sept. 17-22.
This will be the second USGA championship to be conducted at Wellesley Country Club. The club also hosted the 2003 USGA Women’s State Team Championship, which was won by the Ohio team of Emily Bastel, Lynn Thompson and Heather Zielinski.
“Wellesley Country Club has already proven to be a wonderful host site for a USGA championship,” said Thomas J. O’Toole Jr., USGA vice president and chairman of the Championship Committee. “We are very happy to return to Wellesley with the Senior Women’s Amateur, and we are confident that the success of 2003 will be repeated in 2016.”
Wellesley Country Club, located 15 miles west of Boston, was founded in 1910. Famed golf course architect Donald Ross designed the original nine-hole layout, and Wayne Stiles remodeled the course in the 1920s. The course was expanded to 18 holes in 1961 under the direction of Geoffrey Cornish, and Brian Silva, Craig Schreiner and Mark Mungeam made later modifications. The club has hosted numerous state and regional events, including three Massachusetts Opens and five Massachusetts Women’s Opens.
“Wellesley Country Club is both delighted and honored to be hosting the 2016 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship,” said Charles R. Klotz, the club president. “Wellesley has a growing involvement with the USGA, having hosted the USGA Women’s State Team Championship and several USGA championship qualifiers. The members and staff are looking forward to 2016 and trust that the players will find the course challenging.”
The course is notable for having hosted Francis Ouimet on Sept. 15-16, 1913, just days ahead of his astounding victory in the 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club in nearby Brookline. Ouimet, a lifelong Massachusetts resident, had played indifferently at Wellesley with two rounds of 88, but later remarked of his play there, “I probably got all the bad golf out of my system.”
This will be the 56th USGA championship held in Massachusetts, and will mark the first time the Senior Women’s Amateur will be conducted in the state. With the 2016 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, Massachusetts will have hosted 12 of the 13 USGA championships – only California and Minnesota have hosted all 13 USGA championships.
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship was first conducted in 1962. It is open to female amateur golfers who will have reached their 50th birthday on or before the opening day of the championship, and who have a USGA Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4. Notable past champions include Carolyn Cudone, Alice Dye, Ellen Port, Anne Sander, Marlene Stewart Streit and Carol Semple Thompson.
The 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship will be conducted Sept. 13-18 at Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, N.J.
About the USGA
The USGA conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, as well as 10 national amateur championships, two state team championships and international matches, attracting players and fans from more than 160 countries. Together with The R&A, the USGA governs the game worldwide, jointly administering the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, equipment standards and World Amateur Golf Rankings. The USGA’s reach is global with a working jurisdiction in the United States, its territories and Mexico, serving more than 25 million golfers and actively engaging 150 golf associations.
The USGA is one of the world’s foremost authorities on research, development and support of sustainable golf course management practices. It serves as a primary steward for the game’s history and invests in the development of the game through the delivery of its services and its ongoing “For the Good of the Game” grants program. Additionally, the USGA’s Course Rating and Handicap systems are used on six continents in more than 50 countries.
For more information about the USGA, visit http://www.usga.org.
Christina Lance, United States Golf Association, http://www.usga.org, +1 908-326-1882, [email protected]
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