USGA Announces 2015 US Open Championship Qualifiers
Apr 22, 2013; Ardmore, PA, USA; Members of the media take pictures of a replica of the US Open championship trophy during the preview day for the 2013 US Open at Merion Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Eileen Blass-USA TODAY Sports
If you’re dreaming about teeing it up with the Big Dogs at the US Open while you’re watching them slug it out the Honda Classic, this could be welcome news! The United States Golf Association (USGA) has posted the schedule for local qualifying sites for the 2015 U.S. Open Championship that will be contested June 18-21 at Chambers Bay, in University Place, Washington. Local qualifying, conducted over 18 holes at 111 sites in 43 states, will take place between May 4-21. Check the schedule and your calendars. There’s sure to be a local qualifier site within driving distance!
. . . the start of an exciting two-tiered process in which thousands of golfers from around the world, both professional and amateur, pursue a place in this year’s field. . . – Diana Murphy, USGA
It’s a straightforward process that begins at local qualifiers, then progresses to 36-hole sectional events in early June. Last year the USGA received more than ten thousand entries, so I know there are a host of dreamers out there who just need to take that first step.
To be sure, getting to the first tee at the US Open Championship by way of the local and sectional qualifiers doesn’t provide much advantage in terms of surviving to the 72nd hole. 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. But last year, 24 players advanced through the qualifiers to enter the 156-player U.S. Open Championship field at Pinehurst, and for most if not all of them, just getting there and teeing off fulfilled a lifetime dream.
To be eligible to enter a local qualifier, a player must have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 1.4, or be a professional. Follow this link to access the on-line registration.
Play the Historic Tracks
Thirty-nine courses return as U.S. Open local qualifying sites from last year and several have a long history as hosts. Are any of these tracks on your bucket list? If not, maybe you should add them.
Illini Country Club, in Springfield, Ill., has conducted a U.S. Open local qualifier since the late 1940s, while Maketewah Country Club, in Cincinnati, Ohio, has been a site for more than four decades. Riverton (Wyo.) Country Club and Genoa Lakes Golf Club, in Genoa, Nev., have hosted local qualifying since the 1990s. Collindale Golf Course, in Fort Collins, Colo., has also hosted for more than a decade.
Omaha (Neb.) Country Club and Oak Tree National, in Edmond, Okla., the sites of the 2013 and 2014 U.S. Seniors Open, respectively, are also hosting U.S. Open local qualifiers.
Three other local qualifying sites have hosted historic USGA championships. Arnold Palmer won the 1954 U.S. Amateur at the Country Club of Detroit, in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. Jack Nicklaus (1959 U.S. Amateur) and Annika Sorenstam (1995 U.S. Women’s Open) won USGA titles at The Broadmoor Golf Club (East Course), in Colorado Springs, Colo. Johnny Miller captured the 1964 U.S. Junior Amateur at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club.
Or Maybe You’re Already Exempted?
The top 500 point leaders and ties from the Official World Golf Ranking (as of March 2) will be exempt as will any player in the OWGR’s top 500 (as of April 27) who has filed an entry prior to the deadline of 5 p.m. EDT on April 29.
Additionally, any player who has had multiple finishes in the top 400 of the year-ending OWGR in the past five calendar years (2010-2014) will be exempt from local qualifying.
But maybe just playing in one of the qualifiers is on your bucket list!