The United States Golf Association announced on Monday that the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and the 120th U.S. Amateur Championship will be played as scheduled this year, but that four other national championships have been canceled because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur is scheduled for Aug. 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., and the U.S. Amateur is set for Aug. 10-16 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore., provided that CDC recommendations and state and local government guidelines make it possible to play them.
The tournaments canceled include the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, which was scheduled Aug. 29-Sept. 3 at Berkeley Hall Club in Bluffton, S.C.; the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, which was planned for Aug. 29-Sept. 3 at Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.; the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, which was set for Sept. 12-17 at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va., and Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Va., and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, which was scheduled for Sept. 12-17 at The Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Ala.
“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 other 2020 championships, including the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, U.S. Senior Open, the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, the U.S. Girls’ Junior and the U.S. Junior Amateur.
The 120th U.S. Open will be played at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., from Sept. 17-20, and the 75th U.S. Women’s Open will be played at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, from Dec. 10-13.
The USGA said that testing in addition to health and safety protocols will be in place at each of the four championships scheduled to be played this year.
All four championships will be conducted without qualifying, which means the fields will be filled entirely through exemptions because of the continued health and safety concerns over the Covid-19 virus and the burden it would have put on Allied Golf Associations and the courses scheduled to host qualifying.
“As you can imagine, this was an incredibly difficult decision, as qualifying is a cornerstone of USGA championships,” Bodenhamer said. “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.”
Information regarding expanded exemption categories for each championship will be made available in coming weeks.
The USGA previously announced that it would delay opening entries for 2021 tournaments until the week of July 6.
For more USGA schedule updates, visit usga.org and usopen.com.
