The road to the 38th U.S. Senior Open Championship will commence with 18-hole sectional qualifiers conducted at 34 sites across the country between May 15 and June 12.
Online registration for the championship, which opened on May 8, continues through Wednesday, May 10 at 5 p.m. EDT.
Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., is serving as the host site for the competition, set for June 29-July 2.
“The U.S. Senior Open is senior golf’s most prestigious championship and we are pleased to return to New England and Salem Country Club, where the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy will be awarded for the first time since 2001,” said Stuart Francis, USGA Championship Committee chairman. “We are grateful for the support of state and regional golf associations, which allows sectional qualifying to be conducted across the nation.”
Fleisher defeated Isao Aoki and Gil Morgan by one stroke 16 years ago. Gene Sauers captured last year’s championship, edging Miguel Angel Jimenez and Billy Mayfair by one stroke at Scioto Country Club, in Columbus, Ohio.
Sectional qualifying for the 2017 U.S. Senior Open will be held on The Homestead’s Cascades Course, in Hot Springs, Va., for the 14th time since 2002. The club is the site of eight USGA championships, including the 1967 U.S. Women’s Open and 1988 U.S. Amateur. Sam Snead, a four-time U.S. Open runner-up, was The Homestead’s golf professional for nearly six decades.
The Olympic Club’s Lake Course, in San Francisco, which will serve as a U.S. Senior Open sectional qualifying site for the second time in three years, also has a storied USGA history. The club has hosted 10 USGA championships, including five U.S. Opens (1955, 1966, 1987, 1998, 2012). It will be the host site for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open.
Starmount Forest Country Club, in Greensboro, N.C., Columbia Edgewater Country Club, in Portland, Ore., and Las Colinas Country Club, in Irving, Texas, have each hosted USGA championships. Starmount Forest was the site of the 1947 U.S. Women’s Open, won by Betty Jameson, a three-time USGA champion. In 1974, Nancy Lopez claimed the second of two U.S. Girls’ Junior titles at Columbia Edgewater. Las Colinas was the host site for the 1969 U.S. Women’s Amateur, won by Catherine Lacoste.
California has the most sectional sites with five. Three sectional qualifiers are scheduled in Florida, while Texas will host two qualifiers. There are qualifying sites in 27 states.
In California, Green Valley Country Club is hosting U.S. Senior Open sectional qualifying for the seventh time since 2001, while Crystalaire Country Club, in Llano, is a site for the sixth time since 2007. Vista Valley Country Club will host for the third time in the last four years.
Dunedin (Fla.) Golf Club is a sectional qualifying site for the sixth time since 2010. Wynlakes Golf and Country Club, in Montgomery, Ala., and Worthington Hills Country Club, in Columbus, Ohio, are each hosting for the fourth time in five years. The University of New Mexico’s Championship Course, in Albuquerque, will be a sectional qualifying host for the third consecutive year.
Additionally, Kernwood Country Club, located in Salem, 5 miles from Salem Country Club, will host a sectional qualifier. Kernwood, designed by Donald Ross, has hosted three Massachusetts Amateurs and four Massachusetts Opens. Ouimet, who won the 1913 U.S. Open and the 1914 and 1931 U.S. Amateurs, won the Massachusetts Amateur at Kernwood in 1922.
Don Pooley (2002) is the lone player to win the U.S. Senior Open after qualifying through sectional play. Last year, 14 players who advanced through sectional qualifying made the 36-hole cut in the Senior Open at Scioto Country Club, in Columbus, Ohio. Jeff Gallagher and Glen Day, who tied for 18th, were the top finishers from that group.
The 2017 U.S. Senior Open will be the 57th USGA championship contested in Massachusetts. To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4, or be a professional, and be 50 years of age at the start of championship play.
2017 U.S. Senior Open Sectional Qualifying Sites (34)
Monday, May 15 (1)
Dearborn C.C., Dearborn, Mich.
Monday, May 22 (4)
Bear Creek G.C., Murrieta, Calif.
The Olympic Club (Lake Course), San Francisco, Calif.
Hallbrook C.C., Leawood, Kan.
Las Colinas C.C., Irving, Texas
Tuesday, May 23 (2)
The Legacy G. & T.C., Port Saint Lucie, Fla.
Glen Echo C.C., St. Louis, Mo.
Wednesday, May 24 (6)
Orchard Ridge C.C., Fort Wayne, Ind.
Kernwood C.C., Salem, Mass.
Bearpath G. & C.C., Eden Prairie, Minn.
Bonnie Briar C.C., Larchmont, N.Y.
Worthington Hills C.C., Columbus, Ohio
Indiana C.C., Indiana, Pa.
Tuesday, May 30 (2)
Green Valley C.C., Green Valley, Calif.
Crystalaire C.C., Llano, Calif.
Wednesday, May 31 (1)
Hoakalei C.C., Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Thursday, June 1 (1)
University of New Mexico Championship G.C., Albuquerque, N.M.
Monday, June 5 (6)
Wynlakes G. & C.C., Montgomery, Ala.
Encanterra C.C., San Tan Valley, Ariz.
Adena G. & C.C., Ocala, Fla.
Aurora C.C., Aurora, Ill.
Deerwood Club, Kingwood, Texas
The Homestead (Cascades Course), Hot Springs, Va.
Tuesday, June 6 (1)
Wexford Plantation G.C., Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Wednesday, June 7 (1)
Columbia Edgewater C.C., Portland, Ore.
Thursday, June 8 (3)
The Meadows G.C., Littleton, Colo.
Dunedin G.C., Dunedin, Fla.
Brentwood C.C., Brentwood, Tenn.
Friday, June 9 (1)
Meadowbrook C.C., Racine, Wis.
Monday, June 12 (5)
Vista Valley C.C., Vista, Calif.
St. Ives C.C., Johns Creek, Ga.
Argyle C.C., Silver Spring, Md.
Starmount Forest C.C., Greensboro, N.C.
Bellingham G. & C.C., Bellingham, Wash.