Some highly recognizable names and a few interesting newcomers highlight the venues hosting USGA championships in 2023. This year’s schedule features the western part of the country, with nine of the 15 championships to be contested in the Mountain or Pacific Time Zones, including the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica.
Pebble Beach Finally Gets its U.S. Women’s Open
That list begins with one of the world’s most iconic layouts: Pebble Beach. It has been coined the “greatest meeting of land and sea,” and in July, the best female golfers on the planet will get the opportunity to showcase their talents on the Monterey Peninsula.
Pebble Beach, which hosted six memorable U.S. Open Championships starting with Jack Nicklaus’ triumph in 1972, is the site for the 78th U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica, from July 6-9. Only twice in its history has the USGA contested a women’s championship at Pebble Beach: the 1940 and 1948 U.S. Women’s Amateurs, won by Betty Jameson and Grace Lenczyk, respectively.
Since those two competitions, Pebble Beach has been the site of nine men’s USGA competitions: three U.S. Amateurs and the six U.S. Opens. Champions include Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and up-and-coming star Viktor Hovland. Few places can match its breathtaking views, especially the holes that hug the coastline.
Now the women get that stage.
“It’s my favorite place on earth,” said 2022 runner-up Mina Harigae, who grew up in the area and has played Pebble Beach at least 50 times.
U.S. Amateur Returns to Classic
Pebble Beach isn’t the only U.S. Open venue hosting a USGA championship in 2023. Cherry Hills Country Club just outside of Denver is the site of the 123rd U.S. Amateur. In 1960, Cherry Hills produced one of the more memorable U.S. Opens when Arnold Palmer rallied from a seven-stroke deficit, shooting a final-round 65 to claim his lone U.S. Open title, holding off four-time champion Ben Hogan and Nicklaus, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. It remains the largest final-round comeback in U.S. Open history.
It was also where Birdie Kim holed out from a greenside bunker on the 72nd hole to win the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open over a pair of amateurs, Morgan Pressel and future U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang. And in 2012, Steven Fox emerged from a playoff to earn the No. 63 spot in the draw and defeated Michael Weaver in a dramatic 37-hole championship match.
Los Angeles Back in the Spotlight
For the first time in 75 years, the U.S. Open is returning to Los Angeles as The Los Angeles Country Club hosts the 123rd iteration. In 1948, Hogan claimed the first of his four titles at The Riviera Country Club in neighboring Pacific Palisades. Both courses were designed by architect George C. Thomas, who also routed Bel-Air Country Club, which is the site for the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur in August.
LACC, which underwent a recent renovation by Gil Hanse, was the site for the 2017 Walker Cup Match. Multiple members of the victorious USA side are already exempt into this year’s U.S. Open, including two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, and 2022 U.S. Open runners-up, Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris. Scheffler claimed his first major last April at the Masters.
First-Timers
Two courses are making their USGA championship debuts in 2023, headlined by the United States Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Originally scheduled to host in 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19, the Blue Course at the Eisenhower Golf Club will be the first military venue to host a USGA championship.
The other first-time venue is the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C., site of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Both the Ralston Creek and Beresford Creek Courses will be used for the stroke-play portion of the competition, with all the matches conducted on Ralston Creek, a Rees Jones design that opened for play in 2006.
Seniors in the Spotlight
SentryWorld, in Stevens Point, Wis., is set to host the U.S. Senior Open, its third USGA championship since the Robert Trent Jones Jr. design opened in 1982. The daily-fee course will certainly challenge the best 50-and-over players as it did for the 1986 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior. Its signature hole is the 16th, a par 3 that features more than 30,000 flowers that are planted each spring.
The 5th U.S. Senior Women’s Open goes to the West Coast for the first time as Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore., hosts the event for the top 50-and-over female golfers. Waverley was the site of Woods’ last of three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles in 1993, as well as where Lanny Wadkins won the 1970 U.S. Amateur. Members include 2004 U.S. Senior Open champion Peter Jacobsen and three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Lara Tennant.
Running it Back at Pinehurst No. 6
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 6 will once again serve as the host site for the U.S. Adaptive Open. The competition was a rousing success in 2022 as 96 players with a variety of physical and intellectual impairments inspired the golf community with their remarkable performances last July. Simon Lee (male) and Western Michigan women’s golf coach Kim Moore (female) are expected to defend their respective titles.
Four-Balls Going Coast to Coast
The two Four-Ball competitions are being conducted at opposite ends of the country. The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., a public venue operated by the Pacific Northwest and Washington State Golf Associations, is hosting the 8th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. It previously was the host site for the final U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in 2014 and served as the stroke-play co-host for the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
Kiawah Island (S.C.) Club will host the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, with the River and Cassique courses serving as the stroke-play venues, with all the matches on the latter. The club was the site of the 2009 U.S. Mid-Amateur when Nathan Smith captured the second of his record four titles.
East Coast Venues on Tap for Mid-Ams
Speaking of the 25-and-over demographic, the U.S. Mid-Amateur is headed to Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, N.Y. The C.B. Macdonald design, which hosted the 2002 U.S. Women’s Amateur, opened in 1913 and was recently renovated by Gil Hanse and George Bahto. Nearby Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., will serve as the stroke-play co-host.
Stonewall, in Elverson, Pa., will host the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur seven years after Stewart Hagestad won a memorable U.S. Mid-Amateur final on the club’s Old and North Courses when he rallied to defeat 2014 champion Scott Harvey in 37 holes. This year, all the golf will take place on the North Course, a Tom Doak design that opened in 2003.
Senior Ams Head West
Martis Camp, in Truckee, Calif., and Troon Country Club, in Scottsdale, Ariz., also make their return to the USGA calendar for senior events. The U.S. Senior Amateur is set for Martis Camp in late August, a Tom Fazio design that hosted the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur won by Scheffler. It is nestled at the base of the Northstar Ski Resort, giving members plenty of year-round activities.
Troon C.C. was Tom Weiskopf’s first foray into course design as he and partner Jay Moorish carved out a challenging desert layout that will test the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur field. This is the first of two upcoming USGA championships for Troon C.C., which will also host the 2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur 35 years after Jim Stuart won the same title at the venue.
David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.
