Chip Lutz was the only amateur to make the cut at the 2016 U.S. Senior Open
(GAP Photo)
FAR HILLS, N.J. (March 20, 2017) -- The United
States Golf Association (USGA) today announced
sectional qualifying sites for the 38th U.S. Senior
Open Championship, to be held at Salem
Country Club, in Peabody, Mass., June 29-July 2.
Salem Country Club is hosting its second U.S.
Senior Open and its sixth USGA championship.
Conducted over 18 holes, sectional qualifying will
be held at 34 sites across the United States
between May 15 and June 12. Player registration
is available
now
and continues through Wednesday, May
10, at 5 p.m. EDT.
“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.”
Bruce Fleisher won the 2001 U.S. Senior
Open at Salem, defeating Isao Aoki and Gil
Morgan by one stroke. Gene Sauers captured
last year’s championship, defeating 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, Calif., 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).
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.
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.
Tuesday, 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.