PAR AND YARDAGE: Wade Hampton Golf Club will be set up at 6,954 yards and will play to a par of 36-33–72. (Note: All yardages subject to change) 

WADE HAMPTON GOLF CLUB HOLE BY HOLE:

ARCHITECT:  Wade Hampton Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1987. The course has consistently been ranked among the top 100 in the U.S. by several golf publications, including Golf Digest.

WHO CAN ENTER: The USGA Senior Amateur Championship is open to amateurs who have reached their 55th birthday by Sept. 21, and who have a USGA Handicap Index® not exceeding 7.4. The deadline for entries is July 17.

A total of 2,290 entries were accepted for the 2012 championship. A record 2,498 entries were received for the 2005 USGA Senior Amateur.

SECTIONAL QUALIFYING: Sectional qualifying, played over 18 holes, is scheduled between July 29 and Aug. 6. The number of qualifying sites has yet to be determined. (Note: Qualifying dates are subject to change)

2012 CHAMPION: Paul Simson, 61, of Raleigh, N.C., won three of four holes on the inward nine to defeat Curtis Skinner, 55, of Lake Bluff, Ill., 4 and 3, to win the 2012 USGA Senior Amateur Championship at the par-71, 6,838-yard Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, N.J.

Simson, who won this championship for the second time in the last three years, became the 14th player to have captured at least two Senior Amateur titles. In 2010, he garnered his first championship at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Fla.

For more information, go to http://www.usga.org/ChampEventArticle.aspx?id=21474850773.

SCHEDULE: Practice rounds will be held Sept. 19 and 20. The field of 156 players will play two rounds of stroke play, with the low 64 scorers advancing to match play. The schedule is as follows:
Sept. 21 (Saturday) – First round of stroke play
Sept. 22 (Sunday) – Second round of stroke play
Sept. 23 (Monday) – First round of match play
Sept. 24 (Tuesday) – Second and third rounds of match play
Sept. 25 (Wednesday) – Quarterfinals and semifinals, match play
Sept. 26 (Thursday) – 18-hole championship final, match play

EXEMPT PLAYERS: More information will become available at the close of entries.

WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES: Among the benefits enjoyed by the USGA Senior Amateur winner are:

1) A gold medal and custody of the Frederick L. Dold Trophy for the ensuing year
2) An exemption from local qualifying at the next U.S. Open Championship
3) An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next U.S. Senior Open Championship, if still an amateur
4) An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next two U.S. Amateur Championships
5) An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next two U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships
6) An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next 10 USGA Senior Amateur Championships
7) An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, if otherwise eligible

THE TROPHY: The USGA Senior Amateur Championship Trophy was presented in 1955 by Frederick L. Dold, of Wichita, Kan., who had retired from the USGA Executive Committee after five years of service.

HISTORY: The USGA Senior Amateur was inaugurated in 1955. Entries were open to golfers age 55 and over who had a Handicap Index not over 10. Addition of the USGA Senior Amateur gave the USGA twice as many championships as it had conducted before World War II, when there were just four: the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, and U.S. Women’s Amateur, all started in 1895, and U.S. Amateur Public Links (1922). From World War II through 1955, the USGA added four championships: the U.S. Junior Amateur (1948), U.S. Girls’ Junior (1949), U.S. Women’s Open (1953) and USGA Senior Amateur (1955). The USGA now conducts 13 national championships, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

The first USGA Senior Amateur, at Belle Meade Country Club, in Nashville, Tenn., drew 370 entries from 30 states and the District of Columbia. J. Wood Platt, 56, an eight-time Philadelphia Amateur champion, defeated George Studinger, of San Francisco, 5 and 4 in the final.

In 1959, J. Clark Espie, who had won in 1957, became the Senior Amateur’s first two-time champion. Lewis W. Oehmig, a record six-time finalist, is the only three-time winner (1972, 1976, 1985).

Senior Amateur contestants may ride in carts, a condition not permitted when the championship was first played. Traditionalists who believed walking the course was vital to a valid national title finally allowed carts because the championship is played in the fall, when fewer caddies are available. Carts have been allowed since 1969.

THE USGA AT WADE HAMPTON: The 2013 USGA Senior Amateur will be the first USGA championship conducted at Wade Hampton Golf Club.

NORTH CAROLINA AND THE USGA: The 2013 USGA Senior Amateur will be the 28th USGA championship conducted in North Carolina and the first of two championships to be held in the Tar Heel State in 2013. The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur will be conducted Oct. 5-10 at Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville.

NORTH CAROLINA AND THE SENIOR AMATEUR: The USGA Senior Amateur will be held in North Carolina for the second time. In 2000, Charlotte Country Club hosted the Senior Amateur, with Bill Shean Jr. defeating Richard Van Leuvan, 2 and 1, in the final.

COURSE HISTORY: Tom Fazio designed Wade Hampton, which opened in 1987. William McKee and Anne Austin organized a group of Founders that was the genesis of today’s current club membership. It was McKee who retained Fazio to design a championship golf course that not only complements the surrounding environment, but is fun and challenging to play. Golf Digest currently ranks Wade Hampton among the top 25 golf courses in the country.

Sitting at more than 3,600 feet above sea level, the course, which is three hours by car from Atlanta, begins at the highest point on the property with a par 5. The routing features several elevation changes and meanders through tree-line fairways.

FUTURE SITES                    
Sept. 13–18, 2014 – Big Canyon Country Club, Newport Beach, Calif.
Sept. 26–Oct. 1, 2015 – Hidden Creek Golf Club, Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
2016, TBD
Aug. 26–31, 2017 – The Minikahda Club, Minneapolis, Minn.

TICKETS: Admission to the USGA Senior Amateur is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.

PHOTO MEDIA SERVICE: The USGA will offer daily complimentary high-resolution photographs during the USGA Senior Amateur for news use only. For more information and to register, contact photorequests@usga.org. 

MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Jeff Altstadter of USGA Championship Communications by phone at 908-234-2300 (office) or via email at jalstadter@usga.org. For more information on the USGA, please visit www.usga.org. Media-specific information can be found at http://www.usga.org/Media-Center/Media-Center.