USGA Offers Championship Entry Applications Online

March 6, 2003
 Far Hills, N.J. - Qualified golfers may now complete entry applications online for three of the 13 national championships to be conducted by the United States Golf Association in 2003.

Entries for the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, and U.S. Senior Open are currently available online. Entry forms for the 10 amateur championships conducted by the USGA will follow in the weeks to come.

The first online entry for the U.S. Open was received at 11:22 a.m., on March 5, less than 10 minutes after the online option was available.

In 2002, almost 35,000 golfers entered USGA championships, with nearly 40 percent of those entries coming via the online electronic option. Anyone who applied for a USGA championship in 2002 will receive an e-mail notification when the entry form for that championship is available online in 2003.

Several changes have been made to the online entry process for 2003. Most notably, entrants will immediately know their qualifying site. Previously, entrants were sometimes moved because the number of qualifiers requesting a site outnumbered what a course could accommodate. Now, players can confirm their qualifying site when they apply. If a chosen site is full, the player will be prompted to select another location.

Additionally, anyone who applies for a championship, either electronically or via paper, will be able to check the status of their entry online.

As a result of the popularity of the online entries, bulk mailing of paper applications to associations, sectional qualifying officials, and USGA courses has been discontinued.

Entry forms for the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Girls' Junior championships are available online. However, completed entries must be mailed in rather than submitted electronically because no one under the age of 18 is legally permitted to complete an entry without an accompanying parent or guardian signature.

For all championships, golfers under the age of 18 must submit their application by mail.

The USGA's first championship for 2003 is the U.S. Open, set for June 12-15 at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill. Its entry deadline is 5 p.m. EDT, April 23, with other entry deadlines following shortly thereafter.

Applications for all USGA championships can be downloaded at the same Web site, www.usga.org/champs/apply. In addition to filing applications electronically, players can print a PDF version of the entry form and return it via mail to the USGA offices.

Questions can be directed to the USGA Championships Department at (908) 234-2300.