Virginia's Bayville Golf Club To Host 2011 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur


April 2, 2008
E-mail address: mediarelations@usga.org

Far Hills, N.J. - Bayville Golf Club in Virginia Beach, Va., has been selected to host the 2011 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship, the United States Golf Association has announced. The dates of the championship are Sept. 17-22.

Designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1995, Bayville Golf Club ( www.bayvillegolfclub.com ) will be hosting its first USGA championship. The course is set on a 268-acre former dairy farmland site and is susceptible to the winds of the nearby Chesapeake Bay.

The Commonwealth of Virginia will be hosting its first Women's Mid-Amateur. Virginia has hosted 15 USGA championships. The 2009 USGA Senior Women's Amateur will be played at The Homestead in Hot Springs.

Among the events previously hosted by Bayville Golf Club are the 2002 Virginia State Golf Association Men's Amateur Championship and the 2004 Women's Eastern Amateur Championship. Later this year, the club will host the 2008 Virginia State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship.

"The members of Bayville are honored to be given the opportunity to host the 25 ^th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship," said Club President Tommy Rueger. "We look forward to working with the USGA in the planning and execution of this competition. The event will be great for the entire golf community in Hampton Roads."

Prior to 2011, the Women's Mid-Amateur will be played at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Mich., from Sept. 6-11, 2008; at Golden Hills Golf and Turf Club in Ocala, Fla., from Oct. 3-8, 2009; and at The Philadelphia (Pa.) Cricket Club (Wissahickon Course) from Sept. 25-30, 2010.

First played in 1987, the Women's Mid-Amateur is open to female amateurs who are at least 25 years old and have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 9.4.

The USGA is the national governing body of golf in this country and Mexico, a combined territory that includes more than half the world's golfers and golf courses.

The Association's most visible role is played out each season in conducting 13 national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open. Ten additional USGA national championships are exclusively for amateurs, and include the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women's Amateur.

The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, provides expert course maintenance consultations, funds research for better turf and a better environment, maintains a Handicap System and administers an ongoing "For the Good of the Game" grants program, which has allocated more than $59 million over 11 years to successful programs that bring the game's values to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and people with disabilities.