| | Apply to Play in the 3
Opens 
March 3, 2009
For thousands of golfers -amateur and professional alike -
it's an annual rite of spring, as eagerly anticipated as the
first regulation round of the year: The opportunity to enter
one of the three national open championships conducted by the
USGA each year.
Championship season begins the first week of March, with the
launch of the application process for the
U.S. Open
,
U.S. Women's Open
and
U.S. Senior Open
.
The remaining 10 amateur championships, which include the
U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women's Amateur, will begin
accepting applications
in the coming weeks and months.
All contestants - whether they are exempt from qualifying or
not - are required to file an entry.
In 2008, the USGA accepted 8,390 applications for the U.S.
Open at Torrey Pines. Ninety-two percent of the applicants
filed online, and 1,192 waited until the final two days to
apply - with 102 doing so in the final hour.
All professionals, and amateurs with a USGA Handicap Index of
1.4 or less, are eligible to file an entry for the U.S. Open.
The Handicap Index limit is 3.4 for the Senior Open and 4.4
for the Women's Open.
The Women's Open continued to enjoy healthy numbers as this
championship topped the 1,000-plus mark for a fifth
consecutive year in 2008. A total of 1,236 entries were
accepted for last year's championship at Interlachen Country
Club in Edina, Minn.
Meanwhile, 2,810 entries were accepted for the U.S. Senior
Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The application process for the U.S. Open will continue
until April 29 (5 p.m. EDT); until May 6 (5 p.m. EDT) for the
Women's Open; and June 10 (5 p.m. EDT) for the Senior Open.
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