The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced Eugene (Ore.) Country Club as the host site for the 2018 USGA Senior Amateur Championship. This will be the fifth USGA championship held at Eugene Country Club. The dates of the championship are Aug. 25-30.
“The USGA is excited to return to the Pacific Northwest and Eugene Country Club,” said Thomas J. O’Toole Jr., USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. “The club has hosted national championships at many amateur levels, including juniors and mid-amateurs. Now the best senior amateur players will have an opportunity to evaluate their skills on a course that has stood the test for nearly a century.”
Eugene Country Club, organized in 1899, is the second-oldest country club in the state of Oregon. In 1923, H. Chandler Egan, a two-time U.S. Amateur champion, began work on the original course. Robert Trent Jones Sr. redesigned the layout in 1966, adding a lake and waterways to a setting that features towering fir trees with Poa annua and bentgrass fairways and greens.
“The members and staff of Eugene Country Club are honored that the USGA has selected our club to play host to this prestigious championship,” said general manager Rich Spurlin. “As a club with more than 114 years of rich golf history, including numerous USGA and NCAA championships, we have an unmatched appreciation for amateur golf. We look forward to hosting the 2018 USGA Senior Amateur Championship and hope participants find our nationally recognized golf course to be both fair and challenging.”
Eugene Country Club has hosted four USGA championships, including the 1964 U.S. Junior Amateur. Johnny Miller, who would later win the 1973 U.S. Open in record-setting fashion, defeated Enrique Sterling Jr., 2 and 1, in the championship match. Miller and Tiger Woods are the only golfers to win both the U.S. Open and Junior Amateur. The club also hosted the 1993 U.S. Mid-Amateur (won by Jeff Thomas), the 2002 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur (won by Kathy Hartwiger), and the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur, in which Amanda Blumenherst defeated Azahara Munoz, 2 and 1, in the 36-hole final.
Additionally, Eugene Country Club hosted the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship in 1959 and 1978. The club will host the NCAA Division I Men’s Regionals in 2014.
This will be the 33rd USGA championship and third Senior Amateur held in Oregon. Waverley Country Club, in Portland, hosted the 1964 Senior Amateur and Portland Golf Club held the 1999 championship.
The USGA Senior Amateur was first played in 1955. The championship is open to male amateurs age 55 and older with a USGA Handicap Index® not exceeding 7.4. In 2013, the USGA Senior Amateur Championship will be played at Wade Hampton Golf Club in Cashiers, N.C., from Sept. 21-26. The 2014 championship will be played Sept. 13-18 at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Calif., while Hidden Creek Golf Club, in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., will be the championship site in 2015. The Minikahda Club, in Minneapolis, Minn., will host the 2017 Senior Amateur.