The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced John’s Island Club, in Vero Beach, Fla., as the host site for the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. This will be the first USGA championship held at John’s Island Club. The dates of the championship are Oct. 3-8.
“The USGA is pleased to bring the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship to the state of Florida for the first time,” said Thomas J. O’Toole Jr., USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. “Mid-amateur golfers are central to the USGA’s mission as evidenced by the recent announcement of the inclusion of at least two mid-amateur players on this year's USA Walker Cup Team. In 2015, John’s Island Club will serve as an outstanding host for this national amateur championship.”
UPCOMING U.S. MID-AMATEUR SITES |
2013: Country Club of Birmingham (Ala.) 2014: Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pa. 2015: John's Island Club, Vero Beach, Fla. |
“Hosting the first USGA championship on Florida's Treasure Coast is a great honor for both John's Island Club and the City of Vero Beach,” said Ted Berghorst, the club’s president. “Set in the dunes, John’s Island’s West Course represents golf design at its finest as no successive holes play in the same direction. The members of John's Island and the entire Vero Beach community look forward to a great championship.”
This will be the 19th USGA championship held in Florida, and the first since 2010, when Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, in Orlando, hosted the USGA Senior Amateur and Fiddlesticks Country Club, in Fort Myers, hosted the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur.
Nathan Smith became the first four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion when he won at Conway Farms Golf Club, in Lake Forest, Ill., last year. He surpassed Jay Sigel, who captured three Mid-Amateur titles in the 1980s.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur was first played in 1981. The championship is open to male amateurs age 25 and older with a USGA Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4. In 2013, the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship will be played at the Country Club of Birmingham in Birmingham, Ala., from Oct. 5-10. The 2014 championship will be played Sept. 6-11 at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.