-- Eligibility Policy --
Effective Immediately
In order to be eligible to participate on a team representing the United States of America selected by the USGA, or in individual competitions representing the USGA, a player:
- Must be a United States of America citizen on the date on which he or she is selected for the competition, through the conclusion of the competition;
If holding multiple citizenships, and/or if eligible to represent a country other than the USA, a player:
o Must be listed in the World Amateur Golf RankingTM as from the United States of America on the date on which he or she is selected for the competition, through the conclusion of the competition;
o Must not be on the roster of another country’s national team, and must commit not to be on the roster of another country’s national team for a period of at least 180 days following the end of play in a competition in which he or she has represented the USGA;
Further, a player electing to be on the roster of another country’s national team will have a waiting period of two years from the end of play in a competition in which he or she has represented another country before he/she can be considered for selection to a team representing the United States of America selected by the USGA, or in individual competitions representing the USGA;
“National team” will be interpreted as any team, squad or group receiving financial benefit from a national federation on a consistent basis (e.g., training, uniforms, tournament travel expenses, etc.). It does not necessarily include the case where a player represents another country on an isolated basis other than in the competitions listed below;
o Must not have competed for another country in the following competitions:
- Curtis Cup Match
- Walker Cup Match
- World Amateur Team Championships
- Pan-Am Games
- Youth Olympic Games
A player who represents another country in any of the competitions listed above will have a waiting period of two years before he/she can be considered for selection to a team representing the United States of America selected by the USGA, or in individual competitions representing the USGA (whether or not listed above);
The waiting period will extend through the end of that event two years later, if it is conducted annually or biennially (e.g., a player representing another country in the 2015 Walker Cup Match would not be eligible to represent the USGA at the 2017 Walker Cup Match). If the event is played less frequently than biennially, the waiting period will be two years from the final day of the previous competition;
If the player represents another country in any of the above events during this waiting period, the two-year waiting period will start anew as of that time;
The USGA reserves the right to add or remove events from the list above;
In any case, the International Golf Federation (IGF) Nationality Policy also applies to the World Amateur Team Championships and Youth Olympic Games. For more information on the IGF Policy, please contact the IGF at info@igfmail.org.
The USGA reserves the right to modify or cancel the waiting period based on the individual circumstances of each case.
Note: The conditions above do not apply to players from U.S. Territories for the Curtis Cup Match and the Walker Cup Match.
In addition, in order to be eligible to participate on a team representing the United States of America selected by the USGA, or in individual competitions representing the USGA, a player:
- Must be an amateur golfer under the Rules of Amateur Status at the time of selection and through the conclusion of the competition;
- Must not be under suspension, provisional suspension, sanction, fine or penalty as a result of an anti-doping violation;
- Must not be under suspension or subject to any school disciplinary proceedings, or charged with any criminal conduct in any jurisdiction; and
- Must conform to the Rules of Amateur Status, Policy on Gambling.
For questions, please contact John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director, Championships, jbodenhamer@usga.org.