The United States Golf Association has announced that Troon Country Club, in Scottsdale, Ariz., will host a pair of future USGA championships. The club will be the site of the 61st U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship and the 44th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, with a starting field of 132 players, is scheduled to be played on Sept. 30-Oct. 5, 2023. The dates of the U.S. Mid-Amateur are Sept. 13-18, 2025. Troon North Golf Club, located 4 miles from Troon Country Club, will serve as the stroke-play co-host course for the 264-player U.S. Mid-Amateur field.
“We are excited to return to Troon Country Club after more than 30 years to conduct these two USGA championships,” said Mark Hill, USGA managing director, Championships. “The commitment of two championships to Troon is a testament to the enthusiasm of the club and the challenge that the course will provide to both female and male competitors.”
Troon Country Club was the first course designed by the tandem of Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf, who won the 1973 Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. The course, which opened for play in 1986, is sculpted from the Sonoran Desert and is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. In 2020, Weiskopf and design consultant Phil Smith oversaw renovations related to course playability and maintenance. This work followed an extensive clubhouse expansion two years earlier.
“It’s a classic piece of property,” said Weiskopf, who won the 1995 U.S. Senior Open Championship and competed in 18 U.S. Opens, with five top-five finishes. “It has nice elevation change and you have a variety of lengths and tees. The basic challenge is to avoid the desert. There’s probably more pressure put on the tee shot and the greens are well protected. You do not need great length; you need accuracy from the tee.”
On the course hosting two USGA championships, Weiskopf added, “That’s a compliment to not just me but to everyone involved. To get a USGA event adds credibility to the membership and shows respect for the golf course.”
Troon Country Club hosted its first USGA championship in 1990 when Jim Stuart defeated Scottsdale native Mark Sollenberger, 1 up, in the U.S. Mid-Amateur final, the first of Stuart’s back-to-back Mid-Amateur titles. Other championships held at Troon include the 2008 Arizona Amateur, 11 Arizona Opens and the Ping Pro Scratch, from 1985-95.
“The members of Troon Country Club are honored to partner with the USGA on the 61st Senior Women’s Amateur and the 44th Mid-Amateur Championships,” said Richard Tompeck, club president. “Our course has stood the test of time and will certainly be as challenging today as it was when we hosted the 1990 Mid-Amateur. Tom’s renovation did not change any of the characteristics that make it his best desert course design. We are excited to share our Troon experience with the competitors in these two prestigious national championships.”
The 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and 2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur will be the 17th and 18th USGA championships held in Arizona, respectively. The Grand Canyon State has previously hosted three U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs – 1973 (won by Gwen Hibbs), 1992 (won by Rosemary Thompson) and 1999 (won by Carol Semple Thompson) – and two U.S. Mid-Amateurs – 1990 (won by Stuart) and 2006 (won by Dave Womack). It most recently hosted the 2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, another Weiskopf design. Ina Kim-Schaad won the championship.
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur is open to any female golfer who is 50 years of age and whose Handicap Index® does not exceed 14.4. The championship was first played in 1962 and was conducted in a stroke-play format until it moved to match play in 1997. The winner and runner-up earn exemptions into the following year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship.
The 59th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur will be played Sept. 10-15, 2021 at The Lakewood Club, in Point Clear, Ala. The 2022 championship will be conducted at Anchorage (Alaska) Golf Course, July 30-Aug. 4.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur was first played in 1981. The championship is open to amateur golfers age 25 and older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4. The winner of the championship earns an exemption into the following year’s U.S. Open Championship and the champion and runner-up are also exempt into the next U.S. Amateur Championship.
Sankaty Head Golf Club, in Siasconset, Mass., and stroke-play co-host Miacomet Golf Course, in Nantucket, Mass., will host the 40th U.S. Mid-Amateur, Sept. 25-30, 2021. The 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur will be held at Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis., and stroke-play co-host Blue Mound Golf & Country Club, in Wauwatosa, Wis. Sleepy Hollow Country Club, in Scarborough, N.Y. and stroke-play co-host Fenway Golf Club, in Scarsdale, N.Y., will host in 2023.
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