The 41st U.S. Senior Open Championship gets underway this week from Omaha Country Club, which hosts the championship for a second time.
Only seven courses in history have hosted this event two or more times, and this week Omaha Country Club will set up at 6,891 yards and play to a par of 35-35–70. The yardage for each round of the championship will vary due to course setup and conditions.
Omaha Country Club Hole By Hole
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Par 4 5 3 4 3 5 3 4 4 35
Yardage 385 548 247 413 188 540 191 477 434 3,423
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
Par 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 35
Yardage 500 165 476 313 379 223 558 398 456 3,468
THE COURSE
Omaha Country Club was designed in 1925 on 190 acres of farmland and forested countryside. Perry Maxwell, a founding member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, was commissioned to redesign the course in 1951. Keith Foster directed major renovations and enhancements to the course in 2005.
COURSE RATING
Based on the course setup for the championship, the USGA Course Rating™ is 75.4 and the Slope Rating® is 137.
WHO CAN ENTER
The championship is open to any professional or amateur golfer who is 50 years of age or older as of July 8, 2021. An amateur is eligible with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4.
ENTRIES
The USGA accepted 2,999 entries for the 2021 U.S. Senior Open, the third-highest total in championship history. The 2020 championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the USGA accepted 2,796 entries. The record number of entries is 3,101 in 2002.
QUALIFYING
In 2021, qualifying was conducted over 18 holes at 34 sites around the country between May 17-June 14. Qualifying sites were located in 27 states, including five in California, three in Florida and two in Texas.
CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
The starting field of 156 golfers will be cut after 36 holes to the low 60 scorers and ties.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Eighteen holes of stroke play are scheduled each day from Thursday, July 8, through Sunday, July 11. In the case of a tie after 72 holes, a two-hole aggregate playoff will commence immediately after the conclusion of Round 4.
2019 CHAMPION
Steve Stricker, 52, of Madison, Wis., established a 72-hole scoring mark of 261 and his 19-under total was one off another standard as he powered his way to a six-stroke victory in winning the 40th U.S. Senior Open Championship on the Warren Course at Notre Dame.
Stricker, who obliterated the 36- (126) and 54-hole (192) championship scoring records and matched the 18-hole mark with a first-round 62, finished ahead of fellow Wisconsinite Jerry Kelly and defending champion David Toms, who each posted 13-under 267. His six-stroke margin of victory equaled Gary Player and Fred Funk from 1987 and 2009, respectively.
After competing in 21 U.S. Opens, two U.S. Amateurs, one U.S. Junior Amateur and now one U.S. Senior Open, Stricker was finally a USGA champion. He broke or tied 16 championships scoring records.
PURSE
The 2021 purse will be $4 million. The winner will receive approximately $720,000.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
The 2021 U.S. Senior Open will receive at least 20 hours of live network coverage. Rolex is the exclusive presenting partner of coverage for eight USGA championships in 2021, including the U.S. Senior Open. Rolex’s commitment will allow an uninterrupted broadcast of these championships, providing fans with hours of continuous live action.
Date/Day Time (Local/CDT) Network Coverage
July 8/Thursday
11 a.m.-Noon Peacock
Noon-2 p.m. Golf Channel
5-7 p.m. Golf Channel
July 9/Friday
11 a.m.-Noon Peacock
Noon-2 p.m. Golf Channel
5-7 p.m. Golf Channel
July 10/Saturday
2-3 p.m. Peacock
3-7 p.m. Golf Channel
July 11/Sunday
2-3 p.m. Peacock
3-7 p.m. Golf Channel
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2021 U.S. Senior Open Championship are available for purchase at ussenioropen.com. Championship round individual gallery tickets are $50 (Thursday-Sunday), while practice round tickets are $25 (Monday-Wednesday). Weekly access tickets are $175. The U.S. Senior Open will have a maximum of 7,000 gallery tickets available each day. This decision was made in coordination with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and the Douglas County Health Department.
HISTORY
This is the 41st U.S. Senior Open Championship. The first U.S. Senior Open, played in 1980, was conducted for golfers 55 and older. The next year, the USGA lowered the minimum age to 50.
Miller Barber captured the first of his three U.S. Senior Open titles in 1982 – he also won in 1984 and 1985. The U.S. Senior Open has five two-time winners: Gary Player (1987, 1988), Jack Nicklaus (1991, 1993), Hale Irwin (1998, 2000), Allen Doyle (2005, 2006) and Kenny Perry (2013, 2017). Doyle became the championship’s oldest winner in 2006 at the age of 57 years, 11 months, 14 days.
The youngest champion is Dale Douglass, who won in 1986 at the age of 50 years, 3 months, 24 days.
2021 U.S. SENIOR OPEN NOTES
►Omaha Country Club will be hosting its second U.S. Senior Open Championship (2013, 2021)
►Omaha Country Club will be the seventh course to host the U.S. Senior Open twice
►The 41st U.S. Senior Open will be the fourth USGA championship to be conducted in Nebraska
►This will be the seventh time the U.S. Senior Open Championship is held in the Central Plains
►11 past champions are among the 80 fully exempt players in the current field
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NEBRASKA
This will be the fourth USGA championship held in Nebraska and the second U.S. Senior Open held in the state. In 1941, Marvin (Bud) Ward defeated Pat Abbott to win the U.S. Amateur at the Field Club of Omaha. In 1996 at Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln, Kelli Kuehne won her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur title.
1941 U.S. Amateur: Field Club of Omaha, Marvin Ward def. B. Patrick Abbott, 4 and 3
1996 U.S. Women’s Amateur: Firethorn G.C., Kelli Kuehne def. Marisa Baena, 2 and 1
2013 U.S. Senior Open: Omaha C.C., Kenny Perry won by five strokes over Fred Funk (267-272)
U.S. SENIOR OPENS IN CENTRAL PLAINS
1983 U.S. Senior Open: Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minn. (Billy Casper)
1999 U.S. Senior Open: Des Moines Golf & Country Club, West Des Moines, Iowa (Dave Eichelberger)
2004 U.S. Senior Open: Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, Mo. (Peter Jacobsen)
2006 U.S. Senior Open: Prairie Dunes Country Club, Hutchinson, Kan. (Allen Doyle)
2013 U.S. Senior Open: Omaha Country Club, Omaha, Neb. (Kenny Perry)
2014 U.S. Senior Open: Oak Tree National, Edmond, Okla. (Colin Montgomerie)
2018 U.S. Senior Open: The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo. (David Toms)
OTHER CHAMPIONSHIPS AT OMAHA COUNTRY CLUB
Omaha Country Club has hosted the Nebraska State Amateur on 16 occasions, most recently in 2016. Johnny Goodman, the last amateur to win the U.S. Open, in 1933, is an Omaha native who won the second of his three consecutive Nebraska State Amateurs at Omaha C.C. in 1930.
OMAHA’S JOHNNY GOODMAN
Johnny Goodman, the last amateur to win the U.S. Open, is one of 12 players to win both the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur. Others to have accomplished this feat are Bob Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau. Goodman, who attended South Omaha High School and was a caddie at the Field Club of Omaha growing up, captured his U.S. Amateur title in 1937. Johnny Goodman Municipal Golf Course is part of the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation.
LONGEST U.S. SENIOR OPEN COURSES
7,269 yards, Crooked Stick G.C., second round, Carmel, Ind., 2009
7,249 yards, The Broadmoor (East Course), first round, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
7,248 yards, The Broadmoor (East Course), fourth round, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
7,241 yards, Crooked Stick G.C., first round, Carmel, Ind., 2009
7,223 yards, Crooked Stick G.C., fourth round, Carmel, Ind., 2009
7,217 yards, The Broadmoor (East Course), first round, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
7,208 yards, Crooked Stick G.C., third round, Carmel, Ind., 2009
7,192 yards, The Broadmoor (East Course), third round, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
7,185 yards, The Broadmoor (East Course), fourth round, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
7,164 yards, Inverness Club, fourth round, Toledo, Ohio, 2011
7,156 yards, The Broadmoor (East Course), third round, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
LONGEST PAR 3s in U.S. SENIOR OPEN HISTORY
250 yards, 5th, first round, Warren Course at Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., 2019
244 yards, 12th, first round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
240 yards, 5th, first round, Warren Course at Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., 2019
239 yards, 12th, third round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
238 yards, 12th, first round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
237 yards, 14th, third round, Scioto C.C., Columbus, Ohio, 2016
235 yards, 15th, second round, Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, 2011
234 yards, 17th, fourth round, Del Paso C.C., Sacramento, Calif., 2015
233 yards, 14th, second round, Scioto C.C, Columbus, Ohio, 2016
231 yards, 3rd, third round, Omaha (Neb.) C.C., 2013
231 yards, 16th, fourth round, at Omaha (Neb.) C.C., 2013
LONGEST PAR 4s in U.S. SENIOR OPEN HISTORY
559 yards, 17th, first round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
545 yards, 17th, second round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
545 yards, 17th, third round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
538 yards, 17th, second round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
532 yards, 17th, fourth round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
517 yards, 17th, third round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
510 yards, 17th, first round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
503 yards, 10th, first round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
502 yards, 10th, fourth round, Omaha (Neb.) C.C., 2013
502 yards, 10th, second round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
LONGEST PAR 5s IN U.S. SENIOR OPEN HISTORY
627 yards, 15th, third round, Del Paso Country Club, Sacramento, Calif., 2015
608 yards, 7th, Brooklawn Country Club, Fairfield, Conn., 1987
608 yards, 6th, Canterbury Golf Club, Beachwood, Ohio, 1996
608 yards, 3rd, first round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
608 yards, 3rd, fourth round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2018
604 yards, 15th, first round, Del Paso Country Club, Sacramento, Calif., 2015
601 yards, 3rd, first round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
601 yards, 3rd, fourth round, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., 2008
600 yards, 5th, second round, Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Ind., 2009
600 yards, 5th, fourth round, Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Ind., 2009
600 yards, 14th, first round, Oak Tree National, Edmond, Okla., 2014
WINNERS OF U.S. OPEN AND U.S. SENIOR OPEN
Billy Casper (1959, 1966 U.S. Open; 1983 U.S. Senior Open)
Hale Irwin (1974, 1979, 1990 U.S. Open; 1998, 2000 U.S. Senior Open)
Orville Moody (1969 U.S. Open; 1989 U.S. Senior Open)
Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 U.S. Open; 1991, 1993 U.S. Senior Open)
Arnold Palmer (1960 U.S. Open; 1981 U.S. Senior Open)
Gary Player (1965 U.S. Open; 1987, 1988 U.S. Senior Open)
Lee Trevino (1968, 1971 U.S. Open: 1990 U.S. Senior Open)
THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED AT THE SENIOR OPEN
Colin Montgomerie – the last international winner (2014)
Allen Doyle – the last to defend title successfully (2006)
Steve Stricker – the last to win on his first attempt (2019)
David Toms – the last to win on his second attempt (2018)
Olin Browne – the last start-to-finish winner with no ties (2011)
Hale Irwin – the last winner to birdie the 72nd hole to win by one stroke (1998)
Gary Player – the last winner without a round in the 60s (1988)
Steve Stricker – the last winner with all rounds in the 60s (2019)
Gene Sauers – the last defending champion to miss the cut (2017)
Don Pooley – the last winner to come through qualifying (2002)
FUTURE SITES
June 23-26, 2022: Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pa.
June 29-July 2, 2023: SentryWorld, Stevens Point, Wis.
June 27-30, 2024: Newport (R.I.) Country Club
June 26-29, 2025: The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo.
WHAT THE CHAMPION RECEIVES
Among the benefits the 2021 U.S. Senior Open champion receives are:
►A gold medal and custody of the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy for the ensuing year
►An exemption from final qualifying for the 2022 U.S. Open Championship
►An exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Senior Open Championships
CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY
The U.S. Senior Open, first contested in 1980, is a relatively new national championship when compared with others conducted by the USGA. Yet the U.S. Senior Open Trophy is actually the oldest among the USGA’s championship trophies.
On Sept. 24, 1894, the Tuxedo Club of Tuxedo Park, N.Y., invited three other clubs to compete in the first American interclub tournament. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Saint Andrew’s Golf Club and The Country Club agreed to the challenge. While there is still some dispute as to which team won, the team from The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., consisting of H.C. Leeds, Laurence Curtis, Robert Bacon and W.B. Thomas, returned home with the trophy. The sterling silver, hourglass-shaped cup remained in the club’s possession until the mid-1950s, when it was given to the USGA for exhibition.
In June 1980, with the USGA preparing for the first U.S. Senior Open, The Country Club suggested that the trophy be used as the formal award for the championship. The cup was presented “by The Country Club and Golfers of Massachusetts,” and formally dedicated as the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy. Roberto De Vicenzo received it at Winged Foot Golf Club as the inaugural champion. A replica of the trophy, complete with engraving of the 1894 Brookline team, was produced by the USGA in 1997 and awarded to Graham Marsh at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club. The original was then given its second and final retirement.
The original U.S. Senior Open Trophy is on display at the USGA Golf Museum in Liberty Corner, N.J.
EXEMPT CHAMPIONS
Kenny Perry, the 2013 and 2017 champion, and 10 other Senior Open champions were fully exempt from having to qualify for the championship. They are: Olin Browne (2011), Brad Bryant (2007), Roger Chapman (2012), Fred Funk (2009), Bernhard Langer (2010), Jeff Maggert (2015), Colin Montgomerie (2014), Eduardo Romero (2008), Gene Sauers (2016) and David Toms (2018). There are 76 players who are currently exempt into the U.S. Senior Open field.
SPECIAL EXEMPTION
The USGA awarded a special exemption into the 41st U.S. Senior Open to two-time Masters Tournament champion Jose Maria Olazabal, of Spain. Olazabal, 55, won the Masters in 1994 and 1999 and has recorded six PGA Tour and 23 PGA European Tour victories. He played in 18 U.S. Opens, with his best finishes being ties for eighth in both 1990 and 1991. Olazabal, who will compete in his first U.S. Senior Open, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.
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