The USGA has announced that Biltmore Forest Country Club, in Asheville, N.C., will be the host site of the 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. The club previously hosted the 1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and the 2013 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. The dates of the 2025 championship have not yet been determined.
“We are thrilled to announce our return to this exceptional club,” said Rob Doone, championship director. “We look forward to a great test of golf for the world’s best senior amateur players and are confident this course will identify a worthy champion and provide an unforgettable experience for everyone.”
Designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1922, Biltmore Forest Country Club features undulating greens and a strategic routing. Biltmore has been intertwined with the game’s history since its inception, hosting players such as Bob Jones, Jess Sweetser, Ben Hogan and Cary Middlecoff as regular visitors. From 1939-1942, Biltmore was an official PGA Tour stop for the Land of the Sky Open, which Hogan won three consecutive years.
In 2015, the course underwent an extensive renovation, which included converting its fairways, tees and walking paths from bermudagrass to zoysiagrass, rebuilding the bent grass greens and refurbishing all bunkers.
“On behalf of all of us at Biltmore Forest Country Club, we are honored to host the 70th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship,” said Kip Warlick, club president. “It is very gratifying to see the club’s rich history culminate in the hosting of another USGA championship. We look forward to giving back to the game of golf, and particularly celebrating amateur players by hosting this wonderful event.”
In the 2013 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, Julia Potter-Bobb defeated Margaret Shirley in 19 holes after earning medalist honors during the stroke-play portion of the championship. In the 1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur, Dorothy Delasin defeated Jimin Kang, 4 and 3, in the championship’s 36-hole final match. Natalie Gulbis was the medalist in that championship.
The U.S. Senior Amateur is open to amateur golfers who have reached age 55 on or before the start of the championship who have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 7.4. The championship features 36 holes of stroke play before the field is cut to the low 64 scorers for match play. Last year, Gene Elliott, of West Des Moines, Iowa, earned his first USGA title by rallying to defeat Jerry Gunthorpe, of Ovid, Mich., 1 up, in the championship match at the Country Club of Detroit. Elliott, one of the world's top senior golfers, captured the U.S. Senior Amateur in his 36th USGA event.
This will be the 39th USGA championship contested in North Carolina, which most recently hosted the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica, won by Minjee Lee of Australia. Upcoming USGA championships in the Tar Heel State include the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Adaptive Opens at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 6) and the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 2). The 2022 U.S. Adaptive Open will be the inaugural playing of that USGA championship, which was announced in December 2021.
Upcoming U.S. Senior Amateur Championships will be contested Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 2022, at The Kittansett Club in Marion, Mass.; Aug. 26-31, 2023, at Martis Camp Club in Truckee, Calif.; and Aug. 24-29, 2024 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn.
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