The USGA has announced that Woodmont Country Club, in Rockville, Md., will host the 2025 and 2026 U.S. Adaptive Opens, and the 2028 U.S. Junior Amateur, while Columbia Country Club, in Chevy Chase, Md., will host the 2027 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and the 2035 U.S. Senior Amateur. This marks the USGA’s first return to Maryland since 2021 and a commitment to host five championships in the state over an 11-year period.
“We are excited to return to Maryland, which is home not only to historic golf venues, but also supportive and engaged fans familiar with USGA championships," said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “We know that Woodmont Country Club, Columbia Country Club and the surrounding communities will be thoroughly engaged in hosting these five championships. We look forward to partnering with our host clubs to stage top-tier events for some of the best players in the world.”
For Woodmont Country Club, these three competitions will be the second, third and fourth USGA championships at the 36-hole facility. In 2020, rising star Rose Zhang outlasted defending champion Gabriela Ruffels in a 38-hole final match to win the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur. It was the second-longest match in championship history.
“The return of USGA championships to the state of Maryland is something that club membership, leadership and the community are very excited for,” said Steve Lustig, Woodmont CC president. “To know that we are playing a pivotal role in the advancement of the game by bringing not one, but two Adaptive Opens to our club, is extremely rewarding. Not to mention, crowning a future star of the game at the Junior Amateur will be a proud moment for everyone involved.”
Developed to follow through on a 2017 pledge by the USGA to establish a championship for the adaptive golf community, the U.S. Adaptive Open Championship serves as the association’s 15th, and newest, national championship. Champions of this event have seen their names recorded in the annals of golf history alongside many of the game’s storied figures. In 2023, Ryanne Jackson (women’s) and Kipp Popert (men’s) captured the championship’s overall titles. In 2022, Kim Moore (women’s) and Simon Lee (men’s) earned the championship’s inaugural medals.
While Woodmont traces its roots to 1913, the club moved to its current location in 1950. Alfred Tull designed the courses, with input and assistance from Woodmont member Leopold Freudberg and superintendent Rudy Will. Since then, Woodmont has gone through several renovations with the most recent a major redesign of the North Course in 2018. This past year, a renovation of the South Course was completed. Golf course architect Joel Weiman created a unique layout with a complete bunker re-construction, expansive fairway and teeing grounds that offer multiple options and angles, and revisions to all 18 greens with updated turf varieties making it unlike anything else in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The U.S. Adaptive Open is open to both male and female professional and amateur golfers with a Handicap Index of 36.4 or less and an eligible impairment confirmed by a WR4GD Pass. The championship is contested over 54 holes of stroke play. Multiple sets of tees are utilized, and carts are permitted for all players and caddies.
The U.S. Junior Amateur is open to male amateur golfers who have not reached their 19th birthday by the conclusion of the championship and who have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 4.4. The U.S. Junior Amateur champion earns an exemption into the following year’s U.S. Open Championship.
Columbia Country Club is set to conduct its fourth and fifth USGA championships. It most recently hosted the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior, also won by Zhang, who became the eighth player to win both the Girls’ Junior and the Women’s Amateur titles. With that victory, Zhang also became the only player to win the Women’s Amateur prior to winning the Girls’ Junior.
“Columbia Country Club has a rich tradition and storied history that includes hosting three USGA national championships and looks forward to adding to the legacy of our golf course with two more national championships,” said Walter Pennington, Columbia CC president. “We’re excited that our relationship with the USGA will continue over the next decade, and we are honored to welcome some of the game’s finest senior amateurs to our world-class venue."
Originally designed by Herbert H. Barker in 1911, and updated by Walter Travis eight years later, the course remains remarkably similar to the original design. Columbia CC is known for its hilly and narrow setup, with challenging greens and a signature 18th hole that provides a spectacular view of the clubhouse. The prestigious club’s membership has included U.S. presidents and five-star generals.
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur is open to any female golfer who is 50 years of age by the outset of the championship, and whose Handicap Index® does not exceed 14.4. The championship was first played in 1962 and was conducted in a 54-hole, stroke-play format until 1997 when it mirrored other USGA amateur competitions with stroke-play qualifying followed by six rounds of match play. The champion and runner-up earn exemptions into the following year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open 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.
There have been 24 USGA championships contested in the state of Maryland through the 2023 season. The Old Line State is set to host several more championships in the coming years, including the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur, which will be the first USGA senior amateur championship ever conducted in the state, and the 2031 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Baltimore Country Club.
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