The 78th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship kicks off next week from Saucon Valley Country Club.
The Old Course will be set up at 7,082 yards and will play to a par of 36-35-71. The Grace Course, which will serve as stroke-play co-host, will be set up at 6,954 yards and play to a par of 35-35-70.
(NOTE: Yardages subject to change)
OLD COURSE HOLE BY HOLE
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36 |
| Yards | 560 | 472 | 375 | 155 | 478 | 562 | 456 | 421 | 212 | 3691 |
Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| Yards | 385 | 170 | 435 | 334 | 183 | 617 | 500 | 419 | 348 | 3391 |
GRACE COURSE HOLE BY HOLE
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| Yards | 582 | 408 | 225 | 505 | 150 | 426 | 445 | 394 | 429 | 3564 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| Yards | 536 | 175 | 340 | 334 | 167 | 514 | 446 | 435 | 443 | 3390 |
ARCHITECTS
Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course was designed by Herbert Strong and opened in 1922. Revisions were completed by William Gordon, Perry Maxwell and most recently Tom Marzolf from the Fazio Group in 2008. Saucon Valley’s historic 850-acre facility also features the Weyhill Course, Grace Course and a six-hole course for juniors and novice golfers. The club is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. William Gordon designed the Grace Course, which opened for play in 1958. Andrew Green did a restoration in 2014.
ADMISSION
Admission is free, and spectators are encouraged to attend.
ENTRIES
The USGA accepted 3,681 entries for the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship from golfers in 49 U.S. states, including 104 from the host state Pennsylvania, as well as Puerto Rico and 44 foreign countries.
The U.S. Junior Amateur is open to any male amateur who has not reached his 19th birthday on or before July 25, 2026, and whose Handicap Index® does not exceed 2.4.
CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
A starting field of 264 golfers will compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur.
Practice rounds will be held July 18-19. The championship begins with 18-hole stroke-play rounds July 20-21. The field will then be cut to the low 64 scorers for match play. Six rounds of match play will determine the champion, with the final match contested over 36 holes.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Monday, July 20 – First round, stroke play, 18 holes
Tuesday, July 21 – Second round, stroke play, 18 holes
Wednesday, July 22 – Round of 64, match play
Thursday, July 23 – Round of 32 and Round of 16, match play
Friday, July 24 – Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, match play
Saturday, July 25 – Championship match, 36 holes
BROADCAST COVERAGE (ALL TIMES ET)
2025 CHAMPION
Hamilton Coleman, of Augusta, Ga., then a rising high school senior who will play for the University of Georgia in the fall of 2026, defeated then world No. 52 Minh Nguyen in the 36-hole final, 2 and 1. Coleman needed 25 holes – the longest U.S. Junior Amateur match in 23 years – to oust his Round-of-64 foe. He then defeated three consecutive lefties with remarkable résumés to make it to the final.
WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES:
A gold medal
Custody of the Tiger Woods Trophy for one year
Exemption into 2027 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links (must be an amateur)
Exemption into future U.S. Junior Amateurs (while age eligible)
Exemption into the next two U.S. Amateurs (2026 at Merion Golf Club, 2027 at Oak Hill Country Club)
HISTORY
In 1948, the USGA inaugurated the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship to determine the best junior golfer in the United States and to help junior golfers realize the most from the game, win or lose. The inaugural U.S. Junior Amateur was played at the University of Michigan Golf Course, in Ann Arbor and received 495 entries.
Dean Lind, of Rockford, Ill., was the first champion. Lind defeated Ken Venturi, of San Francisco, Calif., a future U.S. Open champion, in the final. Only two players, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, have won multiple Junior Amateur titles; Woods winning a historic three straight from 1991-93, and Spieth in 2009 and 2011. Both have gone on to win U.S. Open titles. Woods also claimed an unprecedented three consecutive U.S. Amateur crowns (1994-96). Other notable champions include Johnny Miller, David Duval, current world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris.
In 2017, the USGA announced that the U.S. Junior Amateur champion would receive a full exemption into the following year’s U.S. Open Championship. Noah Goodwin was the first to earn this exemption in 2018 and the following year, Michael Thorbjornsen made the cut at Pebble Beach, the only reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion thus far to achieve the feat. In 2020, the U.S. Junior Amateur was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aligning with ongoing USGA initiatives to expand the support of junior golf, the field size for the U.S. Junior Amateur increased from 156 players to 264, beginning with the 2021 championship at The Country Club of North Carolina. Last year, players who claimed designated Allied Golf Association junior titles or other elite junior competitions also received exemptions into the field.
TIGER WOODS TROPHY
This large sterling silver trophy, produced by J.E. Caldwell and Co., of Philadelphia, is a replica of a bowl produced by noted early American silversmith Samuel Williamson, which is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dean Lind was the first to receive the trophy after his 1948 victory at the University of Michigan Golf Course, in Ann Arbor.
Beginning with the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club, the champion will receive the Tiger Woods Trophy, celebrating Woods’ legacy as the only player to win three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championships.
USGA AND SAUCON VALLEY
The 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur will be the ninth USGA championship and second U.S. Junior Amateur contested at Saucon Valley.
PREVIOUS EIGHT USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT SAUCON VALLEY (WINNER IN PARENTHESES)
1951 U.S. Amateur (Billy Maxwell)
1983 U.S. Junior Amateur (Tim Straub)
1987 U.S. Senior Amateur (John Richardson)
1992 U.S. Senior Open (Larry Laoretti)
2000 U.S. Senior Open (Hale Irwin)
2009 U.S. Women’s Open (Eun-Hee Ji)
2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur (Scott Harvey)
2022 U.S. Senior Open (Padraig Harrington)
UPCOMING USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT SAUCON VALLEY
2032, 2042 U.S. Senior Open
2038 U.S. Women’s Amateur
2051 U.S. Amateur
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN PENNSYLVANIA
This will be the 96th USGA championship conducted in Pennsylvania, tied for the most with California. It will be the fourth U.S. Junior Amateur contested in Pennsylvania. Most recently, the commonwealth hosted the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, won by J.J. Spaun. Hunter Mahan won the last U.S. Junior Amateur in Pennsylvania in 1999 at The Country Club of York.
PREVIOUS U.S. JUNIOR AMATEURS IN PENNSYLVANIA (3):
1999: Country Club of York (Hunter Mahan)
1997: Aronimink Golf Club (Jason Allred)
1983: Saucon Valley Country Club (Tim Straub)
MOST USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS HOSTED BY VENUES IN PENNSYLVANIA (INCLUDING 2026)
20 – Merion Golf Club, Ardmore
18 – Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont
9 – Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem
4 – Fox Chapel Golf Club, Pittsburgh
4 – Philadelphia Country Club, Gladwyne
WINNERS OF U.S. OPEN & U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR
Johnny Miller (1973 Open; 1964 Junior Amateur)
Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008 Open; 1991, 1992, 1993 Junior Amateur)
Jordan Spieth (2015 Open; 2009, 2011 Junior Amateur)
LONGEST COURSES IN U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR HISTORY
7,740 yards, Martis Camp Club, Truckee, Calif., 2013
7,366 yards, Colleton River Plantation Club (Dye Course), Bluffton, S.C., 2015
7,344 yards, Trinity Forest Golf Club, Dallas, Texas, 2025
7,339 yards, Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, 2019
7,332 yards, Daniel Island Club (Ralston Creek Course), Charleston, S.C., 2023
7,326 yards, The Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tenn., 2016
7,313 yards, Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower Course), Springfield, N.J., 2018
7,303 yards, Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course), Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 2024
7,280 yards, Baltusrol Golf Club (Upper Course), Springfield, N.J., 2018
7,275 yards, The Club at Carlton Woods (Nicklaus Course), The Woodlands, Texas, 2014
7,271 yards, The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood Course), Village of Pinehurst, N.C., 2021
7,259, Trinity Forest Golf Club, Dallas, Texas, 2025
FUTURE U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR SITES
July 19-24, 2027 – Chambers Bay, University Place, Wash.
July 17-22, 2028 – Woodmont Country Club, Rockville, Md.
July 23-29, 2029 – Sand Valley Resort (The Lido), Nekoosa, Wis.
July 22-27, 2030 – Colorado Golf Club, Parker, Colo.
July 19-24, 2032 – Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
July 25-30, 2033- Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wis.
TBD, 2035 – The Ridgewood Country Club, Paramus, N.J.
July 21-26, 2036- Sunriver (Ore.) Resort (Crosswater Course)
TBD, 2039 -Erin Hills, Erin, Wis.
TBD, 2045 – Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore.
No comments:
Post a Comment