Waverley CC to Host 2017 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur


The United States Golf Association (USGA) has announced that Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore., will host the 2017 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship. The dates for the championship, which will be the seventh USGA championship at Waverley, are September 9-14.

"The USGA is pleased to bring the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship to Waverley Country Club for the first time," said Thomas J. O'Toole Jr., USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. "Waverley has hosted a USGA championship in every decade since the 1950s and has a storied history with great champions. The course is sure to provide an exciting and competitive test for stroke play and match play, and we expect to identify another fitting national champion."

In 1896, Waverley Country Club became the second private golf club established west of the Mississippi River. H. Chandler Egan designed the present course on the east bank of the Willamette River between 1912 and 1924, and the two-time U.S. Amateur champion continued to make improvements to the classic layout until his death in 1936. Gil Hanse completed a course restoration in 2012.

"It is an honor and a privilege for Waverley Country Club to host the 2017 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship," said club president Jim Dulcich. "We are thrilled to have the world's top senior women's amateur golfers play our beautiful riverside course. Waverley has 117 years of rich golf history, including six USGA championships, and we are dedicated to providing an exceptional experience for the participants and everyone else involved in the 2017 championship."

Waverley counts one U.S. Amateur and three U.S. Women's Amateurs among its six USGA championships. In 1970, Lanny Wadkins defeated Tom Kite by a stroke (279-280) in the sixth of the eight U.S. Amateur Championships that were conducted entirely at stroke play. Jacqueline Pung defeated Shirley McFedters, 2 and 1, in the first U.S. Women's Amateur at Waverley, in 1952. Juli Inkster captured the 1981 U.S. Women's Amateur - her second of three consecutive titles - with a 1-up victory over Lindy Goggin, and Marcy Newton defeated Laura Myerscough, 8 and 7, in the 2000 Women's Amateur.

In 1993, Tiger Woods defeated Ryan Armour in 19 holes to capture his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur. In 1964, William D. Higgins defeated Edward Murphy, a Waverley member, 2 and 1, in the U.S. Senior Amateur final.

The U.S. Senior Women's Amateur will be the 35th USGA championship held in Oregon. In 2015, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon will host the inaugural U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship. The 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur will be at Portland Golf Club.

The U.S. Senior Women's Amateur was first played in 1962. The championship is open to female amateurs age 50 and older with a USGA Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4. In 2014, the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship will be played at the Hollywood Golf Club, in Deal, N.J., from September 13-18. The 2016 championship will be contested at Wellesley (Mass.) Country Club.

Ellen Port, of St. Louis, won her second consecutive U.S. Senior Women's Amateur last year at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif. Port, who has captured six USGA women's championships, trails only JoAnne Gunderson Carner, who won eight, and Anne Quast Sander and Carol Semple Thompson, who each have seven victories. Port will serve as the 2014 USA Curtis Cup captain at St. Louis Country Club from June 6-8.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information, visit www.usga.org.