U.S. Amateur Fact Sheet

The 110th U.S. Amateur, America's oldest golf championship, is set to be played August 23-29 at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Wash. The second stroke-play venue, the Home Course, is located to the south in Dupont, Wash.

Chambers Bay will be set up at 7,742 yards and will play to a par of 36-35-71. Its front nine will be set up at 3,972 yards, while the back will be 3,770. The Home Course will stretch 7,309 yards and play as a par 72. Chambers Bay will be the site of the match-play portion of the championship.

Record Distance & Layout

Chambers Bay will be the longest course in USGA history. At 7,742 yards, it overtakes the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego, Calif., which measured 7,643 yards for the 2008 U.S. Open, and 2006 U.S. Amateur host Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., which measured 7,473 yards.

Chambers Bay was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., and opened in 2007. The Home Course, in nearby Dupont, Wash., was designed by Mike Asmundson and opened in 2007.

The fairways will range in width from approximately 28 to 105 yards. Although most USGA championship courses have a buffer between their fairways and primary rough, Chambers Bay likely will not incorporate this cut due to the nature of the course's fine fescue. The primary rough will be cut at a height of 3 to 4½ inches. Fescue area in dunes will be grown from 6 to 18 inches. The greens will measure about 11 feet on the Stimpmeter for the duration of the championship. Green approaches and closely mown areas will be cut to a height of .450 inches, while teeing grounds and fairways will be cut to a height of .500 inches.

Based on the course setup for the championship, the Course Rating for Chambers Bay is 78.6 and its slope is 138. The Home Course will be set for a Course Rating of 76.3 and a slope of 131.

The 2010 U.S. Amateur is the first USGA championship to be conducted at Chambers Bay. The state of Washington has hosted 21 USGA championships prior to this year, including the 1952 U.S. Amateur at Seattle Golf Club (won by Jack Westland). The 2010 U.S. Senior Open was held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, July 29-August 1, and won by Bernhard Langer. The 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur will be played at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton on July 18-23, and Chambers Bay will host the 2015 U.S. Open, from June 18-21.

Who Can Enter & Qualifying

The championship is open to amateur golfers who hold a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 2.4. The USGA accepted 6,485 entries in 2010. The record number of entrants is 7,920, in 1999.

Sectional qualifying, played over 36 holes, was held at 99 sites between July 29 and August 10.

Schedule of Play

Eighteen holes of stroke play are scheduled for August 23 and 24, after which the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers. Six rounds of match play begin on August 25 and the championship concludes with a scheduled 36-hole final match on August 29.

Ticket Information

Tickets can be purchased online at www.2010usamateur.com/tickets, or by calling 877/295-4657. Daily grounds tickets are $25 and weekly grounds tickets are $65. Children 17 and under are admitted free, if accompanied by a paying adult.

What the Winner Receives

Among the benefits enjoyed by the U.S. Amateur winner are:

1) A gold medal and custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for the ensuing year

2) An exemption from local and sectional qualifying for the next U.S. Open

3) An exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs

4) An exemption from qualifying for the next British Open Championship

5)A likely invitation to the next Masters Tournament

Television & Online Coverage

Both NBC and Golf Channel will broadcast match-play competition from the U.S. Amateur. Dan Hicks and Gary Koch will work from the booth and Roger Maltbie and Dottie Pepper will walk the course. The following are the air times (all EDT):

August 25 Golf Channel 6:30-8:30 p.m.
August 26 Golf Channel 6:30-8:30 p.m.
August 27 Golf Channel 1-3 p.m.
August 28 NBC 4-6 p.m.*
August 29 NBC 4-6 p.m.
*tape delay

History

This is the 110th U.S. Amateur Championship. The U.S. Amateur is the oldest golf championship in this country, one day older than the U.S. Open. Except for an eight-year period, 1965-1972, when it was stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play event.

Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has been the most coveted of all amateur titles. Many of the great names of professional golf, such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, have their names etched on the Havemeyer Trophy.

But it was legendary amateur Robert T. (Bobby) Jones Jr., who first attracted national media coverage and sparked spectator attendance at the U.S. Amateur. Jones captured the championship five times (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930). His 1930 victory was a seminal moment in golf history when, at Merion Cricket Club in Ardmore, Pa., Jones rounded out the "Grand Slam," winning the four major American and British championships in one year.

Sixty-six years later, in 1996, Tiger Woods, attracted similar interest and enthusiasm at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., when he won a record third straight U.S. Amateur, having registered 18 consecutive match-play victories. In 1994, Woods, at 18, had first entered the record book as the youngest ever to win the Amateur Championship, following his three consecutive Junior Amateur titles (1991-93). That record has since been broken twice, first by 17-year-old Danny Lee in 2008 at Pinehurst No. 2 in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C., and then last year when 17-year-old Byeong-Hun 'Ben' An won at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., with a 7-and-5 victory over Ben Martin, of Greenwood, S.C. An will defend his title this year.

Television & Online Coverage

Both NBC and Golf Channel will broadcast match-play competition from the U.S. Amateur. Dan Hicks and Gary Koch will work from the booth and Roger Maltbie and Dottie Pepper will walk the course. The following are the air times (all EDT):

August 25 Golf Channel 6:30-8:30 p.m.
August 26 Golf Channel 6:30-8:30 p.m.
August 27 Golf Channel 1-3 p.m.
August 28 NBC 4-6 p.m.*
August 29 NBC 4-6 p.m.
*tape delay

History

This is the 110th U.S. Amateur Championship. The U.S. Amateur is the oldest golf championship in this country, one day older than the U.S. Open. Except for an eight-year period, 1965-1972, when it was stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play event.

Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has been the most coveted of all amateur titles. Many of the great names of professional golf, such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, have their names etched on the Havemeyer Trophy.

But it was legendary amateur Robert T. (Bobby) Jones Jr., who first attracted national media coverage and sparked spectator attendance at the U.S. Amateur. Jones captured the championship five times (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930). His 1930 victory was a seminal moment in golf history when, at Merion Cricket Club in Ardmore, Pa., Jones rounded out the "Grand Slam," winning the four major American and British championships in one year.

Sixty-six years later, in 1996, Tiger Woods, attracted similar interest and enthusiasm at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., when he won a record third straight U.S. Amateur, having registered 18 consecutive match-play victories. In 1994, Woods, at 18, had first entered the record book as the youngest ever to win the Amateur Championship, following his three consecutive Junior Amateur titles (1991-93). That record has since been broken twice, first by 17-year-old Danny Lee in 2008 at Pinehurst No. 2 in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C., and then last year when 17-year-old Byeong-Hun 'Ben' An won at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., with a 7-and-5 victory over Ben Martin, of Greenwood, S.C. An will defend his title this year.

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