USGA's New Four-Ball Championship Draws Considerable Interest


The United States Golf Association has announced it has accepted entries for 2,234 teams (two-player sides) for the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship. The inaugural event is slated for May 2-6 at the Olympic Club, in San Francisco.

"We are pleased that nearly 4,500 players will compete in qualifying for the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship," said Daniel B. Burton, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. "The four-ball format is exciting for amateur golf and we are confident that this championship will continue to grow in popularity for both players and fans."

The USGA received entries for the tournament from golfers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 17 foreign countries. To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 5.4, with no age restrictions. Team partners are not required to be from the same club, state or country, and substitution of partners was permitted until the close of entries.

Conducted over 18 holes, sectional qualifying will be held at 51 sites across the U.S. between August 13 and March 31, 2015. There are sites in 35 states. California has the most sectionals with six, while Florida, New York and Massachusetts each have three. Two sectional qualifiers are scheduled in Texas, Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

The sectional qualifying will narrow the final field to 128 two-player teams, with each playing their own ball throughout the round. Each team's score will be determined using their better-ball score for a hole. After 36 holes of stroke-play competition, the field will be reduced to the low 32 teams for the match-play portion of the championship.

Three teams are exempt from qualifying due to both players being ranked among the top 400 in the current World Amateur Golf Ranking. The teams are: Sam Burns/Austin Connelly, Patrick Christovich/Garrett Rank and Bryson Dechambeau/Austin Smotherman.

The 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will use both Olympic Club courses (Lake and Ocean) for 36-hole stroke-play qualifying, with Lake holding the match-play bracket. This will be the 10th USGA championship at the Olympic Club.

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