Far Hills, N.J. (June 2) – Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif., has been selected by the United States Golf Association as the site of the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. The dates of the championship are July 16-21.
This will be the second national championship conducted at Lake Merced. Previously, the club hosted the 1990 U.S. Junior Amateur, won by Mathew Todd, and it has hosted sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open.
“We are very honored and excited to have been selected to host the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship,” said Dale Holub, Lake Merced club president. “This completes a circle for our club, having hosted the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1990, and will undoubtedly mark another significant chapter in our club’s nearly 90-year history. It also presents an opportunity for us to reaffirm our traditional commitment to amateur and junior golf.
“We look forward to sharing our club, our fantastic golf course, the hospitality of our membership and the sights and thrills that San Francisco offers to these great young golfers when they come here in 2012 to contest this national championship,” said Holub.
Lake Merced was designed by Willie Lock and opened in 1922. The course has undergone three renovations, by Dr. Alister MacKenzie in 1929; by Robert Muir Graves in 1964; and by Rees Jones in 1996.
Lake Merced served as the host site of the first women’s professional tournament in California – the 1941 San Francisco Women’s Open Match Play Championship, won by Babe Didrikson Zaharias. In addition, the club hosted the 2009 California State Amateur Championship and the 2009 NCAA Men’s Division I West Regional Championship. Lake Merced has served as the host site of the NCGA Junior Championship more than 50 times, the NCGA/CIF Girls’ Championship more than 15 times and the San Francisco Open Championship five times.
First contested in 1949, the U.S. Girls’ Junior is the national championship for female amateurs younger than 18. Prior to 2012, the championship will be contested at The Country Club of North Carolina in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C., from July 19-24, 2010; and at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club’s South Course from July 18-23, 2011.
About the USGA
The USGA is the national governing body of golf in the USA and Mexico. The USGA annually conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and 10 national amateur championships. It also conducts two state team championships and helps conduct the Walker Cup Match, Curtis Cup Match and World Amateur Team Championships.
The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, provides expert course maintenance consultations, maintains a Handicap System® and celebrates the history of the game. Since 1983, the USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program has awarded more than $31 million to more than 400 research projects for better turf and a better environment at universities across the country. The USGA also funds an ongoing “For the Good of the Game” grants program, which has allocated more than $65 million over 13 years to programs that bring the game’s values to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and people with disabilities.
Contact:
Beth Murrison (bmurrison@usga.org)
Web Address: www.usga.org
USGA Phone: (908) 234-2300
