Far Hills, N.J. (May 10, 2012) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., as the host site for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. The dates of the championship are July 14-19.
“The USGA is thrilled to bring the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links to The Home Course in 2014,” said Teresa Belmont, director of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links for the USGA. “The Pacific Northwest Golf Association and the Washington State Golf Association continue to be great supporters of amateur golf. The Home Course was a very good companion course for the 2010 U.S. Amateur. We fully anticipate it will impress the players with its challenges and its vistas.”
Cooperatively owned and operated by the Washington State Golf Association and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, The Home Course was designed by Mike Asmundson and opened in 2007.
“The Home Course could not be any more enthusiastic about hosting this prestigious USGA championship,” said Bill Mays, president of The Home Course. “We are especially excited for the opportunity to conduct a women’s amateur championship of this magnitude and we feel our golf course will be a fair and enjoyable test for these women.”
The land on which The Home Course was built has a rich history.
The land was occupied for many years by several Native-American tribes known collectively as the Salish people. After the arrival of European settlers, it housed a trading and supply center for the Hudson’s Bay Company, including Fort Nisqually, which is preserved today next to the first green. The PNGA s initial historical research indicates that the Hudson’s Bay Company traders laid out a crude six-hole layout around the old fort that may have been the first golf course in the Northwest.
The DuPont Company acquired the land in 1906 and constructed a plant that manufactured explosives, including black powder and dynamite which were used to clear stumps for farmland and for the western expansion of a the transcontinental railroad. That plant ceased production in the late 1970s when Weyerhaeuser Company purchased it as part of an industrial development plan for the DuPont area.
Weyerhaeuser, DuPont, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historical Preservation, the Nisqually Tribe, the City of DuPont, the DuPont Historical Society and other stakeholders collaborated on the cleanup of remnants of the former plant. The success of the clean-up is attributed largely to partnerships these companies forged. Construction of a golf course was part of the environmental remediation process.
The Home Course will eventually house the offices of the WSGA, PNGA and USGA activities in the Northwest, as well as other allied golf associations. It will be a home for junior golf programs, environmental stewardship and turfgrass research.
Each year, The Home Course will serves as the venue for some WSGA and PNGA championships and USGA national championship local and sectional qualifiers. It was the companion course for the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., and it has also hosted the Sahalee Players Championship. In 2013, the NCAA NCAA Division II Men’s West/South Central Regional will be played at The Home Course.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links was first played in 1977. The championship is open to female amateurs who since Jan. 1 of the competition year have been bona fide public-course players and have not held privileges of any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public or privileges of any private club maintaining its own course, and have a USGA Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4. In 2012, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship will be played at Neshanic Valley Golf Course in Neshanic Station, N.J. from June 18-23 and the 2013 championship will be played June 17-22 at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla.
About the USGA
The USGA conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, as well as 10 national amateur championships, two state team championships and international matches. Together with The R&A, the USGA governs the game worldwide, jointly administering the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, Equipment Standards and World Amateur Golf Rankings. The USGA’s working jurisdiction comprises the United States, its territories and Mexico.
The USGA is a global leader in the development and support of sustainable golf course management practices. It serves as a primary steward for the game’s history and funds an ongoing “For the Good of the Game” charitable giving program. Additionally, the USGA’s Course Rating and Handicap systems are used on six continents in more than 50 countries.
For more information about the USGA, visit www.usga.org.
Contact:
Pete Kowalski
USGA Communications
pkowalski@usga.org
908-234-2300 x1322
