The U.S. Golf Association shook up the qualifying process for four of its amateur championships last week and added new exemptions into two other championships.
In 2022, the USGA through its Allied Golf Association partners, conducted 678 qualifiers across 15 championships. In 2024, that number will drop by 94, and it likely will decline in future years.
USGA qualifying events are conducted by the AGAs, largely state golf associations. In most cases, these events take place in the middle of the summer, which is peak season for most association members. Competition for available dates at premium-quality golf courses is fierce. In addition to regular member play, lucrative outings often take precedence at the kind of golf courses the USGA needs for qualifying. Furthermore, the AGAs want to conduct their major amateur competitions on those same types of courses, resulting in an awkward situation if not an occasional conflict of interest.
The most significant revisions for 2024 are to the U.S. Amateur, which will move from a one-stage, 36-hole qualifying format to a two-stage format with 45 18-hole local qualifying sites and 19 18-hole final qualifying sites.
The changes are part of an 18-month effort to address this issue while enhancing and evolving the competitor experience. They will take effect for the organization’s four premier summer amateur championships – the U.S. Amateur, Women’s Amateur, Junior Amateur and Girls’ Junior – beginning in 2024 and will allow the events to retain their openness while ensuring that high-caliber players are provided ample opportunity to earn spots in the field and that qualifying can be conducted at the highest level among growing entries and field sizes.
The exercise is phase one of a multi-year effort to ensure the long-term sustainability of the qualifying system. Attention will now turn to the remaining amateur championships, and ultimately to the five open championships – the U.S. Open, Women’s Open, Senior Open, Senior Women’s Open and Adaptive Open – conducted by the USGA.
“The openness and aspirational nature of our championships is a defining characteristic of USGA championships,” said Brent Paladino, senior director of championship administration. “As the number of entries and qualifying sites have continued to increase on a yearly basis, we looked at ways to evolve our structure to ensure the long-term sustainability of qualifying without excessively burdening AGAs and host clubs. These revisions will provide players with additional pathways to our championships through traditional qualifying, expanded exemption categories and performance in state, AGA, regional and national amateur championships.”
The most significant revisions for 2024 are to the U.S. Amateur, which will move from a one-stage, 36-hole qualifying format to a two-stage format with 45 18-hole local qualifying sites and 19 18-hole final qualifying sites. This is a dramatic departure from current procedures, and it will be especially welcome in a place such as Florida, where near-daily summer storms make it difficult to complete 36 holes in a day.
It is anticipated that as many as 1,500 players will advance to final qualifying for the U.S. Amateur. The odds of advancing to the championship proper in the new system are reduced from one in 42 using the 36-hole model to one in 9.5 using the new protocol.
Handicap Index limits will be lowered across the four premier amateur championships, and modifications to the performance policy will be announced later. Determinations on the individual state, AGA, regional and national championships that will be part of the 2024 exemption criteria will be published before the release of entries for the respective championship.
Separately, the USGA announced that two new exemptions will be offered for the men’s and women’s U.S. Mid-Amateurs, beginning this year. The winners of the European Men’s Mid-Amateur and the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur will be exempt into the U.S. Mid-Amateur, which is scheduled for September 9-14 at Sleepy Hollow Country Club and Fenway Golf Club in Westchester County in New York.
The winners of the European Mid-Amateur Ladies and the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur will be exempt into the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur on September 9-14 at Stonewall in Elverson, Pennsylvania.
Jim Nugent