Jersey Girls Vie For U.S. Girls Junior At Ridgewood, July 18-23
The 2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship will be contested July 18-23 at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus. It will be the fourth USGA championship to be held at Ridgewood is scheduled for July 18-23, 2016.
The 2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior will be the 60th USGA championship conducted in New Jersey. The Garden State will also host the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster and the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield.
The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship was first conducted in 1949 and is open to female amateurs who have not turned 18 on or before the final day of that year’s championship and have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4.
A sectional qualifier will be conducted on Monday, June 27, at The Apawamis Club in Rye, N.Y. The field includes 12 New Jersey residents with defending NJSGA Junior champion Ami Gianchandani of Short Hills and current state high school champion Kelly Sim of Edgewater among them.
SECTIONAL QUALIFIER AT APAWAMIS TEE TIMES
Notable champions include three-time winner Hollis Stacy, Mickey Wright, Nancy Lopez, Amy Alcott, JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Pat Hurst, I.K. Kim, Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson. Princess Mary Superal won the 2014 U.S. Girls’ Junior on the Meadow Course at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz. The 2015 championship will be conducted July 20-25 at Tulsa (Okla.) Country Club.
Located less than 30 miles northwest of New York City, Ridgewood’s three 9-hole courses – East, Center and West – were designed by A.W. Tillinghast and opened for play in 1929. The course routing for the Girls’ Junior will incorporate holes from all three nines.
“We are thrilled to announce Ridgewood Country Club as the host site of the 2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior and sincerely appreciate the club’s generosity in opening its long-celebrated facilities to this generation of female players,” said Diana Murphy, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. “This historic club will surely provide an excellent stage for the world’s most talented teenage female golfers and an extraordinary experience for all.”
Ridgewood’s most recent USGA championship was the 1990 U.S. Senior Open, in which Lee Trevino prevailed by two strokes over Jack Nicklaus on the Center and West courses. The club also hosted the 1974 U.S. Amateur, won by Jerry Pate, 2 and 1, over John P. Grace, and the 1957 U.S. Senior Amateur, won by J. Clark Espie, 4 and 3, over Frederick J. Wright.
“Ridgewood’s members enthusiastically support the USGA’s ambitious efforts to grow the game, especially for girls, and it is our honor to work together to provide the best championship experience possible,” said Bruce Bitzer, President of The Ridgewood Country Club. “As proven throughout our storied history, Ridgewood is a place that identifies great champions, and we could not be more excited to host players who represent the future of women’s golf at the 68th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.”
Other notable events held at Ridgewood include the PGA Tour’s The Barclays in 2014, 2010 and 2008, won by Hunter Mahan, Matt Kuchar and Vijay Singh, respectively; the 2001 Senior PGA Championship, won by Tom Watson; the 1981 LPGA Coca-Cola Classic, won by Kathy Whitworth, a World Golf Hall of Fame member who won a record 88 LPGA events; and the 1935 Ryder Cup Matches, in which the USA defeated Great Britain, 9-3.
