NJSGA To Conduct First Qualifier For New U.S. Men's 4-ball Event
The New Jersey State Golf Association has been selected to conduct the first-ever qualifying for the newest USGA Championship, the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, to be held at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif., May 2-6, 2015.
The NJSGA will administer qualifying next month, on Wednesday, August 13, at the Hackensack Golf Club in Oradell, N.J. Hackensack was the site for the 2013 State Open Championship.
Conducted over 18 holes, sectional qualifying will be held at 51 sites across the United States from Aug. 13, 2014, to March 31, 2015. The qualifying from more than half the sites takes place throughout the country in 2014, from August 13 through December 8, with more qualifiers taking place from February 13 through March 31 on the West Coast and in the South..
Player registration is available now and continues through 5 p.m. on August. 6.
“It’s an honor for the NJSGA that the USGA has the confidence in our organization to handle this important qualifier,” said NJSGA president Frank O’Brien. “It shows the regard the USGA has for the professionalism the NJSGA staff exhibits on a regular basis.
“We look forward to conducting the qualifier at Hackensack Golf Club, which hosted our State Open a year ago. It will provide an excellent test for the golfers as well as playing a role as a most courteous host,” O’Brien said.
There are sectional qualifying sites in 35 states. California has the most sectionals with six, while Florida, New York and Massachusetts have three each. Two sectional qualifiers are scheduled in Texas, Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
To be eligible for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, a player must have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 5.4, with no age restrictions. Team partners will not be required to be from the same club, state or country, and substitution of partners will be permitted until the close of entries.
The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will consist of 128 two-player teams, each playing their own ball throughout the round. Each team’s score will be determined using their better-ball score for each 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.
The 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will use both courses (Lake and Ocean) at The Olympic Club for 36-hole stroke-play qualifying, and the club’s famed Lake Course will host the championship’s match-play bracket. It will be the 10th USGA championship contested at The Olympic Club.
