U.S. Women's Amateur

The U.S. Women's Amateur is the leading golf tournament in the United States for female amateur golfers. It is played annually and is one of the thirteen United States national golf championships organised by the United States Golf Association (USGA), but non-Americans are eligible to compete. It was established in 1895, one month after the men's U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open, and is thus the third oldest USGA championship and fifty one years older than the U.S. Women's Open Championship.

Related Topics:
Golf - United States - United States Golf Association - U.S. Amateur - U.S. Open - U.S. Women's Open Championship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first tournament attracted a field of 13 and was played over 18 holes. Nowadays, several thousand women enter the event, and the USGA conducts sectional qualifying to reduce the number of contestants to a more manageable number. The main tournament opens with two rounds of strokeplay. The leading 64 players than compete in a matchplay competition. The matches are played over 18 holes except for the final, which is played over 36 holes.

Related Topics:
Strokeplay - Matchplay

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are no age restrictions on entry, but players must have a handicap index of 5.4 or less. Morgan Pressel qualified as a 13-year-old in 2001 and won in 2005 at the age of 17. Seven of the 2005 quarterfinalists were teenagers, the youngest of them 15, and the other quarterfinalist was only 21. (The best-known teenage female golfer, the 15-year-old Michelle Wie, skipped the event, as she had played in the Women's British Open the weekend before the main tournament started.) Because the tournament is dominated by players who are working towards careers as tournament professionals, the USGA has introduced a separate tournament for over twenty-fives called the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, which gives golfers who don't turn professional an opportunity to compete among themselves for a national title.

Related Topics:
Handicap - Morgan Pressel - Michelle Wie - Women's British Open - Tournament professionals - U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

U.S. Women's Amateur champions who have gone on to become leading professionals include Patty Berg, Babe Zaharias, Louise Suggs and Beth Daniel.

Related Topics:
Patty Berg - Babe Zaharias - Louise Suggs - Beth Daniel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~