BREAKING – Old Waverly Lands Coveted USGA Event

March 14, 2017

WEST POINT (WCBI) – Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss., will be the host site for the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Scheduled for Aug. 5-11, this will be the third USGA championship contested at Old Waverly, which previously hosted the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2006 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.

Designed by Bob Cupp and Jerry Pate, a U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur champion, Old Waverly opened for play in September 1988. Eleven years later, it hosted the 1999 Women’s Open, won by three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Juli Inkster, who secured the first of her two Women’s Open titles by carding a 72-hole score of 272, tied for the best in Women’s Open history. In 2006, Meghan Stasi won the first of her four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles at Old Waverly with a 5-and-4 victory over Thuhashini Selvaratnam.

“The USGA is proud to bring one of our three oldest championships to Old Waverly in 2019,” said Stuart Francis, USGA Championship Committee chairman. “The U.S. Women’s Amateur attracts the world’s best female amateur players, and we are confident Old Waverly will provide a fair and comprehensive test that identifies a champion worthy of hoisting the historic Robert Cox Trophy.”

Juli Inkster captured her first of two U.S. Women’s Open titles at Old Waverly in 1999. (USGA/John Mummert)

Old Waverly has hosted numerous events, including the men’s and women’s Southeastern Conference Championships, Southern Golf Association women’s and junior championships, and the 2014 ISPS Handa Cup, an international team competition on the LPGA Legends Tour. The club also serves as the home of Mississippi State University’s men’s and women’s golf programs and began hosting the annual Old Waverly Collegiate Championship in 2013.

“It is an honor to host the 119th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Old Waverly,” said George Bryan, club founder. “We have a strong history of supporting competitive amateur golf, and we look forward to welcoming the best female amateurs in the game to our course and to the state of Mississippi in 2019.”

The 2019 Women’s Amateur will be the fourth USGA championship played in Mississippi. Annandale Golf Club in Madison hosted the 1986 U.S. Mid-Amateur, won by Bill Loeffler.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship was first conducted in 1895 as one of the USGA’s first three championships. It is open to female amateurs who have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 5.4. Notable champions include Inkster, Glenna Collett Vare, Patty Berg, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Carol Semple Thompson, Beth Daniel and Lydia Ko. Eun Jeong Seong, of the Republic of Korea, won the 2016 Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pa., becoming the first player to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior championships in the same season. Seong also became the third female to win multiple USGA championships in the same year.

The 2017 Women’s Amateur will be conducted Aug. 7-13 at San Diego Country Club, in Chula Vista, Calif., and the 2018 championship will be held Aug. 6-12 at the Golf Club of Tennessee, in Kingston Springs, Tenn.