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118th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship Preview

The LPGA is taking a one week break this week before resuming their schedule in Indianapolis.

I would like to take this time to preview a very important USGA event that is taking place this week.

The 118th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship

Image result for 118th u.s. women's amateur championship

Many of my readers may remember last year's championship when University of Texas senior Sophia Schubert, 21, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., became the first player over the age of 19 to win the championship in nine years with her 6-and-5 victory over Stanford sophomore Albane Valenzuela, of Switzerland, at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif.

Here are the Key Details:
Championship Venue:  Golf Club of Tennessee
Location:  Kingston Springs, Tenn.
Architect:  Tom Fazio
Par:  71
Yardage: 6,275

Image result for Sophia Schubert wins us amateur
Sophia Schubert proudly holds up her 2017 championship trophy.

Dates of Championship:  August 6-12
Field:  156 players
Eligibility: Any female amateur whose handicap index does not exceed 5.4
Defending Champion: Sophia Schubert
Winning Margin: 6 and 5 over runner-up Albane Valenzuela

Championship Field
A starting field of 156 players will compete in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Following 18-hole rounds of stroke play on Aug. 6-7, the field will be cut to the top 64 players for match play. Five 18-hole rounds of match play will determine the finalists who will square off in a 36-hole championship match.
Fifteen players are in the top 25 of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking as of July 25:
No. 1 – Jennifer Kupcho
No. 2 – Lilia Vu
No. 3 – Albane Valenzuela
No. 5 – Lauren Stephenson
No. 6 – Patty Tavatanakit
No. 7 – Kristen Gillman
No. 9 – Lucy Li
No. 10 – Jiwon Jeon
No. 11 – Pimnipa Panthong
No. 13 – Maria Fassi
No. 16 – Rachel Heck
No. 17 – Maddie Szeryk
No. 21 – Olivia Mehaffey
No. 24 – Jaclyn Lee
No. 25 – Haley Moore

Field by age:

Age 11-15, 18 players

Age 16-20, 97 players

Age 21-25, 33 players

Age 26-30, 4 players

Age 31-35, 1 player

Age 35-40, 1 player

Age 41-56, 2 players



There are 16 countries represented in the championship: Australia, Canada, Chile, Chinese Taipei, England, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Northern Ireland, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States.



There are 32 states represented in the championship: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.




With 34 players, California is the most represented state, followed by Texas, which is represented by 15 players.


Schedule of Play:
Monday, Aug. 6 (Stroke Play, Round 1, 18 holes)
Tuesday, Aug. 7 (Stroke Play, Round 2, 18 holes)
Wednesday, Aug. 8 (Round of 64, match play)
Thursday, Aug. 9 (Round of 32/Round of 16, match play)
Friday, Aug. 10 (Quarterfinal matches)
Saturday, Aug. 11 (Semifinal matches)
Sunday, Aug. 12 (Championship Match, 36 holes)

 Match Play Cut:
The low 64 scorers from stroke play will qualify for match play. If necessary, a playoff will be conducted to trim the draw to exactly 64 competitors.

Television:

The 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur will receive at least 15 hours of network coverage over five days on FS1, beginning with Wednesday’s Round of 64 matches. All times ET.

Wednesday, Aug. 8                4-7 p.m.                         FS1
Thursday, Aug. 9                    4-7 p.m..                        FS1
Friday, Aug. 10                       4-7 p.m.                         FS1
Saturday, Aug. 11                   10 a.m. - 1 p.m.             FS1
Sunday, Aug. 12                     2 p.m. - 5 p.m.               FS1

Live Streaming Coverage
To supplement the Fox Sports broadcast of the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur, the championship will receive at least four hours of live streaming coverage on usga.org. All times ET. 

Thursday, Aug. 9               12 p.m. - 2 p.m.          usga.org
Sunday, Aug. 12                10 a.m. - 12 p.m.        usga.org

Notable U.S. Women's Amateur Champions:
Beth Daniel
Juli Inkster
Kay Cockerill
Grace Park
Morgan Pressel
Danielle Kang
Lydia Ko

Notable U.S. Women's Amateur Runners-Up:
Annika Sorenstam
Azahara Munoz
Jessica Korda
Moriya Jutanugarn
Jaye Marie Green
Brooke Henderson

Future Sites:
2019: Old Waverly Golf Club, West Point, Miss./Aug. 5-11
2020: Woodmont Country Club, Rockville, Md./Aug. 3-9
2021: Westchester Country Club, Rye, N.Y./Aug. 2-8

This Week's Trivia Question: 
Since the year 2000, only one player successfully defended her U.S. Women's Amateur title. Can you name her?

 For the answer to this week's trivia question press here.


Here are the final results:
Kristen Gillman defeats Jiwon Jeon 7 and 6





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Comments

  1. Good preview, should be interesting as always. A true marathon. And you knew I would know it was Kanger in the trivia question lol

    ReplyDelete

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