Championship returns to Pacific Northwest for first time since inaugural event in 2015
LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (Feb. 7, 2022) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced that The Home Course, in DuPont, Wash., will host the 8th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. The dates of the championship are May 13-17, 2023.
This will be the second USGA championship to be held at The Home Course, which hosted the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. The course also served as the stroke-play co-host for the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, each of which was contested at Chambers Bay. The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship returns to the Pacific Northwest for the first time since the inaugural event was played in 2015 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, in Bandon, Ore.
“The USGA is pleased to return to the Pacific Northwest, a region and community that we know will once again be supportive of women’s amateur golf, which is central to the Association’s mission,” said Rachel Sadowski, director of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. “The championship’s format provides spirited team competition and the kind of risk-reward play that is exciting for both players and fans.”
A public course cooperatively owned by Washington Golf and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA), The Home Course was designed by Mike Asmundson and opened for play in 2007. The site will eventually house the offices of both associations.
“Since our beginning, we have proudly fulfilled our promise and mission to provide a public golf course that is welcoming to all golfers along with showcasing the top amateurs on a local, regional and national level,” said Troy Andrew, CEO of The Home Course and executive director of Washington Golf and the PNGA. “As one of the few Allied Golf Associations that own and operate a golf course, we are especially excited to host our second women’s national championship and further strengthen our long-standing partnership with the USGA.”
Added Justin Gravatt, general manager of The Home Course, “We are delighted to be the host site and welcome the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball just a few years after being the companion course for the 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. We look forward to providing another exceptional championship golf experience at The Home Course for the top women amateurs in the world.”
The land on which The Home Course was built was occupied by several Native American tribes known collectively as the Salish people. Following the arrival of European settlers, it housed a trading and supply center for the Hudson’s Bay Company. The PNGA’s historical research indicates that the company’s traders created a crude six-hole layout around a fort that may have been the first golf course in the Northwest.
The DuPont Company acquired the land in 1906 and constructed a plant that manufactured explosives. The plant ceased production in the late 1970s when the property was acquired by the Weyerhaeuser Company as part of an industrial development plan for the DuPont area.
Weyerhaeuser, DuPont, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historical Preservation, the Nisqually Tribe, the City of DuPont, the DuPont Historical Society and other stakeholders collaborated on the cleanup of the former plant. Construction of a golf course was part of the environmental remediation process.
The Home Course hosted the final U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship in 2014. Fumie (Alice) Jo defeated Eun Jeong Seong, 3 and 2, in the 36-hole final and at age 15 became the first USGA champion from the People’s Republic of China. It was also the first all-international match in the 38-year history of the championship.
The course has also hosted 2016 U.S. Women’s Open final qualifying and two U.S. Open local qualifiers (2009, 2015). Additionally, two Washington State Women’s Amateurs (2011, 2017), one PNGA Women’s Amateur (2021) and two PNGA Amateurs (2009, 2018) have been played at the venue.
The 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will be the 27th USGA championship conducted in Washington, preceded by the 122nd U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay, from Aug. 8-14, 2022.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball was first played in 2015. The championship is open to two-player sides (or teams) of female amateurs with individual Handicap Indexes® not exceeding 14.4. There are no age restrictions, and partners are not required to be from the same club, state, or country. The 2022 championship will be played at Grand Reserve Golf Club, in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, from April 20-24.
Future U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship Sites
2022Grand Reserve Golf Club, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico2023The Home Course, DuPont, Wash.2026Daniel Island Club, Charleston, S.C.2037Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore.
