2004 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship
PAR AND YARDAGE – Rush Creek Golf Club will play at 7,132 yards and par 36-36—72, making it the longest course in Public Links history. The previous longest courses were Blue Heron Pines Golf Club (East) in Galloway, N.J. in 2003 and Edgewood Tahoe G.C. in Stateline, Nev. in 1980 at 7,129 yards. Rush Creek will play at 7,132 yards in stroke play and 7,087 in match play.
July 12 - 17, 2004
Rush Creek Golf Club
Maple Grove, Minn.ARCHITECTS – Designed by Bob Cupp and John Fought (1977 U.S. Amateur champion), Rush Creek Golf Club (www.rushcreek.com) opened in 1996.
APL ON THE WEB – For scores, pairings and the latest U.S. Amateur Public Links information, visit the USGA Web Site at www.usga.org/championships. Near real-time scoring will be available at the championship Web Site at www.usapl.org.
FREE FOR ALL – The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship is free and open to the public. There will be no charge for parking.
WHO CAN PLAY? – The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship is open to amateur golfers who, since Jan. 1, 2004, have been bona fide public course players and have not held privileges of any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public, or privileges of any private club maintaining its own course and hold a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 8.4. A bona fide public course player may hold incidental privileges of a course not open to the public when such privileges are provided by (1) an educational institution at which he is a student, or (2) a federal armed service of which he is member, or (3) an industry by which he is employed.
THE FIELD – The starting field consists of 156 players.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY – Monday, July 12: 1st round, stroke play (18 holes). Tuesday, July 13: 2nd round, stroke play (18 holes). After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers, who will advance to match play. Wednesday, July 14: 1st round, match play (18 holes) at approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday, July 15: 2nd round, match play (18 holes) at approximately 7:30 a.m. 3rd round, match play (18 holes) at approximately 12:30 p.m. Friday, July 16: Quarterfinals, match play (18 holes) at approximately 7:30 a.m., Semifinals, match play (18 holes) at approximately 12:30 p.m. Saturday, July 17: Final, match play (36 holes) with round 1 beginning at approximately 7:30 a.m. and round 2 at noon.
2003 IN REVIEW – Triggered by 11 birdies in 26 holes, Brandt Snedeker, 22, of Nashville, Tenn., defeated Dayton Rose, 20, of Stillwater, Okla., 10 and 9, in the 36-hole match play final at the 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Blue Heron Pines Golf Club's East Course. Snedeker turned professional after playing four rounds at the 2004 Masters and will not return to defend his title.
Snedeker, a first-team All-American at Vanderbilt, who was graduated in 2003, tallied six birdies in the morning to gain a 3-up lead through 18 holes. He followed up with a white-hot display of iron play and putting in the afternoon 18 that led to five birdies in nine holes.
"It's one of those things that I'll look back on 40 years from now and I'll get goose bumps every time I think about it, about how I played," said Snedeker of his victory. "I'll probably be able to recall every shot I hit against every person. It's going to be a great memory."
The margin of victory tied as the second largest in the 78 years of the championship's history. Jim Sorenson, the 1985 champion, won 12 and 11 for the biggest margin of victory. Sorenson is a native of Minnesota.
THE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP – Each qualifying section that has at least two players eligible for the individual championship may be represented by one team in the team championship. The team championship consists of 36 holes stroke play: 18 holes on Monday, July 14, and 18 holes on Tuesday, July 15. In each 18-hole round, the total of the two scores by players of each team constitutes the team score for that round. The champion is the team with the lowest such total score for 36 holes. Any tie will be settled by a hole-by-hole playoff. The winning team receives custody of the Hon. Warren G. Harding Cup for the ensuing year, and members of the team receive silver medals.
EXEMPTIONS – A total of eight players are exempt from qualifying for the 2004 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. Following are the exemption categories for those players:
· Amateur Public Links champions of the last 10 years (1994-2003) – Ryan Moore, Puyallup, Wash. (2002)
· Amateur Public Links runners-up from last three years (2001-2003) – Green (2002), Dayton Rose (2003)
· Semifinalists of the Amateur Public Links from the last two years (2002-2003) -- Chris Stroud, Groves, Texas (2002, 2003), Luke List, Ringgold, Ga. (2003)
· Quarterfinalists from the 2003 Amateur Public Links – Matt Every, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Tim Kane, Simsbury, Conn.; List; Rose; Stroud
· USA Team Members of the 2001 and 2003 USA and GB&I Walker Cup teams – Danny Green, Jackson, Tenn.
· Qualifiers for the 2004 U.S. Open, if otherwise eligible – Nathan Smith, Santa Cruz, Calif.
THREE USGA CHAMPIONS: Two USGA Champions are exempt and one has qualified: Danny Green, of Jackson, Tenn. (1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur) and Ryan Moore, of Puyallup, Wash. (2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links) have entered and Henry Liaw of Rowland Heights, Calif. (2001 U.S. Junior Amateur) won his spot in qualifying.
9 RETURNERS FROM 2003 SWEET 16: Nine players who advanced to the final 16 in 2003 return. In addition to six exempt players (Green, Rose, Stroud, List, Every, and Kane ), three more have returned via qualifying: Tim Kunick of Bismarck, N.D., Brendan Steele of Idyllwild, Calif., and Jason Harris of Clemmons, N.C.
USGA RUNNERS-UP – Two USGA runners-up have also made the field through qualifying – 1990 Public Links runner-up Terrence Miskell of New Braunfels, Texas, and 1998 Mid-Amateur runner-up Chip Holcombe of Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.
ENTRIES – The USGA accepted 5,024 entries for the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 2004. The record for entries was set in 1998 with 6,300. A total of 228 entered the qualifying site at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minn. on June 25 making it the largest of the 70 sites. Of the 5,024 entries, 3,746 were received via the Internet.
QUALIFYING: Sectional qualifying (36 holes) was conducted at 70 sites around the nation from June 11-27.
WHAT DOES THE CHAMPION RECEIVE? – A gold medal and custody of the James D. Standish Jr. Cup for the ensuing year. The runner-up receives a silver medal; the other semifinalists receive bronze medals. The qualifying medalist also receives a bronze medal.
· An exemption from local qualifying at the next three U.S. Open Championships, if still an amateur
· An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next two U.S. Senior Open Championships, if otherwise eligible
· An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next 10 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships, if otherwise eligible.
· An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next U.S. Amateur Championship.
· An exemption from sectional qualifying at the next U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, if otherwise eligible.
· Historically, an invitation to compete in the next Masters Tournament, if still an amateur.
HISTORY – The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship has been an unqualified success since its inception in 1922, giving exposure to many public-course players who otherwise might not have an opportunity to compete in a national championship.
The championship’s prime mover was James D. Standish Jr., of Detroit, who convinced his colleagues on the 1922 USGA Executive Committee that the time was right for such a grass-roots competition. Standish pointed to the public-course golfer, whose ranks were swelling following World War I, and to the growing number of municipal and daily-fee courses in America.
The first championship was conducted at the Ottawa Park Course in Toledo, Ohio. The USGA had no way of knowing how many players to expect, but a satisfying 140 entries were received. Less than half that number wore golf shoes. The first champion was Eddie Held of St. Louis, who joined a private club soon after his victory and thus became ineligible to defend his title in 1923.
In 1923, the first team championship was conducted at the same time as the individual competition. East Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., was selected as the site, causing a great deal of excitement in the nation’s capital. President Warren G. Harding, a golf enthusiast, donated the team trophy. Harding wanted to enter the championship himself, but time didn’t permit, and besides, he was a member of at least one private club, which would preclude his entry.
That those earliest championships drew upward of 18 teams representing cities from coast to coast, was a tribute to the spread of public-course golf in America. From the initial entry of 140 players, the yearly annual entry has surged to as many as 6,000 competitors or more.
The championship has also been a springboard for the likes of U.S. Open champions Ed Furgol, Tommy Bolt, and Ken Venturi; British Open champion Tony Lema; PGA champions Dave Marr and Bobby Nichols; and Masters winner George Archer. In 1959, it produced the first African-American winner of a USGA championship in William A. Wright, who later became a teacher.
PAST CHAMPIONS – Past champions include noted teaching professional Lester Bolstad (1926) of Minnesota, South Florida golf administrator Frank Strafaci (1935), Walker Cup player Smiley Quick (1946), PGA Tour winner Dan Sikes Jr. (1958), Walker Cup player Richard H. Sikes (1961, 1962), PGA Tour winner Jodie Mudd (1980, 1981), and PGA Tour winner Billy Mayfair (1986). In addition, Jim Sorenson, the 1985 champion, grew up in Bloomington and attended Kennedy HS. He is the chief operating officer of Momentus Golf in Iowa. Sorenson holds the Public Links record for largest margin of victory in the final, defeating Jay Cooper, 12 and 11 at Wailua GC in Lihue, Hawaii.
MINNESOTA APL CHAMPIONS: Three native Minnesotans have won the Public Links Championship. Lester Bolstad of Minneapolis, for whom the University of Minnesota’s golf course is named, was the first winner from the state in 1926. Bolstad was 18 at the time and remains the youngest Public Links champion in 78 national competitions. Robert C. Clark of St. Paul was the 1940 winner and Jim Sorenson of Bloomington won in 1985.
RUSH CREEK AND USGA – This is the first USGA championship hosted by Rush Creek Golf Club. However, the club has assisted with USGA qualifying for the Senior Open, Mid-Amateur and Women’s Amateur. Also, it served as the site of the World Championship of Women’s Golf in 1999, the 2002 Marshall Field’s Challenge, and the 1997 and 1998 Minnesota LPGA Classic.
MINNESOTA AND THE USGA – This will be the 33rd championship conducted by the United States Golf Association in Minnesota. Minnesota is the only state to have hosted all 13 USGA championships, the Walker and Curtis Cup Matches and the USGA State Team Championships. This is the sixth U.S. Amateur Public Links championship in Minnesota. The other five were held at Keller Golf Club in White Bear Lake (1931), Meadowbrook Golf Club in Minneapolis (1947), Francis A. Gross in Minneapolis (1964), Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids (1976), and Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park (1992).
NCAA AND APL WINNERS: Three players have the APL and NCAA titles on their resumes. Ryan Moore of Puyallup, Wash., the 2002 APL winner, won the 2004 NCAA individual title in early June playing for Nevada-Las Vegas. Moore is entered in the 2004 APL. Warren Schutte, playing for UNLV, won the 1992 NCAA title after capturing the 1991 APL championship. R.H. Sikes, the Public Links winner in 1961 and 1962, was the NCAA individual winner playing for Arkansas in 1963.
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS AT PUBLIC LINKS: Three members of the Division I first team All-America squad chosen by the Golf Coaches Association of America are exempt into the Public Links. They are: Matt Every (Florida) of Daytona Beach, Fla., Ryan Moore (UNLV) of Puyallup, Wash., and Chris Stroud (Lamar) of Groves, Texas.
USGA AND CONTESTANTS – Beginning in 2004, all USGA Championship entrants will receive a complimentary Special Championship USGA Members Program membership to recognize their participation. Entrants who are already USGA Members will receive a complimentary one-year extension at their current individual level.
RUSH CREEK GOLF CLUB HOLE BY HOLE: Rush Creek will play at 7,132 yards (stroke play) and 7,087 yards (match play) and par 36-36—72:
Holes 1 - 9
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out
Yards 428 532 196 340 417 340 203 609 452 3,517
Par 4 5 3 4 4 4 3 5 4 36
Holes 10 - 18
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In
Yards 567*
522#410 186 345 490 184 462 411 560 3,615*
3,570#
Par 5 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 5 36
* - Stroke Play
# - Match PlayFUTURE U.S. APL SITES – The U.S. Amateur Public Links will be played at Shaker Run G.C. in Lebanon Ohio, from July 11-16, 2005; at Gold Mountain Golf Course in Bremerton, Wash., from July 10-15, 2006 and at Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill., from July 9-14, 2007.
MEDIA STAFF – The USGA’s media relations representative during the championship is Pete Kowalski. He will be on site July 10. The media center phone number is 763-494-0296. Prior to the championship he can be reached at (908) 234-2300 x1322.
Home - News - Players - Course - History