2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Fact Sheet

July 10 - 15
Gold Mountain Golf Club, Bremerton, Wash.

PAR AND YARDAGE – The Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club will play at 7,061 yards and a par of 36-36—72.

USGA COURSE RATING™ AND SLOPE RATING® — The USGA Course Rating for Gold Mountain Golf Club is 75.6; Slope Rating is 143.

HOLE BY HOLE – Holes 1-9 will play at 3,604 yards and par 36

** Holes 10-18 will play at 3,457 and par 36 **

COURSE SET-UP –

USGA Course Rating for APL Championship at Gold Mountain Golf Club is 75.6 and USGA SLOPE Rating is 143.

Teeing ground – perennial ryegrass/Poa annua; Height of grass – 0.375”

Fairways and approaches – perennial ryegrass/Poa annua; Height of grass – 0.375”

Putting greens – creeping bentgrass/Poa annua; Height of grass – 0.10 inch with a speed of 11 feet on USGA stimpmeter

Rough – perennial ryegrass/fine fescue; Height of grass – 3 inches

ARCHITECT – The Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club was designed by John Harbottle III and opened in 1996. Gold Mountain Golf Club is owned by the city of Bremerton.

WASHINGTON AND THE APL – Although Gold Mountain is hosting its first APL and first USGA championship, this is the fourth time the championship is being contested in Washington. The 1984 Amateur Public Links Championship was held at Indian Canyon Golf Club (Spokane); the 1953 championship was played at West Seattle Golf Club; and the 1967 event was played at Jefferson Park Golf Club (Seattle).

GROUPINGS AND STARTING TIMES – Pairings and starting times will be distributed to the media in early July. They will also be posted on the USGA Web site at www.usga.org.

WWW.USGA.ORG/CHAMPIONSHIPS – Log on to the USGA Internet site (www.usga.org/championships) for the latest U.S. Amateur Public Links information during the championship.

DEFENDING CHAMPION – Clay Ogden, 20, of West Point, Utah, rallied from a four-hole deficit after the first nine holes of the 36-hole final match to defeat Chile’s Martin Ureta, 1 up, to win the 2005 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio.

Ureta held the lead or was all square for the first 33 holes of the match. But Ogden birdied the 34^th to take a 1-up lead and after the two players halved the 35^th and 36^th holes, Ogden had a 1-up victory, and the trophy.

On his way to the title, Ogden, who just completed his junior year at Brigham Young University, eliminated Michelle Wie of Honolulu, Hawaii. Wie, the first female to ever qualify for a USGA championship which traditionally had only male players in the field, advanced through three rounds at the 2005 APL before Ogden defeated her, 5 and 4, in the quarterfinals.

Ogden will return to defend his title at the 2006 championship.

THE FIELD – A total of 4,739 contestants entered the 2006 championship. The record of 6,300 was set in 1998.

EXEMPT PLAYERS – A total of 10 players are fully exempt from qualifying for the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. They are:

Tadd Fujikawa, Honolulu, Hawaii – 2006 U.S. Open qualifier
Rory Hie, Lakewood, Calif. – 2005 APL quarterfinalist
Billy Horschel, Grant, Fla. – 2006 U.S. Open qualifier
Ryan Keeney, Redmond, Wash. – 2005 APL quarterfinalist
Anthony Kim, Calif. – 2005 APL quarterfinalist; 2005 USA Walker Cup team
Sihwan Kim, Fullerton, Calif. – 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
Brad Marek, Arlington Heights, Ill. – 2005 APL quarterfinalist
Clay Ogden, West Point, Utah – 2005 APL champion
Dayton Rose, Midwest City, Okla. – 2004 APL runner-up
Martin Ureta, Chile – 2005 APL runner-up

LOCAL PLAYERS – Four players from the state of Washington qualified for the championship. They are: Derek Berg (Duvall); John Cassidy (Yelm); Tim Feenstra (Lynden); and Andrew Yun (Tacoma).

USGA CHAMPIONS IN THE FIELD – In addition to defending APL champion Clay Ogden, there are two USGA champions in the field: Henry Liaw of Rowland Heights, Calif. (2001 U.S. Junior Amateur) and Sihwan Kim of Buena Park, Calif. (2004 U.S. Junior Amateur). In addition, Terrence Miskell of New Braunfels, Texas, led the Texas squad to the title at the 2005 USGA Men’s State Team Championship.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY –

Monday and Tuesday, July 10-11 – Stroke-play qualifying, 18 holes, (field reduced to the lowest 64 players, who advance to match play).
Wednesday, July 12 – First round, 18 holes, match play.
Thursday, July 13 – Second and third round, 18 holes, match play.
Friday, July 14 – Quarterfinals and semifinals, 18 holes, match play.
Saturday, July 15 – Final, 36 holes, match play. Awards ceremony following play.

ADMISSION – Admission is free. Tickets are not needed for this USGA championship, and spectators are encouraged to attend.

FOR THE WINNER – The champion receives:

• A gold medal and custody of the James D. Standish Jr. Cup for one year.
• A 10-year exemption from sectional qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
• An exemption from local qualifying for the next three U.S. Open Championships.
• An exemption from sectional qualifying for the 2006 U.S. Amateur.
• An exemption from sectional qualifying for the 2006 U.S. Mid-Amateur, if otherwise eligible.
• An invitation to compete in the next Masters Tournament, if still an amateur.

THE TROPHY – The Championship trophy was presented in 1922 by James D. Standish Jr., the central figure in organizing this championship. Standish served a 13-year term on the USGA Executive Committee, including two years as president (1950-51). At the same time, the USGA presented the Warren G. Harding team trophy, awarded to the team with the best 36-hole total during stroke-play qualifying. Teams can comprise two or three players with the lowest 36-hole score from each day counting towards the team total.

WHO CAN PLAY – The championship is open to amateur golfers who, since Jan. 1, 2006, have been bona fide public course players and have not held privileges at any course that does not expend playing privileges to the general public, or privileges of any private club maintaining its own course and have 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 she is a student, or (2) a federal armed service of which she is a member, or (3) an industry by which she is employed. Entries closed on May 24.

QUALIFYING – National qualifying was held at 35 sites from June 17-25.

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP – The 2005 APL Team Championship was won by the team from San Antonio at 12 under par (276). Forty-four teams competed.

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 inaugural event drew 140 entrants, with less than half wearing golf shoes. Today, the APL attracts as many as 6,000 entries. While a majority of the field is comprised of high school and college students, the event still attracts bus drivers, bartenders, firemen, waiters, riveters, engineers and college professors.

The competition also has been a springboard to professional success for players such as 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.

Billy Mayfair and reigning champion Ryan Moore are the only players to have captured the U.S. Amateur and APL titles, the latter doing it in the same year.

Carl Kauffmann of Pittsburgh, Pa., is the only player to have won the APL three times, doing so in consecutive years from 1927-29. Seven others have won it twice.

PAST CHAMPIONS – Former APL winners who have gone on to professional careers include Jodie Mudd, Billy Mayfair, David Berganio Jr., Tim Clark, Trevor Immelman, Hunter Haas, D.J. Trahan, Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore.

FUTURE APL SITES – In 2007, the championship will be played at Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill.

USGA MEDIA CONTACT – Beth Murrison and Greg Smore will be the USGA media representatives on site. The phone number in the APL media center is (360) 473-5000 and the fax is (360) 473-5910.