Fact Sheet

July 14 - 19
Murphy Creek Golf Course
Aurora, Colo.

PAR AND YARDAGE – Murphy Creek Golf Course will play at 7,551 yards and a par of 36-35—71. It will be the longest course in APL history surpassing Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove, Minn., which was 7,132 yards in 2004.

HOLE BY HOLE – Holes 1-9 will play at 3,713 yards and par 36

Holes 10-18 will play at 3,838 and par 35

COURSE SETUP – USGA Course Rating® for the APL Championship at Murphy Creek Golf Course is 76.3 and USGA Slope Rating® is 146.

Tees, approaches and collars, height of grass – just below .5 inch
Fairways, height of grass – 0.5 inch
Putting greens, height of grass – 0.120- inch with a speed of 11 feet on USGA stimpmeter
Primary Rough – 3 inches
Fescue Rough – 4 inches
Intermediate Rough – 1.5 inches (six feet width)

ARCHITECT – Murphy Creek Golf Course was designed by Ken Kavanaugh and opened in the summer of 2000. It is one of seven courses operated by the City of Aurora.

COLORADO AND THE APL – The 2008 Amateur Public Links will be the 28th USGA

championship conducted in the state of Colorado. Later in the month of July, the 2008 U.S. Senior Open will be played at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The last USGA championship in the state was the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at Walking Stick Golf Club in Pueblo. The Public Links is making its fourth appearance in the state (1946 and 1959 at Wellshire Golf Club in Denver and 1993 at Riverdale Dunes and Knolls Golf Club in Brighton).

Colorado has been the site of multiple USGA championships in the same year many times. The last time two or more championships were in the state in the same year was 1993 (Amateur Public Links at Riverdale Dunes and Knolls G.C. in Brighton and Senior Open at Cherry Hills C.C. in Englewood).

In 1982, four USGA championships were conducted in Colorado – the U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, the Curtis Cup at Denver C.C., the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Greeley C.C. and the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur at Kissing Camels Golf Club in Colorado Springs.

GROUPINGS AND STARTING TIMES – Groupings and starting times will be distributed 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.

2007 CHAMPION – Colt Knost, who won the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 2007 U.S. Amateur and played on the USA Walker Cup squad in Ireland, will not defend his title. He turned professional in September of 2007.

THE FIELD – A total of 3,629 contestants entered the 2008 championship. The record of 6,300 was set in 1998.

EXEMPT PLAYERS – There are 12 players fully exempt from qualifying for the 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship:

Derek Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla. – 2007 APL quarterfinalist, 2008 U.S. Open qualifier
Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif. – 2007 USA Walker Cup team, 2008 U.S. Open qualifier
Aaron Goldberg, Encinitas, Calif. – 2007 APL quarterfinalist
Danny Green, Jackson, Tenn. – 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion

Jimmy Henderson, Lebanon, Ohio -- 2006 U.S. Open qualifier
Bill Horschel, Gainesville, Fla. – 2007 USA Walker Cup squad
Lucas Lee, Brazil – 2007 APL quarterfinalist
Corey Nagy, Charlotte, N.C. – 2007 APL quarterfinalist
Cody Paladino, Kensington, Conn. – 2007 APL quarterfinalist
Andy Roberts, Owensboro, Ky. – 2007 APL quarterfinalist
Robert Rohanna, Waynesburg, Pa. – 2007 APL quarterfinalist
Dan Whitaker, Cle Elum, Wash. – 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up

SCHEDULE OF PLAY:

Monday and Tuesday, July 14-15 – Stroke-play qualifying, 18 holes, (field reduced to the lowest 64 players, who advance to match play).
Wednesday, July 16 – First round, 18 holes, match play.
Thursday, July 17 – Second and third round, 18 holes, match play.
Friday, July 18 – Quarterfinals and semifinals, 18 holes, match play.
Saturday, July 19 – 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 2008 and 2009 U.S. Amateur.
• An exemption from sectional qualifying for the 2008 and 2009 U.S. Mid-Amateur, if otherwise eligible.
• A likely 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). As a player, he won the 1909 North and South Amateur and was twice the runner-up to Chick Evans at the Western Amateur (1914 and 1915)

WHO CAN PLAY: The championship is open to any amateur golfer, who since Jan. 1, 2008, has been bona fide public-course player and has not held privileges at any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public, or privileges of any private club maintaining its own course, and has a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 4.4. 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/she is a student, or (2) a federal armed service of which he/she is a member, or (3) an industry by which she is employed. Entries closed on May 28. In 2008, the Handicap Index was reduced from 8.4 to 4.4.

QUALIFYING – National qualifying will be held at 74 sites from June 7-June 30. Murphy Creek hosted qualifying on June 23 and 24. It was the largest site, with 144 players for five spots.

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, two-time champion Ryan Moore and Colt Knost are the only players to have won the U.S. Amateur and APL titles, the latter two doing it in the same year. In 1946, Smiley Quick was the APL champion and U.S. Amateur runner-up.

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.

California has produced the most APL champions with 22. Texas has seven and Florida, New York and Pennsylvania have each had five winners, followed by Hawaii and Washington with four apiece.

PAST CHAMPIONS – Former APL winners who have gone on to professional careers include David Berganio Jr., Tim Clark, 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Hunter Haas, Billy Mayfair, Ryan Moore, Jodie Mudd, Brandt Snedeker and D.J. Trahan. Immelman became the first Public Links champion to win a professional golf ‘major’ with his victory at The Masters in April.

FUTURE APL SITES – In 2009, the championship will be played at Jimmy Austin/University of Oklahoma Golf Club in Norman, Okla., from July 13-18; and at Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center in Greensboro, N.C., from July 12-17, 2010.

USGA MEDIA CONTACT – Pete Kowalski will be the USGA media representative on site. The media center phone number is (303) 364-4119. Prior to the championship he can be reached at (908) 234-2300, ext. 1322, cell phone (908) 216-8435 or by e-mail at pkowalski@usga.org.