The United States Golf Association has announced Colorado Golf Club, in Parker, Colo., as the host site for the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. This will be the first USGA championship contested at the club. The dates for the championship are Sept. 21-26.
“The USGA is pleased to bring a championship to Colorado Golf Club for the first time,” said Diana Murphy, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. “The course has a proven record in both stroke-play and match-play competition, and the variety of risk-reward options will allow for exciting and dramatic play, helping to identify a champion worthy of hoisting the Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy.”
Designed by Bill Coore and two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, Colorado Golf Club opened for play in 2007. The 1,700-acre property was once an Arabian horse ranch and features views of Colorado’s Front Range, dominated by Pikes Peak, Mount Evans and Longs Peak. The course plays through open meadows, foothills of ponderosa pine, natural gullies and streams. Coore and Crenshaw also created a nine-hole short course and 7,000-square-foot short game area to complement the championship course.
“Colorado Golf Club is a strategic and demanding championship venue, and we could not be more proud to welcome the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship,” said Matt Kellogg, the club’s president. “With its emphasis on the amateur golfer, the Mid-Amateur is meaningful to our members and to golf enthusiasts everywhere. We are thrilled to have the Mid-Amateur as our first USGA championship.”
Located 30 miles southeast of Denver, Colorado Golf Club has already hosted a pair of major golf events. Tom Lehman defeated Fred Couples and David Frost in a playoff to win the 2010 Senior PGA Championship for his first senior major title. The Solheim Cup, a biennial competition that features teams of female professionals representing Europe and the United States, was contested at the club in 2013. Europe defeated the USA, 18-10, for its first win on American soil since the event was established in 1990.
The club hosted a U.S. Open local qualifier in 2008, as well as sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2007.
CommonGround Golf Course, in Aurora, Colo., will serve as the stroke-play co-host course for the 2019 Mid-Amateur. The course, which was designed by Tom Doak and opened for play in 2009, is the home of the Colorado Golf Association and the Colorado Women’s Golf Association. CommonGround also served as the stroke-play co-host course for the 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.
The 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur will be the 32nd USGA championship contested in Colorado. The Broadmoor Golf Club, in Colorado Springs, will host the 2018 U.S. Senior Open. The only other U.S. Mid-Amateur held in the Centennial State was played in 1983 at Cherry Hills, where Jay Sigel won the third of his five USGA championships, 1 up, over Randy Sonnier.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur was first played in 1981. The championship is open to amateurs age 25 and older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4. The 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur will be played Sept. 10-15 at Stonewall Links in Elverson, Pa. The 2017 championship is scheduled for Oct. 7-12 at Capital City Club (Crabapple Course) in Atlanta, Ga., and Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club will host the 2018 championship Sept. 22-27.
