Changes Made to a Pair of U.S. Senior Amateur Host Sites

By Brian DePasquale, USGA

| Jul 8, 2020 | Liberty Corner, N.J.

A pair of changes have been made to future sites for the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. The Country Club of Detroit, in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., will be the site of the 66th championship in 2021, scheduled for Aug. 28-Sept. 2, while the 69th U.S. Senior Amateur in 2024 will be played at The Honors Course, in Ooltewah, Tenn., from Aug. 24-29.

The Country Club of Detroit, the site of two previous U.S. Amateur Championships, was originally slated to host the 2020 U.S. Senior Amateur, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Honors Course, which hosted the 1991 U.S. Amateur and 1994 Curtis Cup Match among its five previous USGA championships, was scheduled to host the 2021 Senior Amateur but is moving to allow for a more complete recovery from damage sustained in a tornado in April.

“The Country Club of Detroit is excited to continue our long tradition of supporting amateur golf by proudly hosting the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship,” said George J. Baer III, club president. “As the location where Arnold Palmer launched his historic career by winning the 1954 U.S. Amateur, the Country Club of Detroit holds a unique place in golf history, and we look forward to continuing this great tradition.”

After seeing the 2020 U.S. Senior Amateur canceled due to COVID-19, the C.C. of Detroit will now host the championship in 2021. (C.C. of Detroit)

The club, which was founded in 1897 and is located 14 miles northeast of downtown Detroit, was designed by British golf architects Harry Colt and Charles Hugh Alison and most recently restored by Tom Doak in 2011. In addition to Palmer’s victory, which propelled him to a storied career that included seven major professional titles, the U.S. Amateur was also contested there in 1915, when Robert A. Gardner claimed the second of his two championships.

“The Honors Course is grateful to the Country Club of Detroit for taking on the 2021 championship while our course attempts to recover from the recent tornado,” said Joe Richardson, chairman of The Honors Course. “Our club’s mission has always been to honor amateur golf and we are pleased to be hosting USGA championships into the next decade.”

Designed by Pete Dye and opened in 1983, The Honors Course sits at the foot of White Oak Mountain near Chattanooga. The club previously hosted the 1991 U.S. Amateur, won by Mitch Voges; the 1994 Curtis Cup Match, a biennial competition between the USA and Great Britain and Ireland that was halved, 9-9; the 2005 U.S. Mid-Amateur, won by Kevin Marsh; the 2011 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, won by Terri Frohnmayer; and the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur, won by Min Woo Lee. The Honors Course will also host the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 2031 U.S. Amateur, its seventh and eighth USGA championships.

The U.S. Senior Amateur was first played in 1955. The championship for golfers age 55 and older is open to any amateur with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 7.4. The Kittansett Club, in Marion, Mass., will be the host site in 2022 and the 2023 championship will be conducted at Martis Camp Club, in Truckee, Calif.