Two For One: Junior Championships Doing Fine Sharing Same Venue

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Bedminster, N.J. – This year’s two U.S. Junior Amateur Championships being contested at the same club is rare but not unheard of.

It marks the third time the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior have been held at the same venue. In 1978, the two championships were held simultaneously for the first time at (Del.) Wilmington Country Club; the girls playing the North Course and boys on the South Course. Twenty-two years later, at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., the boys and girls alternated play between the Ghost Creek (public) and Witch Hollow (public) layouts.

When the quarterfinal rounds begin Friday at Trump National Golf Club, it will mark only the second time that both championships wrap up on the same design. This week the competition the first four days alternated between the Old and New Courses. The New Course will be used for the final two days, including the 36-hole championship matches on Saturday.

The final two days of competition at this year's U.S. Junior Amateur Championships will be staged on the New Course at Trump National Golf Club. (John Mummert/USGA)

So the question begs, how can both genders face the same setup?

The USGA has an answer for that. According to Donna Mummert, U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship director, two sets of tee markers have been devised – blue for the boys and white for the girls. The New Course, a par 72, measures at 6,289 yards for the girls and 7,159 yards for the boys.

“The thought process is that if most of the girls hit an 8-iron into a green, the guys would hit the same club but at a longer distance,” said Mummert. “At this level of play, we figured the girls can handle it.”

One of the challenges was how to be certain that the girls’ yardage signs wouldn’t interfere with the boys’ sight lines. Besides that, thoughts went into the rough, fairway widths, green speeds and hole locations. In 2000, green-speed adjustments were made for the boys and girls, with an in-between compromise for the last two days on the Ghost Creek Course.

“In my opinion, the caliber of play has elevated so much that these junior players can handle playing on the same course,” said Ben Kimball, the U.S. Junior Amateur director.

Kimball and Mummert selected hole locations together, cognizant of firmness and the types of shots both genders hit into greens. The green speeds were between 11 and 11½ feet on the Stimpmeter.

All of this would have been moot had Trump National not been able to cope with hosting 312 players, countless family members and officials. Food, lavatories and parking concerns also had to be satisfied.

In any event, the Junior Amateur quarterfinalists will play first Friday, beginning at 8 a.m. EDT. The Girls’ Junior quarterfinalists begin at 8:40 a.m. There will be a 10-minute interval between matches. In the afternoon, the Junior Amateur semifinal matches commence at 1 p.m.; the Girls’ Junior semifinals start at 1:30 p.m.

The Golf Channel is scheduled to show tape-delayed coverage of both semifinals from 11:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. Friday.

On Saturday, the Girls’ Junior 36-hole final is set to begin at 8 a.m. and will reconvene at 12:45 p.m. The Junior Amateur final will start at 8:15 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. The Golf Channel will show tape-delayed coverage of both finals from 4-6 p.m. Saturday.

Ken Klavon is the editor of Digital Media at the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.