For the first time since its inception, CordeValle Golf Course will host a national championship.
Around 20 people were in attendance for the 2013 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship Media Day Tuesday at the golf course.
The event kicked off preparations for the tournament, which will be held Sept. 21-26 at CordeValle. Entries for the championship closed Wednesday and the USGA will now begin the sectional qualifying tournaments to determine the field of 132 golfers who will contend for a national title.
Female golfers age 50 and up will come from all over the country to compete for the 52nd Annual USGA Senior Women’s Amateur trophy. This includes women who have been golfing their entire lives as well as those who picked up the sport later in life.
“This is not just another piece of hardware — this is a national championship trophy,” USGA Champions Communications Director Peter Kowalski said. “There’s not many folks who can say they’ve playing in one (national championship tournament). There’s less folks who can say that they’ve hosted one and there’s even less folks who can say that they’ve won one.”
The tournament will be a good test for CordeValle, who will host the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open. The golf course will also host the Frys.com Open — the first tournament of the PGA Tour and the first to award FedEx Cup points — Oct. 7-13. It has also previously hosted the PGA Cup tournament.
CordeValle’s Director of Golf Michael Marion said the club has been taken to heights by being asked to host not one, but two national championships.
“We were so proud to be asked to even submit a bid for the 2013 Women’s Senior Amateur Championship,” Marion said. “Then of course they asked us to submit a bid for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open — we were even more excited for that.
“Any time you can host a national championship, I really believe it puts your facility in a different air if you will. It’s kind of a defining moment for a club like CordeValle to be involved with national championships. That’s what us and all our members are excited about.”
Golfers who have entered to play in the tournament will attend one of 24 sectional qualifying tournaments which will be held July 29-Aug. 6 at courses around the country. Local golfers can attend the sectional tournament at Pasatiempo Golf Course Aug.6 in Santa Cruz. It was unknown by presstime whether there were golfers from the South County who will be competing for a spot.
