USGA to Retire State Team Championships After 2017
3/30/2017 | by United States Golf Association
see also: U.S. Men's State Team, a retired USGA championship, Country Club of Birmingham - West Course
The Club at Las Campanas, in Santa Fe, N.M., will host thefinal Women’s State Team in September
FAR HILLS, NJ (March 30, 2017) -- The United
States Golf Association (USGA) today announced
the retirement of the Men’s State Team
Championship and Women’s State Team
Championship, following the completion of the
2017 competitions calendar.
“The USGA continually evaluates its
championships and the way in which they are
conducted,” said Stuart Francis, USGA
Championship Committee chairman. “The
decision to discontinue the State Team
Championships follows a thorough review and
analysis, including consultation with
representatives from state and regional golf
associations.”
The USGA State Team Championships were first
conducted in 1995 as part of the Association’s
centennial celebration and were originally
intended to be one-time only events. The
championships, in which each state was
represented by non-collegiate, amateur golfers,
helped cap the USGA’s year-long festivities.
State and regional golf associations sent three-
player male and female teams to compete in a
stroke-play format similar to the World Amateur
Team Championship, in which the best two
scores of each state’s three competitors counted
on each of the three days of competition. Due to
its initial success, the championship continued on
a biennial basis and eventually all 50 states,
Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia
competed.
The Club at Las Campanas (Sunset Course), in
Santa Fe, N.M., will host the final Women’s State
Team on Sept. 26-28, 2017. In 2015, Georgia
rallied past second-round leader Florida to post a
three-stroke victory and claim the Judy Bell
Trophy. The Men’s State Team was conducted for
the last time in 2016 at the Country Club of
Birmingham (Ala.), where Michigan won the
championship by three strokes over Arizona and
North Carolina. Each championship will have
been contested a total of 12 times.
The retirement of the State Team
Championships, coupled with the addition of the
inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open
Championship, to be held on July 12-15 at
Chicago Golf Club, in Wheaton, Ill., transforms
the USGA championship model starting in 2018.
“The USGA expresses its gratitude to all the
champions and competitors of the USGA State
Team Championships, as well as the host clubs
and the hundreds of volunteers who contributed
their time and efforts,” said John Bodenhamer,
USGA senior managing director, Championships
and Governance. “In our reviews and
discussions, it became quite clear that the
conditions of competition had evolved, and there
were significant differences in the respective
team selection processes. After considering the
matter for more than a year, the review
supported increased focus toward other areas of
USGA competition, both present and future,
including the continued enhancement of the local
and sectional qualifying experience for players
across all USGA championships.”
Both championships boast a list of impressive
performances over their histories. John Harris,
the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion and four-time
USA Walker Cup Team member, led Minnesota to
Men’s State Team victories in 1997 and 2001.
The 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion,
Brandt Snedeker, who has won eight PGA Tour
titles, and Tim Jackson, who won a pair of U.S.
Mid-Amateurs, helped Tennessee win the 2003
crown. Nathan Smith, a four-time U.S. Mid-
Amateur champion and a member of three USA
Walker Cup Teams, helped Pennsylvania to the
2009 championship. Texas captured a record
four Men’s State Teams, including 2007 when
Trip Kuehne, who won that year’s Mid-Amateur,
was a key figure.
The Women’s State Team has also attracted an
array of the game’s top players. Carol Semple
Thompson, who has won seven USGA
championships, including the 1973 U.S. Women’s
Amateur, helped Pennsylvania garner the
inaugural Women’s State Team in 1995. Virginia
Derby Grimes, the 2018 USA Curtis Cup captain
and 1998 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur winner, led
Alabama to its lone title in 1997. Mariah
Stackhouse, who became the first African
American player to compete for the USA Curtis
Cup Team in 2014 and led Stanford to the NCAA
title the following year, helped Georgia to the
second of its four State Team titles in 2009,
while Margaret Shirley-Starosto, the 2014 U.S.
Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, contributed to
the Peach State’s record fourth championship in
2015. Laura Coble, the 2009 Women’s Mid-
Amateur runner-up, was part of Georgia’s first
three winning entries.
With the addition of the U.S. Senior Women’s
Open and discontinuation of the USGA State
Team Championships, the USGA will conduct 14
championships in 2018.
The ultimate
legacy of the USGA State Team Championships
will live in the players, host clubs and volunteers
over the years. pic.twitter.co
m/XwXwMt7AZP
— USGA
(@USGA) March 30, 2017
About the USGA Men's State Team
The USGA State Team Championships grew out of the Association's Centennial Celebration in 1995, and have been held on an every-other- year basis since. 52 men’s teams (including teams from Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) compete for the tro...
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