Changes made to California State Amateur exemptions
Site of 2009 tourney
There have been a few changes regarding exemptions for the 2009
California State Amateur
amateurgolf.com has learned.
The most notable among these is that the any member of the SCGA, NCGA or PLGA who is also ranked in the top-200 of the Golfweek amateur rankings
as of March 1, 2009 will be given automatic exemptions to the starting field.
A full list of exemptions follows:
CGA Past Champions (beginning in 2003, this is a 10-year exemption)
2008 CGA Round of 32 Match Play Qualifiers
2008 SCGA Amateur Champion
2008 SCGA Match Play Champion
2009 SCGA Mid-Amateur Champion
2008 NCGA Amateur Champion
2008 NCGA Stroke Play Champion
2008 NCGA Junior Champion
2009 State CIF Champion
2008 US Amateur Match Play Qualifiers
Players listed on the top 200 Golfweek World Amateur Rankings as of March 1,
2009
Special Exemptions as selected by the CGA Board of Directors
Another important change will be to the qualifying process. In preceding years, NCGA members were required to qualify at an NCGA event, and vice versa. This year, NCGA or SCGA members will be allowed to attempt to qualify at any of the statewide locations. This is big news for collegiate golfers. For instance, whereas a Bay Area resident playing golf for USC would have to trek back to NorCal to qualify, this year they will be able to qualify closer to school.
A full list of qualifying sites follows:
-- April 20 --
Castlewood CC
Corral de Tierra
San Jose CC
-- April 27 –
El Macero CC
Oakdale GCC
The Olympic Club
-- May 7 --
Rustic Canyon
-- May 11 --
The SCGA GC
-- May 18 --
El Camino CC
Shadowridge CC
-- May 20 --
Empire Lakes GC
Oak Valley GC
Old Ranch
-- May 21 --
Cypress Ridge GC
The State Am will be held at Lake Merced GC June 22-27, with 36 holes of stroke play, with the top 32 players advancing to match play, culminating in a 36-hole final match. Lake Merced is a 6,863-yard par-72 in Daly City that was built in 1922, a Willie Locke design that was re-designed by Rees Jones.
Last year, big-hitting Cal-State Northridge golfer Nick Delio rose from an alternate to the championship on the strength of accurate drives consistently in the 320-yard range. For video of that event, click here.
ABOUT THE California Amateur
The Championship is open to amateur golfers
who have established current indexes of 4.4
and are members in good standing of the
Southern California Golf Association, the
Northern California Golf Association, or the
Public Links Golf Association of Southern
California. Nonexempt players must qualify. An
entrant may play in only one qualifying event,
even
if
the golfer
belongs to clubs in both Southern California
and Northern California. The 18-hole
qualifying
rounds will determine the qualifiers.
The championship field will play 36 holes of
qualifying at a Northern or Southern California
Location, with the low 32 golfers from that
combined field moving on to match play (with
a
playoff, if necessary, to determine the final
spots).
Two rounds each of 18-hole match play will
follow on Thursday and Friday and the 36-hole
final match will be on Saturday.
The location will rotate yearly between
Northern and Southern California locations.
View Complete Tournament Information