July 21-26
Columbia Country Club
Chevy Chase, Md.

PAR AND YARDAGE – Columbia Country Club will play at 6,575/6,586 yards and par is 35-35—70.

THE ARCHITECT – The golf course at Columbia Country Club was designed by noted golfer Walter Travis and opened in 1910.

ENTRIES – The championship is open to amateur golfers who will not have reached their 18^th birthday on or before July 26, 2003, and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 6.4. Entries closed June 4.

ENTRIES – A total of 3,216 entries were accepted in 2003. In 1999, a record 4,508 entries were accepted for this championship, beating by 420 the previous record of 4,088 set in 1998.

THE SCHEDULE –

• Saturday, July 19 – Practice Rounds
• Sunday, July 20 – Practice Rounds
• Monday, July 21 – First round, stroke play
• Tuesday, July 22 – Second round, stroke play

• Wednesday, July 23 – First round, match play
• Thursday, July 24 – Second and third rounds, match play
• Friday, July 25 – Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, match play
• Saturday, July 26 – Final round, match play (18 holes)

FREE ADMISSION – Spectators are invited to attend the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship free of charge. Spectators are invited to walk the fairways behind the players, but no cameras are allowed during the days of competition.

USGA TOLL-FREE INTERVIEW HOTLINE – The 2003 winner will be featured on the USGA Audio Hotline on Saturday, July 26. Call (888) 321-8742. The interview will be broadcast quality and about four minutes in length.

USGA ON THE WEB – Log on to the USGA internet site at www.usga.org for the latest and most complete U.S. Junior Amateur Championship information.

REAL-TIME SCORING – A web site will be provided with the most up-to-date scoring information during the championship. During stroke play and the first round of match play, scores will be posted after nine holes. During the balance of match play, scores will be posted hole-by-hole for each match.

DEFENDING CHAMPION – Charlie Beljan of Mesa, Ariz., made a 2-foot birdie putt on the 20^th hole in the final match at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Highlands Course to earn the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur.

Beljan has turned 18 since his victory and is thus ineligible to defend his title.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD AND QUALIFYING ROUNDS – A total of 149 players, age 17-and-under at the Championship proper, survived 36-hole sectional qualifying at 66 sites around the nation from June 17-July 2. The field includes seven exempt players for a total of 156.

Columbia Country Club hosted a sectional qualifier on June 23^rd. Three players advanced to the championship – Joseph Gross, Jr., of Laplata, Md., Ji Ho Moon of Ellicott City, Md., and Greg Carlin of Kensington, Md.

Carlin, a member at Columbia Country Club, qualified for match play at the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur.

THE CHAMPION RECEIVES –

• A gold medal and custody of the Junior Amateur Championship Trophy for the ensuing year
• An exemption from local qualifying at the 2004 U.S. Open Championship, if still an amateur
• An exemption from sectional qualifying at the 2003 U.S. Amateur Championship, if otherwise eligible
• An exemption from sectional qualifying at the 2004 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, if otherwise eligible

COLUMBIA CC HOLE-BY-HOLE SET-UP –6,575 (stroke play)/6,586 (match play) yards, par 70

Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	35
Yards	430	431	503	168	423	374	160	320	433	3,242

USGA AND COLUMBIA COUNTRY CLUB – The USGA is making its second visit to Columbia Country Club. In 1921, Columbia C.C. hosted the U.S. Open, won by Jim Barnes. Barnes’ nine-stroke victory remains the third-largest in U.S. Open history.

USGA AND MARYLAND – The 56th Junior Amateur is the 20th championship conducted by the United States Golf Association in Maryland. The last USGA visit to the state was in 2002, for the U.S. Senior Open at Caves Valley Country Club in Baltimore.

The U.S. Junior Amateur has been held in Maryland three times previously. In 1949 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda and in 1957 and 1981 at Manor Country Club in Rockville.

PROMINENT PLAYERS IN U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR HISTORY –

- Gay Brewer – Champion in 1949
- David Duval – Champion in 1989
- Al Geiberger – Runner-up in 1954
- Gary Koch – Champion in 1970
- Johnny Miller – Champion in 1964
- Andy North – Runner-up in 1967
- Jay Sigel – Runner-up in 1961
- Scott Simpson – Runner-up in 1972
- Ken Venturi – Runner–up in 1948
- Willie Wood – Champion in 1977
- Tiger Woods – Champion in 1991, 1992, and 1993

HISTORY – The USGA inaugurated the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1948 to determine the best junior golfer in the United States and also to help junior golfers learn how to realize the most from the game, win or lose.

The Junior Amateur was hardly the first junior competition to attract a national field. The Western Junior had been established in 1914. In 1946, two more competitions appeared, each with a claim on the national title. One was sponsored by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, the other by the Hearst Newspapers.

The first Junior Amateur was played at the University of Michigan Golf Course and drew 495 entries. The starting field of 128 players was determined by sectional qualifying rounds at 41 sites. Dean Lind of Rockford, Ill., was the first champion. Lind defeated Ken Venturi, of San Francisco, a future U.S. Open champion, in the final.

By 1963, entries had surged to 2,230, a record for the 14th consecutive year. At the time, there was no handicap limitation for entrants. That changed in 1964 when a handicap limit of 10 strokes was introduced.

In 1978, the USGA conducted the Junior Amateur over the South Course of the Wilmington (Del.) Country Club, while the Girls’ Junior was being staged on the North Course. This was the first time the USGA conducted two national championships simultaneously at the same golf club. The 2000 Championships were conducted simultaneously as well.

The Junior Amateur is among the most difficult of all USGA championships to win, because of two factors: the age limit and the tremendous number of fine young players who enter each year. Only one player, Tiger Woods, has won the Junior Amateur more than once, winning in 1991, 1992, and 1993. In fact, only five players have reached the finals more than once. Woods, who was 15 years, six months, and 28 days old when he won in 1991, remains the youngest champion.

The Junior Amateur remains today an educational opportunity as well as a competitive outlet. Pre-championship players’ dinners have attracted guest speakers such as Francis Ouimet, Arnold Palmer, and Johnny Miller, all willing to share their knowledge and experience with young players.

MORE HISTORICAL NOTES – The Junior Amateur is the only USGA championship for which Jack Nicklaus has been eligible that he did not win at least once. Nicklaus qualified five times but his best finish came in 1956, when he was a semifinalist.

The youngest contestant was Verner Stanley, who was 12 years old when he played in 1952. Kevin Na was 12 years, 10 months and 13 days at the 1996 championship.

The lowest 18-hole qualifying score is 65, set by J.C. Deacon in 1999 at The Country Club of York (Pa.) and tied by James Vargas in 2001. In addition, Vargas tied a USGA-wide mark and set a U.S. Junior Amateur standard with a 36-hole qualifying score of 132. At the Junior Amateur, the lowest 36-hole qualifying score was 134 by Sonny Nimkhum in 1999.

THE JUNIOR AM ON TELEVISION – The championship will be televised on ESPN on June 25^{th from 2-4 p.m.} and 26^{th, from 3-5 p.m.} Highlights will also be shown on the Golf Channel.

MEDIA INFORMATION – For more information on the 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur, please contact Beth Murrison of the USGA media relations staff at (908) 234-2300, x1485. She will be on site as of July 20. The media room is the upper card room of Columbia Country Club.