2005 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship Fact Sheet

July 18-23
Longmeadow Country Club, Longmeadow, Mass.

PAR AND YARDAGE – Longmeadow Country Club is set at 6,673 yards and par is 35-35—70.

THE ARCHITECT – A Donald Ross layout, Longmeadow Country Club was opened in 1922. The terrain is challenging, with many ravines and chasms.

ENTRIES – A total of 3,174 entries were accepted for the 2005 championship. The championship is open to male amateur golfers who will not have reached their 18^th birthday on or before July 23, 2005, and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 6.4. Entries closed June 1.

THE SCHEDULE – Following 36 holes of stroke play (July 18-19), the field will be trimmed to the lowest 64 scorers, who will advance to match play. From there, the schedule is as follows:
July 20 (Wednesday) – First round, match play
July 21 (Thursday) – Second and third rounds, match play
July 22 (Friday) – Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, match play
July 23 (Saturday) – Final round, match play (36 holes)

FREE ADMISSION – Spectators are invited to attend the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship free of charge. Follow the signs to Longmeadow Country Club from Route 5 (Route 5 is an exit off Route 91)

USGA ON THE WEB – Log on to the USGA internet site at www.usga.org/championships for the latest and most complete U.S. Junior Amateur Championship information. Real-time scoring will be available during the championship. Stories and photographs will also be available daily.

DEFENDING CHAMPION – Korean-born Sihwan Kim of Fullerton, Calif., took the lead for good with a winning par on the sixth hole and went on to defeat David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C., 1 up, in the 2004 final. Kim was 15 at the time; Chung was 14. Kim is the second youngest winner of the Junior Amateur; just 22 days older than Tiger Woods was for his 1991 win.

COURSE SETUP – The putting speeds will run near 11 inches on the Stimpmeter. The primary rough will be grown to 4 inches, with a strip of intermediate rough trimmed to a height of about 1Ό inches.

LONGMEADOW COUNTRY CLUB HOLE-BY-HOLE – 6,673 yards, par 70

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Par	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	35
Yards	417	439	601	132	315	453	185	425	439	3,406

THE CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD AND QUALIFYING ROUNDS – Sectional qualifying at nearly 70 sites was held from June 22-July 5. A total of 156 golfers will advance to the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

PGA CONNECTION – Kevin Tway and Shaun O’Meara, the sons of professional golfers Bob Tway and Mark O’Meara, have qualified for this Junior Amateur Championship.

THOSE FULLY EXEMPT – Six golfers are fully exempt from having to qualify for the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur. They include last year’s finalists Sihwan Kim of Fullerton, Calif., and David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C.
Joseph Bramlett of Saratoga, Calif. – reached match play at 2004 U.S. Amateur
Juan Pablo Candela of Colombia – quarterfinalist at 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur
David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C. – runner-up at 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur
Jordan Cox of Redwood City, Calif. – runner-up at 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur
Sihwan Kim of Fullerton, Calif. – 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
Tim McKenney of Scottsdale, Ariz. – quarterfinalist at 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur

LOCAL QUALIFIERS – Three golfers have qualified from nearby Connecticut. Massachusetts is represented by 15-year-old Peter Uihlein of North Dartmouth, Mass., the son of Wally Uihlein, president and CEO of the Acushnet Company. Uihlein earned the lone spot in qualifying at Glade Springs Resort in Daniels, W.Va. At 138 for 36 holes, he was 18 strokes ahead of the second place finisher.
Connecticut residents:
Evan Beirne of North Haven, Conn. – was medalist (141) at Golf Club of Avon
Masayuki Kobayashi of Newington, Conn. – earned second (143) at Golf Club of Avon
Cody Paladino of Kensington, Conn. — won only spot (139) at Tallwood CC in Hebron, Conn.

ARNOLD PALMER’S GRANDSON – Sam Saunders, 17, of Windermere, Fla., was one of three tied for medalist honors (142 for 36 holes) at North Shore Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. Saunders is the grandson of Arnold Palmer.

TELEVISION COVERAGE – The U.S. Junior Amateur will have four hours of national coverage on The Golf Channel over the last two days of the Championship.
Semifinal Round Matches – Friday (July 22), 5-7 p.m. (EDT)
Final Match – Saturday (July 23), 5-7 p.m. (EDT)

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 2006 U.S. Open Championship, if still an amateur
• An exemption from sectional qualifying at the 2005 U.S. Amateur Championship, if otherwise eligible
• An exemption from sectional qualifying at the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, if otherwise eligible

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

USGA AND LONGMEADOW COUNTRY CLUB – Longmeadow Country Club was the host for one previous USGA championship, the 1995 U.S. Girls’ Junior, won by 17-year-old Marcy Newton. Newton, of High Point, N.C., took the lead over Andrea Cordova of Fresno, Calif., with birdies on the fifth and sixth holes. She won by a final count of 4 and 3. Now married, Marcy (Newton) Hart joined the LPGA in 2001. She played in the recent U.S. Women’s Open.

JUNIOR DAY – On July 14, there will be a junior clinic offered by the Club and the USGA. Jim Nittoli, head professional at Longmeadow CC, and his staff will offer a late morning clinic followed by a trick shot exhibition by Denis Walters.

USGA/AJGA PARTNERSHIP -- The USGA and the American Junior Goolf Association (AJGA) are partners  in developing junior golfers into the game's leaders for the future. The USGA will present a President's Youth Leadership Club Award to a top boy and girl each year at the Rolex Tournament of Champions. The USGA will also help the AJGA administrative load by providing four paid interns each year.

HISTORY – The U.S. Junior Amateur was first played in 1948. 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.

The Junior Amateur is among the most difficult of all USGA championships to win, because of the age limit and the 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.

JACK NICKLAUS AND THE JUNIOR AMATEUR – 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 for a Junior Amateur five times (firstly at age 12) but his best finish came in 1956, when he was a semifinalist.

MEDIA INFORMATION – For more information on the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur, please contact Craig Smith of the USGA media relations staff at (908) 781-1040. He will be on site at Longmeadow Country Club as of July 16. The media center phone number is (413) 798-0046. You can also reach him by cell at (908) 216-3229.