2006 U.S. Junior Amateur Fact Sheet

July 17 - 22
Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

PAR AND YARDAGE – Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club is set at 6,936/6,923 yards and par is 36-36—72.

THE ARCHITECT – Max Behr, a disciple of Dr. Alister Mackenzie, designed the golf course, which opened in 1927.

COURSE SET UP -

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 22, 2006, and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 6.4. Entries close June 7.

THE SCHEDULE – Following 36 holes of stroke play (July 17-18), the field will be trimmed to the lowest 64 scorers, who will advance to match play. From there, the schedule is as follows:

July 19 (Wednesday) – First round, match play
July 20 (Thursday) – Second and third rounds, match play
July 21 (Friday) – Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, match play
July 22 (Saturday) – Final round, match play (36 holes)

FREE ADMISSION – Spectators are invited to attend the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship free of charge.

ENTRIES - The USGA accepted 3,267 entries to the 2006 championship. This is the 11th consecutive year that entries have topped 3,000. The largest entry was 4,508 in 1999.

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 – Kevin Tway of Edmond, Okla., celebrated his 17th birthday by taking four of the first nine holes and holding on to his lead the rest of the way for a 5-and-3 win over Brad Johnson, 16, of Birmingham, Ala., in the first 36-hole final of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Longmeadow Country Club. The son of PGA Tour golfer Bob Tway, Kevin never trailed in the match. He stood 4 up after the first 18 holes of Saturday’s morning round and was the equivalent of 4 under par with the normal concessions given for match play. Johnson shot the equivalent of even-par 70. He will not turn 18 until the day after the 2006 championship.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD AND QUALIFYING ROUNDS – Sectional qualifying will be held at 64 sites from from June 19-July 4. A total of 156 golfers will advance to the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. The closest qualifying sites to Rancho Santa Fe are and Goose Creek G.C. in Mira Loma and Yolo Fliers Club in Woodland on June 26 and Crystalaire C.C. in Llano on June 27.

THOSE FULLY EXEMPT – A total of seven golfers were fully exempt from having to qualify for the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur. They include last year’s champion Kevin Tway of Edmond, Okla., as well as the 2004 final pairing: Sihwan Kim of Fullerton, Calif., and David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C. Tragically, 2005 runner-up Bradley Johnson died this past March in an auto accident.

David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C. – runner-up at 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur
Phillip Francis of Scottsdale, Ariz. – quarterfinalist at 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur
Tadd Fujikawa of Honolulu, Hawaii – 2006 U.S. Open qualifier
Morgan Hoffman of Wyckoff, N.J. – 2005 U.S. Amateur match play
Sihwan Kim of Fullerton, Calif. – 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, 2005 U.S. Amateur match play
Kevin Tway of Edmond, Okla. – 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
Arnond Vongvanij of Bradenton, Fla. – quarterfinalist at 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur, 2005 U.S. Amateur match play

TELEVISION COVERAGE – A one-hour review show on the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur will be aired nationally on NBC in early August.

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 2007 U.S. Open Championship, if still an amateur
• An exemption from sectional qualifying at the 2006 U.S. Amateur Championship, if otherwise eligible
• An exemption from sectional qualifying at the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, if otherwise eligible
• An exemption from qualifying at the 2007 British Amateur Championship

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
Hunter Mahan – Champion in 1999
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
Camilo Villegas – Runner-up in 1999
Willie Wood – Champion in 1977
Tiger Woods – Champion in 1991, 1992 and 1993

USGA AND RANCHO SANTA FE – This is the first USGA championship to be played at Rancho Sante Fe Golf Club, which was the first site of the first Bing Crosby National Pro-Am in 1937. The club hosted that event until 1942.

RANCHO SANTA FE AND OTHER EVENTS - The club hosted the San Diego Open in 1954, which was won by native son Gene Littler, the 1953 U.S. Amateur and 1961 U.S. Open champion. In 2000, the Southern California Golf Association Amateur was won by Scott McGihon at Rancho Santa Fe.

RANCHO SANTA FE BACKGROUND - The land where the club resides once served the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company. Eucalyptus seedlings from the property were used for the manufacture of railroad ties. But a severe drought in 1912, followed by the worst freeze in 40 years, killed approximately 70 percent of the trees. Today, the property still holds Eucalyptus trees and any fallen or trimmed branches are ground up and used on the 44 miles of horseback trails which ring the course and the community.

CALIFORNIA AND THE JUNIOR - Californians have won 22 of the 58 Junior Amateurs – the most of any state. The state can also boast the four youngest champions: Tiger Woods, Mike Brannan, Henry Liaw and Sihwan Kim. All were 15 when they won the title. Woods is the only multiple winner of the event, capturing the title in 1991, 1992 and 1993.

USGA/AJGA PARTNERSHIP – The USGA and the American Junior Golf 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 (for the first time at age 12) but his best finish came in 1956, when he was a semifinalist.

USGA GRANTS INITIATIVE -

Pro Kids Golf Academy
Contact: Marty Remmell, CEO
4085 52nd Street; San Diego, CA 92105

Pro Kids Golf Academy was incorporated in 1994 and partnered with the San Diego Unified School District to use Colina Park Golf Course as a facility to teach inner-city youth life skills through the game of golf.  With the help of USGA funding, Pro Kids built a 7,000 square foot clubhouse and learning center.  In addition to playing on the golf course for no charge, youth have access to the learning center to use the computer lab, do research for school projects, study, attend rules and etiquette classes, watch golf tournaments, research scholarships, and play various games.  Pro Kids provides golf and learning access to more than 2,000 youth annually.

FUTURE JUNIORS AMATEURS – The Junior Amateur will be conducted at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo., from July 23-28, 2007; and at Shoal Creek in Birmingham, Ala., from July 21-26, 2008.

MEDIA INFORMATION – For more information on the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur, please contact Pete Kowalski of the USGA media relations staff at (908) 234-2300 x 1322. He will be on site at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club as of July 15. The media center phone number will be determined later this year. He can also be reached by cell phone at (908) 216-8435.