2016 US Women's Amateur headed to Rolling Green GC near Philadelphia

FAR HILLS, N.J. -- The U.S. Golf Association has named Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pa., as the host site for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. The dates of the championship are Aug. 8-14.

This will be the second USGA championship conducted at Rolling Green. In 1976, JoAnne Gunderson Carner captured her second U.S. Women’s Open by defeating defending champion Sandra Palmer by two strokes in an 18-hole playoff. It was Carner’s eighth and final USGA victory, the most by any female in USGA championship history.

“The USGA is very happy to bring another national championship to Rolling Green,” said USGA Vice President and Championship Committee Chairman Thomas J. O’Toole Jr. “The course has already proven to be a formidable test, and it will undoubtedly present yet another stern challenge when it hosts the world's finest female amateur players.”

Legendary golf course architect William S. Flynn designed Rolling Green, a classic, parkland-style course that opened for play in 1926. The course retains the same routing conceived in Flynn’s original blueprints, and while modifications such as lengthening have been made, consistency with the initial design has been maintained as demonstrated by a 2006 bunker restoration project done with Forse Design.

Among Flynn’s other notable designs with USGA connections are Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. (host site of the 2012 U.S. Amateur), The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. (host site of the 2013 U.S. Amateur), Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. (host site of the 2018 U.S. Open) and Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club (host site of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open).

Rolling Green has been a frequent host of Pennsylvania Golf Association and Golf Association of Philadelphia championships. Most recently, the club was the venue for the 2012 State Amateur Championship, won by Andrew Mason. In 1990, it hosted the State Open Championship, with noted amateur and five-time USGA champion Jay Sigel taking the victory by one stroke over future U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk. It will again host the Pennsylvania Open Championship in 2015.

Rolling Green is also the permanent home of the Francis X. Hussey Memorial, a better-ball, stroke-play championship for junior golfers begun in 1985 and conducted by the Golf Association of Philadelphia. Rolling Green has also hosted many USGA qualifying events.

The 2013 championship will be conducted Aug. 5-11 at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina, while the 2014 championship will be conducted Aug. 4-10 at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y. The host site for the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur has not been announced.

The 2016 U.S. Amateur was previously awarded to Oakland Hills Country Club, in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. The dates for that championship are Aug. 15-21, 2016.

The North and South Courses will be used for stroke-play qualifying and the South Course will be used for match play.

The 2016 championship will be the second U.S. Amateur and 11th USGA championship to be hosted by the club. The 2002 U.S. Amateur, won by Ricky Barnes over Hunter Mahan, was the most recent USGA championship at the historic layout designed by Donald Ross.

The six U.S. Opens at Oakland Hills, all of which took place on the South Course, were played in 1924 (won by Cyril Walker), 1937 (won by Ralph Guldahl), 1951 (won by Ben Hogan), 1961 (won by Gene Littler), 1985 (won by Andy North) and 1996 (won by Steve Jones).

In addition, the 1929 U.S. Women’s Amateur (won by Glenna Collett) and the 1981 and 1991 U.S. Senior Opens (won by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, respectively) were played on the South Course of the club in suburban Detroit.

Oakland Hills also has a rich history of hosting other major championships, including three PGA Championships, in 1972, 1979 and 2008. Oakland Hills also hosted the 2004 Ryder Cup Matches, in which the European team prevailed over the United States.