NORTON, Massachusetts – All eyes will be on Massachusetts in May when Cape Cod National Golf Club in Brewster will host one of 25 sectional qualifying rounds for the 73rd U.S. Women’s Open Championship, which will be contested May 31-June 3, 2018 at Shoal Creek in Birmingham, Alabama.
Sectional qualifying for the USGA Championship Proper, which is open to female professionals, and female amateurs with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 2.4, will take place at those 25 courses, including four international sites, over 16 days.
“We are excited to welcome the game’s brightest stars to our state in May,” said Laura Nochta, the Manager of NEGA Operations and USGA Qualifying for Mass Golf. “Cape Cod National Golf Course will be a superb challenge and opportunity for these women to take the next step towards a national championship title.”
The USGA accepted 1,709 entries for the 2017 Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., which was won by Sung Hyun Park of Korea. The record of 1,873 was established for the 2015 championship at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club.
Considered the world’s premier women’s golf championship, the U.S. Women’s Open is one of 14 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. The championship was first contested in 1946 and its winners include Betsy Rawls (1951, 1953, 1957, 1960), Mickey Wright (1958, 1959, 1961, 1964), Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1948, 1950, 1954), Susie Maxwell Berning (1968, 1972, 1973), Hollis Stacy (1977, 1978, 1984), Annika Sorenstam (1995, 1996, 2006), Juli Inkster (1999, 2002), Karrie Webb (2000, 2001), Inbee Park (2008, 2013), Se Ri Pak (1998), Cristie Kerr (2007), Paula Creamer (2010) and Michelle Wie (2014).
Cape Cod National Golf Club opened its doors in 1998 and was named by Golf Digest as the fourth-best new course in the country at that time. In addition to serving as host of previous U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifying rounds, the course was the site of the 2012 Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship.
Online player registration begins on Wednesday, March 7, at usga.org/applytoplay. The entry deadline is 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 25.
Mass Golf competitors can find a complete list of local and sectional USGA qualifying events to be held in Massachusetts and neighboring states online under the COMPETITION tab.
