The U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior are the latest events to come off the 2020 competition calendar in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The USGA announced that neither would be played this summer, and the tournaments will not be rescheduled.
The U.S. Junior was slated for July 20-25 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, while the U.S. Girls’ Junior would have been played at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on July 13-18.
“Our primary focus when making determinations around championships continues to be the safety and well-being of everyone involved,” said John Bodenhamer, senior managing director of Championships for the USGA. “While we are incredibly disappointed to have to make the decision to cancel our two junior championships, we know it is the right one.”
Current and proposed federal, state and local guidelines regarding gatherings would make qualifying for both championships particularly difficult for Allied Golf Associations, which were scheduled to hold 100 qualifiers in 41 states between late May and early July.
“Given that juniors in most parts of the country are not physically attending school at this time, we did not feel comfortable asking them to compete in qualifying events,” Bodenhamer said. “We considered postponement but knowing that school will restart in many places around the country in August, we did not believe it was a viable option.”
Both events carried milestones. The U.S. Junior was set to expand from a field of 156 to field of 264 players for the first time this year. Chaska Town Course had been added as a companion course to handle the bulked-up stroke-play field.
The U.S. Girls’ Junior, meanwhile, would have been the first-ever USGA championship conducted on a military base, as Eisenhower G.C. resides on the property of the United States Air Force Academy.
The USGA had already delayed entries for both championships, in addition to the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur. The latter two events are still on the calendar for the first part of August.
Entries for those amateur championships will not open until May 18, the USGA also announced on Friday. Entries have also been delayed until that date for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, U.S. Senior Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. All four of those championships are to be played between Aug. 29 and Sept. 17
In addition to the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Junior Amateur Championships, the USGA previously canceled four 2020 championships: the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball on March 17, and the U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Women’s Open on April 6.
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