The USGA has ended the National Amateur Public Links championships and replaced them with two U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships in 2015. The women will play at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, and the men at San Francisco’s Olympic Club.
In the 119-year history of the USGA, these are the first national championships to be eliminated. The USGA national amateur championships have now all been converted from stroke play to match play. I played in the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championships as a 54-hole stroke play competition and then as match play competitions that began in 1997.
A four-ball match is a team event consisting of two golfers. Each golfer plays his/her own ball so there are four balls in play on each hole. The better ball of each twosome is the one that counts against the other team. This four-ball match play is one of the formats used in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and the Solheim Cup.
The rules for match play differ from stroke play. For match play rules and strategy read the PMI Newsletter, September 2010 at http://bit.ly/1tXSUwA
Teen-age female golfers win at the highest levels
17-year-old Lydia Ko became the youngest player on the LPGA tour to win over $1 million in career earnings with her second win of 2014 at the Marathon Classic, Sylvania, Ohio.
15-year-old Fumie “Alice” Jo of Shanghai, China won the US Women’s Amateur Public Links championship in July at the Home Course, Dupont, Wash. The 9th grader became the second youngest winner of the WAPL. She will not defend her title as the tournament has been discontinued after 38 years.
19-year-old Alison Lee, a UCLA sophomore won the Women’s North & South Amateur on Pinehurst’s No. 8 golf course on July 19 after 19 holes of play.
Play “In the Zone” with Joan
Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances
To train your brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart
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