USGA

USGA SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

USGA SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
October 2-7, 1999
Portland Golf Club, Portland, Ore.

PAR AND YARDAGE - Portland Golf Club will be set up at 6,583 yards and par 37-35 - 72.

VENUE - Portland (Ore.) Golf Club was designed by its members and opened for play as nine holes in 1914. George Turnbull, golf professional at Portland GC, is credited as the architect for the second nine holes in 1918. Since that time, the course has undergone several significant revisions, including work by Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1963), Robert Muir Graves (1985) and Bill Robinson (1994).

TICKETS - Admission for all six days of the championship is FREE of charge.

HISTORY - The USGA Senior Amateur Championship was first played in 1955. The 1999 Championship is the 45th time the competition has been conducted.

SCHEDULE - Practice rounds will be held Thursday, Sept. 30, and Friday, Oct. 1. The championship proper will be conducted Saturday, Oct. 2-Thursday, Oct. 7. Following two days of stroke play (Saturday, Oct. 2, and Sunday, Oct. 3), the field of 156 golfers will be reduced to the lowest 64 scorers, who will advance to match play. The 18-hole, match-play semifinals and final are scheduled for Thursday (Oct. 7).

DEFENDING CHAMPION - Playing in his first USGA Senior Amateur, Bill Shean Jr., of Hinsdale, Ill., defeated William King of Jupiter, Fla., 5 and 3.

RE-CAP - After making a birdie on the first hole of the final match against William King, Bill Shean Jr. never relinquished his lead to take the Championship on a conceded par on the 15th hole. Shean was 1 up after the first nine but not satisfied with his play. "During the break after the ninth hole, I thought to myself, 'win, lose or draw, I'm going to go down playing better golf," Shean said. "And I shot 1-under on the back." He took a 3-up lead with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th and won the 14th before the concession par on the 15th.

CAN I PLAY? - The USGA Senior Amateur Championship is open to amateurs who will have reached their 55th birthday on or before Oct. 2, 1999, and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 7.4.

WWW.USGA.ORG - Log onto the USGA Internet (www.usga.org) for the latest USGA Senior Amateur information during the Championship.

ENTRIES - The USGA accepted 2,026 entries for the 1999 USGA Senior Amateur Championship, third-highest in its history. The record of 2,275 entries was set in 1993.

EXEMPT PLAYERS - Eight players were fully exempt from sectional qualifying for the 1999 USGA Senior Amateur Championship. They are: 1994 and 1996 champion O. Gordon Brewer Jr. of Huntingdon Valley, Pa.; 1995 champion James Stahl Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio; 1972 U.S. Amateur champion Vinny Giles of Richmond, Va., and 1998 champion Bill Shean Jr., who is also the 1999 British Senior Amateur champion. Players advancing to the semifinals in 1998 were also exempt: Gunnar Bennett of Surfside, Fla., William King of Jupiter, Fla., and Dan Pierre of Palantine, Ill. Canadian Senior Amateur Match Play champion Robert Fugere is also exempt into the Championship.

SECTIONAL QUALIFYING - One hundred forty-eight golfers survived sectional qualifying to gain berths in the 1999 championship field. Eighteen-hole qualifying was conducted at 53 sites in 39 states from September 7-17.

PORTLAND AND THE USGA - Portland Golf Club is a familiar site for USGA championships. In 1982, the club served as host to the third U.S. Senior Open, won by Miller Barber. This year's USGA Senior Amateur is the second stop at Portland Golf Club for the Association but its 11th championship within the city of Portland. The most recent was the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur at Waverly Country Club.

PORTLAND AND THE USGA: PART II: Next year, Portland will highlight its hosting history for USGA championships by serving as the site for the 2000 U.S. Junior Amateur and Girls' Junior at Pumpkin Ridge G.C. (July 31-August 5), the U.S. Amateur Public Links at Heron Lakes G.C. (July 10-15) and the U.S. Women's Amateur at Waverly G.C. (August 7-12). This marks the first time in USGA history that a city will host four championships in one season.

OREGON AND THE USGA - Entering the 1999 championship season, Oregon had served as host to 17 USGA championships, the fourth most of any state west of the Rockies. California (54), Colorado (25) and Washington (18) lead the western contingent of states in hosting USGA championships.

MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ONE STATE IN ONE YEAR: The states of California (U.S. Women's Amateur, U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Amateur and USGA Senior Women's Amateur in 1976), Massachusetts (U.S. Women's Amateur, U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Amateur Public Links in 1995), New Jersey (U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, U.S. Amateur and Walker Cup in 1985) and Washington (U.S. Women's Amateur, U.S. Amateur Public Links, USGA Senior Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior in 1984) hosted four championships in the same year. But, not in one city.

THE SENIOR AMATEUR AND OREGON -- The USGA Senior Amateur at Portland Golf Club is the second time the event has graced the Beaver State. Previously, the Senior Amateur was conducted at Waverly Country Club in 1964 and was won by William D. Higgins, 2 and 1, over Edward Murphy of Portland.

OREGONIANS AND THE SENIOR AMATEUR - Since 1959, Oregonians have competed in the match play portion of the Senior Amateur. Willis Blakeley of Waverly lost in the final in 1962, 4 and 2, to Merrill Carlsmith of Hilo, Hawaii; George Beechler of Prineville lost in the final in 1965 (19 holes to Robert Kiersky of Oakmont, Pa.), and 1966 (1 down to Dexter Daniels of Lake Region, Fla.). Jerry Cundari of Portland and a USGA committeeman who has also qualified this year, advanced to the third round in 1995. Jim Gibbons of Portland was a last-minute alternate in 1998 and was the medalist after stroke play (73-71) at Skokie CC in Glencoe, Ill. He advanced to the quarterfinals before elimination.

ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET -- Portland Golf Club has been a gracious host for a number of golf championships, including the 1946 PGA Championship, the 1947 Ryder Cup Matches and the 1982 U.S. Senior Open. The club has also been the site of the 1931 Western Amateur, the 1934 Women's Western Open, the 1955 Western Open and the 1969 Alcan Open. The Portland Open was held in 1944-45, 1947, 1959-60 and 1964-65, the Portland Ladies Classic in 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1979 and the Fred Meyer Challenge from 1986-88.

GOOD COMPANY - By virtue of having been the site of a PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup Match and the U.S. Senior Open, Portland Golf Club finds itself in exclusive company. Only four other golf clubs in America have also hosted this trio of prestigious events.

Site PGA Ryder Cup U.S. Championship Match Senior Open Scioto C.C. (Columbus, Ohio) 1950 1931 1986 Oak Hill C.C. (Rochester, N.Y.) 1980 1995 1984 Laurel Valley C.C. (Ligonier, Pa.) 1965 1975 1989 Pinehurst (N.C.) R & C. C. (No.2) 1936 1951 1994

MULTIPLE VICTORIES - Nine players have won this championship more than once. They are: J. Clark Espie (1957, 1959); Dexter H. Daniels (1961, 1966); Merrill L. Carlsmith (1962, 1963); Curtis Person Sr. (1968, 1969); Lewis W. Oehmig (1972, 1976, 1985); William Hyndman III (1973, 1983); William C. Campbell (1979, 1980); R.S. Williams (1986, 1989); and O. Gordon Brewer Jr. (1994 and 1996). Carlsmith, Person and Campbell are the only three champions who won the title in consecutive years.

THE WINNER RECEIVES - The champion receives a gold medal and custody of the Frederick L. Dold Trophy for the ensuing year. He also receives an exemption from local qualifying at the next U.S. Open, as well as exemptions from sectional qualifying at the next two U.S. Senior Opens, the next U.S. Amateur, the next U.S. Mid-Amateur, the next U.S. Amateur Public Links, and the next five USGA Senior Amateurs, if otherwise eligible.

FUTURE SENIOR AMATEURS - The USGA Senior Amateur will be conducted at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club, Sept. 23-28, 2000, Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 8-13, 2001 and Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 28-Oct. 3, 2002.

HOLE BY HOLE - Holes 1-9; No. 1, 413-yard, par 4; No. 2, 439-yard, par 4; No. 3, 335-yard, par 4; No. 4, 128-yard, par 3; No. 5, 525-yard, par 5; No. 6, 376-yard, par 4; No. 7. 346-yard, par 4; No. 8, 193-yard, par 3; No. 9, 357-yard, par 4. 3,112 yards, par 35. Holes 10-18. No. 10, 506-yard, par 5; No. 11, 370-yard, par 4; No 12, 180-yard, par 3; No. 13, 380-yard, par 4; No. 14, 390-yard, par 4; No. 15, 546-yard, par 5; No. 16, 399-yard, par 4; No. 17, 164-yard, par 3; No. 18, 536-yard, par 5. 3,471 yards, par 37. Total: 6,583 yards, par 72.

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