USGA Cancels Junior Championships Due to COVID-19

Originally published on usga.org on April 24, 2020.

Due to the continued uncertainty surrounding the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the USGA has made several additional changes to the 2020 championship season schedule, including the cancellation of both Junior championships.

U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Junior Amateur Championships

The 72nd U.S. Girls’ Junior, which was scheduled for July 13-18 on the Blue Course at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 73rd U.S. Junior Amateur, which was scheduled to be played July 20-25 at Hazeltine National Golf Club and Chaska Town Course, both in Chaska, Minn., have been canceled and will not be rescheduled.

“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 effectively conducting qualifying for both championships next to impossible 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,” said Bodenhamer. “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.”