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USGA Announces Selection of Soldier Hollow
Far Hills, N.J. (March 16) – Soldier Hollow Golf Course at Wasatch Mountain State Park in Midway, Utah, has been selected by the United States Golf Association as the site of the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, to be contested July 9-14, 2012.It will be the first USGA championship conducted in the state of Utah.
“The USGA is extremely proud to have Utah’s Soldier Hollow Golf Course as a future host of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship,” said USGA President Jim Hyler. “The Amateur Public Links is our fourth-oldest championship, with a rich and storied history. We are thrilled to bring one of our most prestigious championships to the state of Utah and Soldier Hollow for the first time.”
“It is an honor for Soldier Hollow at Wasatch Mountain State Park to be selected as the site for this prestigious championship,” said Utah State Parks Director Mary Tullius. “We are very proud to host the very best of amateur sport as we did for the Olympic Winter Games in 2002.”
Soldier Hollow, which opened in 2004, is located in Wasatch Mountain State Park, approximately 50 miles from Salt Lake City, in the Heber Valley and in the shadow of Mount Timpanogos. Designed by Gene Bates, Soldier Hollow was built on the site of the biathlon and cross-country skiing venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics, making it the only golf course in the United States built on a Winter Olympics venue.
Soldier Hollow is a 36-hole facility comprising the Gold and Silver courses. For the 87th Amateur Public Links Championship, 17 holes from the Gold Course (all but the second hole) and one hole from the Silver Course (No. 11) will be used.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Utah and our golf community. We have a rich history of golf in this state and we look forward to sharing it with the rest of the country,” said Utah Golf Association Executive Director Thomas Pagel.
As of 2010, only three states have yet to host a USGA championship – Alaska, New Hampshire and Utah. The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship was inaugurated in 1922 as an opportunity for public- course players to compete for a national championship title. It is open to amateur golfers who are bona fide public-course players and who hold a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 4.4.