www.usga.org/mensteam
Sept. 28-30
Country Club of Birmingham (West Course), Birmingham, Ala., ccbham.org
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PAR AND YARDAGE
The West Course at the Country Club of Birmingham will be set up at 7,162 yards and play to a par of 71.
(NOTE: yardages subject to change)
COUNTRY CLUB OF BIRMINGHAM WEST COURSE HOLE-BY-HOLE
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Par 4 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 35
Yards 378 468 426 547 213 418 483 171 400 3,511
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
Par 5 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 36
Yards 550 178 339 183 450 578 485 455 431 3,651
COURSE RATING
Based on the course setup for the championship, the Course Rating™ is 75.0. Its Slope Rating® is 140.
ARCHITECT
Donald Ross designed the Country Club of Birmingham’s East and West courses in 1926. Founded in 1898, the Country Club of Birmingham moved from its original location to farmland in Shades Valley.
WHO CAN ENTER
All states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are eligible to enter three-player teams. The only players ineligible to participate are those currently on a college team, per NCAA rules.
ADMISSION
Admission is free. Tickets are not needed for this USGA championship, and spectators are encouraged to attend.
SCHEDULE
Fifty-four holes of stroke play, 18 each day from Sept. 28-30, with the two lowest scores of the three individual rounds counting as the team’s score for the round. The team with the lowest aggregate score through 54 holes is the champion. If there is a tie after the final round, the score from the team’s non-scoring player is used to break the deadlock. If the score remains tied, the second-round score from the non-scoring player is used.
For the first time in 2016, there will be a 36-hole cut that reduces the field to the 21 lowest-scoring teams, plus ties. Additionally, any individual player who is within five strokes of the individual lead, but whose team has missed the 36-hole cut, will advance to Friday’s final round, remaining in contention for the individual medal.
Sept. 28 (Wednesday) – First round, 18 holes of stroke play
Sept. 29 (Thursday) – Second round, 18 holes of stroke play (field reduced to 21 teams, plus ties)
Sept. 30 (Friday) – Third round, 18 holes of stroke play
WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES
The winning team receives custody of the James R. Hand Trophy for the ensuing two years, and team members receive gold medals.
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE COUNTRY CLUB OF BIRMINGHAM
The 2016 USGA Men’s State Team is the second USGA championship to be conducted at the Country Club of Birmingham. The club also hosted the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur, won by Michael McCoy, of West Des Moines, Iowa. During the Players’ Dinner, Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State and a Birmingham native, served as keynote speaker. The club served as the companion course to Shoal Creek for the 1986 U.S. Amateur and has served as a USGA sectional qualifying host site several times, including qualifiers for the 2012 and 2014 U.S. Junior Amateurs and the 2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
This is the 12th USGA Men’s State Team Championship. The competition, as well as the Women’s State Team Championship, began after the USGA’s centennial anniversary in 1995. USGA officials believed a new championship, one in which each state could be represented by amateur, non-college golfers, was an appropriate way to punctuate the USGA’s year-long birthday celebration. The competition proved to be such a success that the Association decided to continue conducting the championship biennially.
The format was fashioned after the biennial World Amateur Team Championship, which involves three-person teams in a 3-count-2 stroke-play format. State associations were given a variety of options in which to select its team members. The inaugural Men’s State Team Championship drew teams from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The District of Columbia has also been added in recent years.
In 2009, the USGA decided to conduct the Men’s State Team and Women’s State Team championships at separate sites, and beginning in 2010, the schedule was changed to have the competitions alternate years, with the Men’s State Team Championship conducted in even years and the Women’s State Team in odd years.