Far Hills, N.J. – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced The Kahkwa Club, in Erie, Pa., as the host site for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. The dates of the championship are September 10-15.
“The USGA is excited to bring another national championship to The Kahkwa Club,” said Thomas J. O’Toole Jr., USGA vice president and chairman of the Championship Committee. “The club has demonstrated its devotion to sustaining and growing women’s golf by hosting previous championships, and this commitment is only further emphasized by its challenging course, which will sufficiently test the nation’s best female mid-amateurs.”
Located in northwest Pennsylvania, not far from the shores from Lake Erie, The Kahkwa Club was founded in 1892. The club was designed and built by C. Paxton Cody and the Henry Shenk Company. The course was laid out by Donald Ross, the architect of Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, the site of the 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open.
This will be the third USGA championship conducted at The Kahkwa Club, and the 82nd championship held in the state of Pennsylvania. The club previously hosted the 1971 U.S. Women’s Open, won by JoAnne Gunderson Carner, and the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur, won by Jane Park.
The Kahkwa Club has a long history of hosting championship golf events, beginning with the Women’s Western Open in 1958, won by Patty Berg. The Pennsylvania Women’s State Amateur championship has visited the club on three occasions, most recently in 2009 when Margaret Pentrack captured the title, but also in 1975 and 1997 when Carol Semple Thompson, a 22-time winner of the championship, was victorious. Thompson’s mother, Phyllis Semple, also had a victory at the Kahkwa Club in 1975, claiming the Pennsylvania Women’s Senior State Amateur Championship.
“The Kahkwa membership and the entire Erie Community are extremely excited to be hosting the 2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. It’s a terrific opportunity to showcase our outstanding golf course and promote this wonderful game,” said Brent Merrill, general manager of the Kahkwa Club. “Donald Ross’s layout has stood the test of time and will be a great fit for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.”
The 2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship will be the first one held in Pennsylvania since 1990 at Allegheny Country Club. Carol Semple Thompson, competing on the course where she learned to play the game, defeated Page Marsh Lea, 3 and 1, to win that title, the first of her two titles.
The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship originated in 1987 as a result of a need determined by an ad-hoc committee headed by Dena Nowotny, a member of the USGA Women’s Committee. The Women’s Mid-Amateur was created to provide a national competitive arena for amateurs age 25 and older who hold a USGA Handicap Index® no higher than 9.4.
The 2013 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur will be conducted October 5-10 at Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, N.C. The 2014 championship will be played September 6-11 at Harbour Trees Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind., while the 2015 championship will be October 3-8 at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La.