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USGA bringing championship to Air Force Academy’s Eisenhower Golf Course

Posted at 9:02 PM, Feb 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-11 23:04:55-05

Golfing history will be made in the summer of 2020 at the Air Force Academy.

The United States Golf Association will hold the US Junior Girls Championship at the Eisenhower Golf Course at the Air Force Academy, the first time a golfing national championship will be played on an active military base.

“It’s obviously an exceptional golf course with a very supportive community and it has everything that the demographic – which is 18 and under – would be very excited to visit,” said Tracey Parsons, director for the tournament.

It’s the 33rd USGA event held in Colorado and the second since the US Senior Open was held at The Broadmoor last summer. Turns out that tournament played a role in bringing the USGA back to Colorado – even though they are returning in 2025 for another Senior Open. And the United States Mid-Amateur will be conducted at Colorado Golf Course in Parker.

“We also hosted the Cannon Cup here in 1991 that Tiger Woods won,” Steve Wallace, Eisenhower Golf Course General Manager said. “We’ve had a lot of neat events here. It’s a great facility and I think the Academy itself will benefit from the exposure as well.”

The event will take place over six days in July on the Blue Course, the longer and tougher of the two courses at the Academy. The future sites committee met with representatives from Eisenhower and made the recommendation to the tournament directors for the Colorado Springs golf course.

(Image courtesy of the USGA)

“We want to go to a site that has an exceptional venue and obviously the Blue Course meets that expectation for the demographic,” Parsons said.

“Some of those players may not have played at elevation before so they will be experiencing that and understanding how that impacts the ball flight and roll, I think that will be a challenge for some of the players.”

If the players are not already exempt for the championship, they will need to qualify through one of nearly 40 sites in the months leading up to the tournament.