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Sectional Qualifiers to be Held at 34 Sites Between May 11-June 4

FAR HILLS, N.J. (March 10, 2015) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced sectional qualifying sites for the 2015 U.S. Senior Open Championship, to be held at Del Paso Country Club, in Sacramento, Calif., June 25-28.

Conducted over 18 holes, sectional qualifying will be held at 34 sites across the United States between May 11 and June 4. Player registration is available now and continues through Wednesday, May 6, at 5 p.m. EDT (www.usga.org/champs/apply).

“The U.S. Senior Open is senior golf’s most prestigious championship, and the USGA is pleased that Del Paso Country Club and Northern California will be hosting for the first time,” said Diana Murphy, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. “The professionalism and support of state and regional golf associations allow us to conduct sectional qualifying across the country. The process is distinctive in that any amateur who meets the Handicap Index® requirement can enter.”

U.S. Senior Open sectional qualifying will be held on The Homestead’s Cascades Course, in Hot Springs, Va., for the 12th time since 2002. The club is the site of eight USGA championships, including the 1967 U.S. Women’s Open and 1988 U.S. Amateur. Sam Snead, a four-time U.S. Open runner-up who won a record 82 PGA Tour titles, was The Homestead’s golf professional for nearly six decades.

The Olympic Club’s Lake Course, in San Francisco, Calif., which will serve as a Senior Open sectional qualifying site, has a storied USGA history. The club has hosted five U.S. Opens (1955, 1966, 1987, 1998, 2012) and will host its 10th USGA championship, the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, from May 2-6.

Six other courses that will serve as host sites for 2015 U.S. Senior Open sectional qualifying have hosted USGA championships. Belle Meade Country Club, in Nashville, Tenn., hosted the first U.S. Senior Amateur in 1955. Flint (Mich.) Golf Club was the host site for the 1968 U.S. Girls’ Junior, while Cherokee Town & Country Club, in Atlanta, Ga., hosted the 1999 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Ridglea Country Club, in Fort Worth, Texas, hosted the 1969 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, while The Warren Golf Course at the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind., was the site for the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Berkeley Hall Club, in Bluffton, S.C., hosted both the USGA Men’s State Team and USGA Women’s State Team championships in 2005.

Green Valley (Calif.) Country Club and Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., are each hosting U.S. Senior Open sectional qualifying for the sixth time since 2001. Crystalaire Country Club, in Llano, Calif., will be a sectional site for the fifth time in nine years.

California has the most sectional sites with five. Three sectional qualifiers are scheduled in Florida, while Texas and Missouri will each host two qualifiers. There are qualifying sites in 26 states.

For the fifth time in eight years, Gainesville (Fla.) Country Club is a U.S. Senior Open sectional qualifying site. The Country Club at Loch Lloyd, in Kansas City, Mo., will host sectional qualifying for the fourth time since 2001.

Don Pooley (2003) is the lone player to win the U.S. Senior Open after qualifying through sectional play. Last year, 20 players advanced through sectional qualifying to the 156-player U.S. Senior Open field at Oak Tree National, in Edmond, Okla. Marco Dawson, who tied for fifth, was the top finisher from that group.

The 2015 U.S. Senior Open will be the first contested in Northern California. To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4, or be a professional, and be 50 years of age at the start of championship play.

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