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Member Clubs
Kinloch last hosted a USGA championship in 2011 .
L . C . LAMBRECHT
Member Clubs by CHRIS LANG
U . S . Mid-Am Returning to Richmond in 2024
THE PANDEMIC ALTERED THE USGA ’ S CHAMPIONSHIP SCHED- ULE IN 2020 IN A BIG WAY . Only four events were held : The two U . S . Opens and two U . S . Amateurs , and each were conducted without the usual rounds of qualifying to determine fields .
The USGA ’ s hands were tied in that respect . With qualifiers needing to be held across the country in states with wildly different rules when it came to gatherings , it just wasn ’ t tenable to host the rest of the organization ’ s slate of championships .
As the summer went on , it became increasingly clear to Kinloch Golf Club ’ s Jonathan Ireland that his club would not be hosting the U . S . Mid-Amateur Championship as scheduled last September .
“ We took a look around at what was going on in the world , and what was the right thing to do ,” said Ireland , Kinloch ’ s general manager . “ The teams at Kinloch and at the USGA did a fabulous job of working to plan , right up until we decided that the cancelation was going to happen .
“ We looked at several different ways to make the championship happen and still protect the integrity of the field , once they started to understand that qualifiers were questionable , and then not able to happen . You look around and see that golf is happening . But at the championship level , the number of people required to make it happen , the writing was on the wall . It was unfortunate , and it was certainly very disappointing .”
Kinloch and the USGA remained in close contact after the cancelation , and Ireland was given some assurance that the USGA would try to give Kinloch another shot at hosting a championship . In March , those assurances were put into writing , as the USGA announced the 2024 U . S . Mid-Amateur Championship will be played at Kinloch . As previously scheduled , stroke-play qualifying will be split between Kinloch and Independence Golf Club . The matchplay portion of the 256-player championship will take place exclusively at Kinloch .
Ireland said the renovated course at Kinloch would be ready to host a USGA championship now , had it been offered — “ That ’ s how prepared this club ’ s staff was for it .” Kinloch certainly will benefit for having already prepared for last year ’ s championship when 2024 comes around .
“ It was a great learning process ,” he said . “ We ’ re excited to have the benefit of going through it once as a dry run , if you will . From the USGA ’ s standpoint , they make it very easy for any facility . They have a very extensive tournament hosting manual . You can pick it up and read it and follow along operationally . Logistically , we learned a lot . We ’ re looking forward to putting Kinloch and Richmond and amateur golf in Virginia in the spotlight in 2024 .”
The biggest undertaking for the club is securing the approximately 400-450 volunteers necessary to stage an event with so many competitors . Those duties include everything from spotting golf balls , working the driving range , or acting as standard bearers on the course .
“ We had a great outreach from the community , people interested in helping ,” Ireland said . “ We ’ ll look forward to engaging the community again .”
The USGA last held a championship at Kinloch in 2011 , when Louis Lee won the U . S . Senior Amateur . The U . S . Mid-Am will be held at Sankaty Head Golf Club in Siasconset , Mass ., in 2021 ; Erin Hills in Wisconsin in 2022 ; and Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough , N . Y ., in 2023 .
vsga . org M AY / J UNE 2021 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 11