Around The Commonwealth
Jay Hardwick, right, led Virginia Tech to five NCAA
Championship appearances.
CONGRESSIONAL, PGA OF
AMERICA PARTNER UP
The PGA Tour may have left the Wash-
ington, D.C. area. But the PGA of Ameri-
ca has swooped in to fill the professional
golf void.
In September, the PGA of America
announced Congressional Country Club
in Bethesda, Md., will host eight champi-
onships in the next two decades, starting
with the Women’s PGA Championship
in 2022 and culminating with the Ryder
Cup making its first appearance in the
D.C. area in 2036.
The full list of championships coming
to Congressional:
vsga.org
• Ryder Cup (2036)
• PGA Championship (2031)
• KPMG Women’s PGA
Championship (2022, 2027)
• KitchenAid Senior PGA
Championship (2025, 2033)
• PGA Professional Championship
(2029)
• Junior PGA Championship
(Girls and Boys, 2024)
U.S. DISABLED CHAMPIONSHIP
COMING TO VIRGINIA
Jason Faircloth, a longtime golfer with
Cerebral Palsy, was invited to play in the
Disabled British Open in 2011. When he
arrived in the U.K., he was astonished to
find that the event—which is supported
by the R&A—was run in such a profes-
sional manner.
When he returned to the U.S., he won-
dered, “Why not have something like
that here?”
So the idea for the U.S. Disabled Open
Golf Championship was born. After tire-
less work from Faircloth and the U.S. Dis-
abled Golf Association, which he founded,
that idea became reality in 2018 when
the first U.S. Disabled Open was held in
Orlando, Fla.
In October, Faircloth announced the site
for the 2019 championship—VSGA mem-
ber Independence Golf Club in Midlo-
thian. The championship will be held May
14-16 and is open to competitors who have
physical and intellectual impairments.
“Our goal is to give our golfers the
experience of playing in a big-time
event,” Faircloth said. “I think we’ve
already received more support than we
had all of last year.”
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