Fact Sheet

2006 United States Amateur Championship
Aug. 21 - 27, 2006

Hazeltine National Golf Club and the Chaska Town Course
Chaska, Minn.

PAR AND YARDAGE – Hazeltine National Golf Club will play at 7,473 yards and par 36-36—72. The Chaska Town Course, which will be used for the first two days of stroke play, will play at 6,753 yards and par 35-36– 71.

HAZELTINE NATIONAL GOLF CLUB – Robert Trent Jones designed Hazeltine National, which opened in 1962. Arthur Hills designed the Chaska Town Course, which opened in 1997.

TICKETS AVAILABLE – Tickets can be purchased by calling the U.S. Amateur office at (952) 556-5441. Daily tickets are $15 and $60 for a weekly pass. More extensive ticket options are also available. Children 17 and under are admitted free if accompanied by a paying adult.

COURSE SET-UP – Hazeltine National will be set for green speeds of approximately 11-feet 6 inches on the Stimpmeter. The primary rough will be grown to four inches, with a strip of intermediate rough cut to 1½ inches in height. Bent grass covers both the fairways and greens.

SLOPE AND COURSE RATINGS – Hazeltine National will carry a USGA Course Rating™ of 77.8 and a Slope Rating® of 155. The Chaska Town Course will carry a USGA Course Rating™ of 73.4 and a Slope Rating® of 143. An "average" Slope Rating in the U.S. is about 113.

WWW.USGA.ORG/CHAMPIONSHIPS – Log on to the USGA Internet site at www.usga.org/championships/ for the latest and most complete U.S. Amateur Championship information. The official site of the U.S. Amateur is www.usamateur.org.

Hazeltine National Golf Club

HOLE BY HOLE – 7,473 yards, par 36-36—72;

Chaska Town Course

HOLE BY HOLE – 6,753 yards, par 35-36—71;

USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT HAZELTINE NATIONAL – Hazeltine has hosted seven USGA championships, more than any other club in Minnesota. Included in the mix are two U.S. Opens and two U.S. Women’s Opens. It hosted the U.S. Open in 1970 and 1991. The 1966 and 1977 Women’s Opens were contested at Hazeltine.

Year and Championship – Winner

1966 Women’s Open – Sandra Spuzich 297 (+9)
1970 Open – Tony Jacklin 281 (-7)
1977 Women’s Open – Hollis Stacey 292 (+4)
1983 Senior Open – Billy Casper 288 (+4)-75-3 in playoff over Rod Funseth 288-75-4
1991 Open – Payne Stewart 282 (-6)-75 in playoff over Scott Simpson 282-77
1994 Mid-Amateur – Tim Jackson def. Tommy Brennan, 1 up
2001 Men’s State Team – Minnesota 432 (3-count-2 over 54 holes)

2005 CHAMPION EDOARDO MOLINARI – Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, 24, needed just 18 putts through 15 holes of the second round and overcame an early 3-down deficit to beat Dillon Dougherty of Woodland, Calif., for the U.S. Amateur title at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., 4 and 3. Molinari became the first Italian to win the Amateur crown. He turned professional following the 2006 British Open.

TOP RETURNING PLAYERS – Quarterfinalists from 2005 are fully exempt from having to qualify for the 2006 championship. Those exempt and entered (5) are Austin Eaton of North Sutton, N.H., Anthony Kim of La Quinta, Calif., Mark Leon of Canada, Dawie van der Walt of Beaumont, Texas (South Africa) and Ryan Yip of Canada.

ONE PAST CHAMPIONS – Buddy Alexander, 53, of Gainesville, Fla., the 1986 U.S. Amateur champion qualified at Gainesville Country Club (July 31-August 1), shooting 72-65—137 to win medalist honors . Each of the winners over the past 10 years, who would have been exempt, has turned professional, forfeiting their eligibility for the Championship.

EIGHT USGA CHAMPIONS – The eight USGA champions who were fully exempt for the 2006 U.S. Amateur are listed here:

Austin Eaton III, New London, N.H. -- 2004 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion
Philip Francis, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 2006 U.S. Junior champion
Brian Harman, Savannah, Ga. – 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
Kevin Marsh, Las Vegas, Nev. – 2005 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion
Clay Ogden, North Salt Lake, Utah – 2005 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion
Kevin Tway, Edmond, Okla. – 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii – 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion
George Zahringer, New York, N.Y. – 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion

Note: Michael Podolak of Oxbow, N.D., who won the 1984 U.S. Mid-Amateur, and Buddy Alexander of Gainesville, Fla., who won in 1986, successfully qualified.

EXEMPT PLAYERS – There are 27 golfers who are exempt from having to qualify for the 2006 U.S. Amateur, including the eight USGA champions listed above, the reigning British Amateur champion Julien Guerrier of France and five who qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open. The four who are exempt from having qualified for the recent U.S. Open are Tadd Fujikawa (age 15) of Honolulu, Hawaii, Billy Horschel of Grant, Fla., Jonathan Moore of Portland, Ore., Patrick Nagle of Pacifica, Calif., and Ryan Posey of Dallas, Texas. Moore, playing for Oklahoma State, was also the 2006 NCAA champion.

WALKER CUP TIES – There are nine exempt golfers who have ties to the Walker Cup Match, playing for either the USA team or the Great Britain and Ireland team. Those from the 2005 GB&I team are Rhys Davies, Robert Dinwiddie, Oliver Fisher, Richard Ramsey and Lloyd Saltman. Those having played for the USA are Brian Harman (2005), Anthony Kim (2005), Trip Kuehne (2003) and George Zahringer (2003).

TOTAL ENTRIES – The USGA accepted 7,182 entries for the 2006 U.S. Amateur. The most entries ever received for an Amateur championship was 7,920 in 1999 when the U.S. Amateur was played at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links.

WHO CAN ENTER – The U.S. Amateur Championship is open to amateur golfers who have USGA Handicap Indexes not exceeding 2.4.

SECTIONAL QUALIFYING – Sectional qualifying was conducted over 36 holes at 98 sites from July 17–Aug. 8.

LOCAL QUALIFIERS – Five players from Minnesota have qualified for this U.S. Amateur. They are:

Scott Ainsworth of Eden Prairie, Minn.
Troy Merritt of Fridley, Minn.
Ryan Paulson of Minneapolis, Minn.
Jon Sauer of Minneapolis, Minn.
Niall Turner of Minneapolis, Minn.

In addition, Australian-born Bronson La’Cassie will be a senior at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

THE WINNER RECEIVES – The champion receives an exemption into the 2007 U.S. Open and British Open, and a probable invitation to play in the 2007 Masters Tournament, if he remains an amateur. He also receives a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Amateur field so long as he remains an amateur.

FORMAT – Following two days of stroke play (Monday, Aug. 21, and Tuesday, Aug. 22), the field of 312 golfers will be reduced to the lowest 64 scorers, who will advance to match play. All matches are 18 holes except the final match. The 36-hole championship final match is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 27.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY – The first and second rounds of stroke play are set for Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 21-22) Hazeltine National Golf Club and the Chaska Town Course. All match play rounds will be played at Hazeltine National. A single round of match play is scheduled on Wednesday (Aug. 23), followed by the second and third rounds on Thursday (Aug. 24), and single rounds again from Friday-Sunday (Aug. 25-27).

TELEVISION COVERAGE – The U.S. Amateur will have 10 hours of national coverage on The Golf Channel and NBC over the last five days of the Championship.

The Golf Channel
First Round Matches – Wed. (Aug. 23), 4-6 p.m. (EDT)
Third Round Matches – Thurs. (Aug. 24), 4-6 p.m. (EDT)
Quarterfinal Matches – Fri. (Aug. 25), 4-6 p.m. (EDT)

NBC
Semifinal Matches – Sat. (Aug. 26), 4-6 p.m. (EDT)
Championship Match – Sun. (Aug. 27), 4-6 p.m. (EDT)

FUTURE U.S. AMATEUR SITES – The 2007, the Amateur will be played from Aug. 20-27 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.; in 2008, from Aug. 20-26 at Pinehurst Resort in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C., in 2009, from Aug. 24-30 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., and in 2010 from Aug. 23-29 at Southern Hills Country Club.

MEDIA CENTER AT HAZELTINE NATIONAL GOLF CLUB – The Media Center will be located in the Northroom of the Clubhouse. Use your one-day gate pass to gain admission to the parking area in the main lot. USGA staff members on site will be Craig Smith, Pete Kowalski and Suzanne Colson. The phone number for the Media Center is (952) 556-2980 (as of 8/19). The Media Center fax number is (952) 556-2983.

CELL PHONE LISTINGS –
Craig Smith – (908) 216-3229
Pete Kowalski – (908) 216-8435
Suzanne Colson – (908) 310-7757