Twenty-two years after Midway’s Soldier Hollow Golf Club hosted the first United States Golf Association Championship in the state’s history — the USA Amateur Public Relations Tournament — a second USGA event will be held in Utah.
The Salt Lake City Country Club announced Thursday night at a gathering at SLC’s venerable East Bench Club that it was awarded the 2034 USA Women’s Amateur in August of that year.
“This is an incredibly big deal for the city and the state. It just doesn’t happen without a lot of planning and hard work.” — Utah Governor Spencer Cox.
“It is an honor for The Country Club to be selected to host the 134th US Women’s Amateur Championship and to bring this outstanding championship to Utah for the first time,” said Chris Gore, president of The Country Club. “This is an exciting opportunity for our membership and the entire Salt Lake City community, and we look forward to hosting the world’s best amateur golfers in 2034.”
The country club will host the 125th Utah State Amateur Championship in June.
In 2012, TJ Vogel won the US Publinks title at Soldier Hollow, defeating Kevin Aylwin in the championship match.
The US Women’s Amateur also has a match-play format after two rounds of stroke-play qualifying. This year’s US Women’s Am will be held at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles from August 6-12.
“This is an incredibly big deal for the city and the state,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who attended Thursday’s announcement. “It just doesn’t happen without a lot of planning and hard work.”
Cox has vowed not to run for governor in 2034, but plans to attend the event.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall echoed similar sentiments, joking that in 2034, people will look at photos from Thursday’s event and note how much hair the governor had back then.
“It’s a recognition of the growth of the game of golf, the culture around it and what a strong state and city we are,” Mendenhall said. “… It’s an investment in where we’re going.”
Mendenhall said she and Cox talk about 2034 “quite often because there’s something else around sports that we think will also happen in 2034 or before, maybe 2030,” an apparent reference to the city and states that want to host the Winter Olympics Again games.
The US Women’s Amateur is the USGA’s third oldest tournament, first held in 1895.
The SLC Country Club was founded in 1899 in what is now Gilmer Park and moved to its current location in 1920.
William Watson and Harold “Hal” Lamb designed the 18-hole course on 175 acres near the mouth of Parley Canyon.
The clubhouse was restored in 2002 and the course was renovated in 2007 by John Harbottle.
“As one of the oldest clubs in the western United States, the Country Club is steeped in golf history and is sure to provide a spectacular setting for the 134th U.S. Women’s Amateur,” said Mark Hill, USGA Managing Director of Championships . “… We are thrilled to add The Country Club to the list of venues to host the National Championship.”
The choice of The Country Club is special to John Bodenhamer, who is the USGA’s director of championships, because he played on the BYU golf team for four years under the late and legendary coach Carl Tucker and considers the area his second home. .
“It’s great for me to come back home,” Bodenhammer said at Thursday’s event.
He thanked Mike Bailey, who is president of the Utah Golf Association and also a member of the country club — serving as club historian — and a driving force behind organizing the event in Utah.
