USGA championships at Country Club of Charleston becoming a pattern
If there’s such a thing as love at first sight involving a golf course and a sponsoring organization, the USGA and Country Club of Charleston pairing offers the ideal example.
The proof comes from the announcement that the United States Golf Association will bring another national championship, this one the 2028 U.S. Mid-Amateur, to the venerable Charleston layout.
This will be the third time in 16 years and, to paraphrase Ian Fleming’s observation: Once can be happenstance, twice can be a coincidence and three times is a pattern.
The USGA “came to us and we had options,” said Frank Ford III, a member of the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame who has competed at the highest level of amateur golf and is a long-time fixture at the Charleston club. “Since we had the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2013) and the U.S. Women’s Open (2019), we wanted a men’s event and decided on the Mid-Amateur.”
The field of 312 golfers, age 25 and older, will play 36 holes of stroke play — one round at Charleston and the other at Yeamans Hall Club — before the top qualifiers advance to match play at Charleston.
Both Charleston and Yeamans are Seth Raynor designs that date to 1925, and, Ford said: “The addition of Yeamans guarantees the guys will have a terrific experience. A lot of the players will know our course from the Azalea (a high-level amateur stroke-play event played annually in the spring) and Yeamans is unbelievable.”
The Mid-Amateur will have the same format used for the Women’s Amateur, incorporating both stroke and match play. The Women’s Open featured 72 holes of stroke play.
“The course accommodates all formats of play, but I think the match play creates more excitement,” Ford said.
A middle-distance hitter, Jeongeun Lee6. won the Charleston’s Women’s Open, and one of the longer hitters, Lexi Thompson, finished second.
Some members balk at the idea of the course being used for a tournament, Ford said.
“But the board sees value,” he said. “A tournament like this puts the course and the game of golf forward. It’s giving back to the game. (High-level tournaments) started with Mr. (Henry) Picard” around the end of World War II. “We’ve built something special. And who better to work with than the USGA?”
Picard, the club pro, won both the 1938 Masters and 1939 PGA Championship and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
One guarantee: Charleston’s 11th hole, a par-3, will be the center of discussion. Sam Snead once suggested blowing up the hole with dynamite, and LPGA Hall of Famer Beth Daniel, who honed her game at the club, advises golfers to play the 11th “very carefully.”
“The 11th is a hole where you just have to step up and hit a shot,” Ford said. “It will definitely be a factor in qualifying. You can definitely ruin a round there in stroke play, but you just lose a hole in match play.”
USGA officials gave the club rave reviews following the Women’s Amateur and dropped a not-too-subtle hint of its impression, inquiring, “When are you going to ask us back?”
That happened, and the Women’s Open receive similar acclaim. Nothing suggests the 2028 Mid-Amateur will be different.
Chip shots. With three teammates competing in the Augusta National Women’s Invitational, three other USC golfers — Sophia Burnett, Maylis Lamoure and Vairana Heck — prepared for post-season events with solid performances as individuals in the ECU Ironwood Invitational in Greenville, North Carolina. Burnett led the Gamecocks’ contingent with a tie for fourth. Lamoure shared ninth and Heck tied for 12th. Carolina, No. 5 nationally, next plays in the SEC Championship April 14-18 in Belleair, Florida. ... Former Lexington High star Isabella Rawl fired an 8-under-par 64 in the final round to lead Clemson’s women to a tie for seventh in the Clemson Invitational at the Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset. Rawl finished ninth in individual competition. ... Led by senior Andrew Swanson, Clemson’s men placed 18th in a 30-team field in the Goodwin Collegiate in Palo Alto, California.
This story was originally published April 14, 2025 at 9:24 AM with the headline "USGA championships at Country Club of Charleston becoming a pattern."