70th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship Ready to Tee Off in San Antonio

The 70th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship will be held August 23-28 at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas.
 

PAR AND YARDAGE  
Oak Hills Country Club will be set up at 6,485 yards and will play to a par of 35-36–71. The yardage for each round of the championship will vary due to course setup and conditions. 

THE COURSE 
Oak Hills Country Club, originally known as the Alamo Country Club, was designed by A.W. Tillinghast and founded in 1922. Nestled among acres of oak trees and the rolling hills of Southwest Texas, the club ceased operations during World War II and reopened as Oak Hills Country Club in 1946. Since then, the club has hosted 24 Texas Opens, the 2001 U.S. Junior Amateur and the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball. Oak Hills was also host to the PGA Tour’s AT&T Championship from 2002 to 2010. Champions of the Texas Open at Oak Hills include Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Mark O’Meara and Tom Watson.  
 

COURSE RATING AND SLOPE  
Based on the course setup for the championship, the Course Rating™ for Oak Hills Country Club is 73.2 and its Slope Rating® is 139. 

WHO CAN ENTER  
The championship is open to any amateur golfer who is 55 years of age as of Aug. 23, and whose Handicap Index® does not exceed 5.4. 
 

ENTRIES 
The USGA accepted 2,612 entries for the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. The record of 2,865 was established in 2022. The 2,500 mark has now been surpassed four times. 
 

QUALIFYING  
Qualifying rounds, conducted over 18 holes, were held from June 25-Aug. 4 at 50 qualifying sites in 42 U.S. states. California and Florida hosted the most, with three sites each, while Nevada, New York, Ohio and Texas each hosted two. Qualifying results can be found here. 
 

SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Practice rounds took place Aug. 21-22. The starting field of 156 players played two rounds of stroke play with the low 64 scorers advancing to match play. The schedule is as follows:


Aug. 23 (Saturday): First round, stroke play (18 holes) 
Aug. 24 (Sunday): Second round, stroke play (18 holes) 
Aug. 25 (Monday): Round of 64, match play 
Aug. 26 (Tuesday): Round of 32 and Round of 16, match play 
Aug. 27 (Wednesday): Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, match play 
Aug. 28 (Thursday): Championship match (18 holes) 
 

ADMISSION  
Admission is free of charge and spectators are encouraged to attend. 
 

2024 CHAMPION  
Louis Brown, 61, of Marietta, Ga.  — a former tour and teaching professional competing in his third U.S. Senior Amateur — defeated Dan Sullivan, 4 and 3, at The Honors Course, in Ooltewah, Tenn., to take home the Frederick L. Dold Trophy as the champion of the 2024 U.S. Senior Amateur. Brown finished the stroke play rounds tied for third after shooting 73-70. This was his first USGA title. He also became the fifth player from the Peachtree State to claim the U.S. Senior Amateur. Sullivan, a two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur semifinalist, was making his first U.S. Senior Amateur start. 
 

U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR NOTES 

• The 70th U.S. Senior Amateur is the third USGA championship to be conducted at Oak Hills Country Club.
• The 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur was originally slated to be contested at Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, N.C., and was relocated to Oak Hills due to the impact of Hurricane Helene on western Carolina. Biltmore Forest will now host the championship in 2028.
• This is the 34th USGA championship and third U.S. Senior Amateur held in Texas. 
  The two other U.S. Senior Amateurs contested in Texas were at Lochinvar Golf Club, in Houston (1989), and at Shady Oaks Country Club, in Fort Worth (2008). 

USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT OAK HILLS COUNTRY CLUB
Two USGA championships have been contested at Oak Hills Country Club. Henry Liaw defeated Richard Scott, 2 and 1, in the 2001 U.S. Junior Amateur championship match. At the time, Liaw fell four holes shy of the U.S. Junior Amateur record for most match-play holes needed to win a championship. Liaw played 104 holes in six rounds, including a 22-hole victory over Ryan Cochran, the son of PGA Tour winner Russ Cochran, in the second round. 

Late in the final round, Liaw sank a 35-foot putt on No. 16 to go 2 up with two holes to play, eventually securing his U.S. Junior Amateur title. In 2024, Asterisk Talley and Sarah Lim lost only one hole during the championship match on their way to a 4-and-2 victory over Brynn Kort and Gracie McGovern at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball. 

Talley became the second-youngest player to win the championship, adding on to a successful 2024 season that would also feature runner-up finishes in both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur as well as co-low-amateur honors in her U.S. Women’s Open debut at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club. She closed out her USGA season with a Sunday singles win over world No. 1 Lottie Woad at the Curtis Cup Match at Sunningdale Golf Club, in England, where the USA suffered a one-point defeat to Great Britain & Ireland.  

U
SGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT OAK HILLS COUNTRY CLUB 
2001 U.S. Junior Amateur: Henry Liaw def. Richard Scott, 2 and 1 
2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball: Sarah Lim and Asterisk Talley def. Brynn Kort and Gracie McGovern, 4 and 2 

OTHER CHAMPIONSHIPS HOSTED BY OAK HILLS COUNTRY CLUB 
Texas Open (1961-1966, 1977-1992) 
The AT&T Championship (2002-2010) 
Tour Championship (1987) 


USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN TEXAS 
This will be the 35th USGA championship played in Texas and the third U.S. Senior Amateur in the state. R.S. Williams defeated Joe Simpson to win the 1989 U.S. Senior Amateur at Lochinvar Golf Club, in Houston. In 2008, George Marucci, the 1995 U.S. Amateur runner-up to Tiger Woods, defeated 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion George Zahringer at Shady Oaks Country Club, in Fort Worth. The Lone Star State has also hosted three U.S. Opens (1941, 1952, 1969) and two U.S. Women’s Opens (1991, 2020). Earlier this summer, Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas hosted the 77th U.S. Junior Amateur. 

RECENT USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN TEXAS  
2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur, Shadow Hawk G.C., Richmond (Randal Lewis) 
2012 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, Briggs Ranch G.C., San Antonio (Meghan Stasi) 
2014 U.S. Junior Amateur, The Club at Carlton Woods, The Woodlands (Will Zalatoris) 
2017 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, Champions G.C., Houston (Kelsey Chugg) 
2020 U.S. Women’s Open, Champions G.C., Houston (A Lim Kim) 
2021 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball, Maridoe G.C., Carrollton (Savannah Barber and Alexa Saldana)  
2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, Oak Hills C.C., San Antonio (Sarah Lim and Asterisk Talley) 
2025 U.S. Junior Amateur, Trinity Forest G.C., Dallas (Harrison Coleman) 


EXEMPT PLAYERS
 A total of 36 players are fully exempt into the 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur based on performances in USGA championships and other elite amateur competitions, or by being in the top 10 (April 2) or top 25 (June 18) age-eligible points leaders of the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®.  

WHAT THE CHAMPION RECEIVES  
Among the benefits received by the 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur champion are: 

• A gold medal and custody of the Frederick L. Dold Trophy for the ensuing year
• Exemption from qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Senior Open Championship at Scioto Country Club
• Exemption from qualifying for the 2026 and 2027 U.S. Amateur Championships
• Exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Senior Amateur Championships
• Exemption from qualifying for the 2025 and 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships
• Exemption from local qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Open Championship
• Name inscribed on the 2025 USGA champions’ plaque that will reside in the Hall of Champions inside the USGA Museum & Library, Liberty Corner, N.J. 

CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY  
The U.S. Senior Amateur Championship trophy was donated in 1955 by Frederick L. Dold, of Wichita, Kan., who had retired from the USGA Executive Committee after five years of service. The art-deco trophy, produced by Rogers Brothers, features a gold-plated stem with blue enamel and a distinctive hand-hammered bowl. The trophy serves as an iconic representation of the championship and a fitting tribute to its champions.   
 

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
This is the 70th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. The Senior Amateur, for amateur golfers of at least 55 years of age, made its debut in 1955.     
 

The addition of the U.S. Senior Amateur gave the USGA twice as many championships as it had conducted before World War II, when there were just four: the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, and U.S. Women’s Amateur, all started in 1895, and U.S. Amateur Public Links (1922). From World War II through 1955, the USGA added four championships: the U.S. Junior Amateur (1948), U.S. Girls’ Junior (1949), U.S. Women’s Open (1953) and U.S. Senior Amateur (1955). The USGA now conducts 15 national championships, 10 of which are exclusively for amateurs.    
 

The first U.S. Senior Amateur, at Belle Meade Country Club, in Nashville, Tenn., received 370 entries from 30 states and the District of Columbia. J. Wood Platt, 56, an eight-time Philadelphia Amateur champion, defeated George Studinger, of San Francisco, Calif., 5 and 4, in the final. 
 

In 1959, J. Clark Espie, who had won in 1957, became the U.S. Senior Amateur’s first two-time champion. Lewis W. Oehmig, a record six-time finalist, is the only three-time champion (1972, 1976, 1985). Oehmig is also credited as the oldest U.S. Senior Amateur champion, winning the title in 1985 at age 69.  
 

A total of 14 players have won the championship multiple times, most recently Paul Simson (2010, 2012). Three players have won the championship in consecutive years, including William C. Campbell in 1979 and 1980. Campbell, a past USGA president, also claimed the 1964 U.S. Amateur, and was the runner-up in the inaugural U.S. Senior Open in 1980. 
 

FUTURE U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR HOST SITES  
Aug. 29-Sept. 3, 2026: Baltimore Country Club (East Course), Baltimore, Md. 
Aug. 28-Sept. 2, 2027: Seattle Golf Club, Seattle, Wash. 
Aug. 26-31, 2028: Biltmore Forest Country Club, Asheville, N.C. 
Aug. 25-30, 2029: The Omni Homestead Resort (Cascades Course), Hot Springs, Va. 
Aug. 24-29, 2030: The Country Club of North Carolina, Pinehurst, N.C. 
Aug. 28-Sept. 2, 2032: Country Club of Buffalo, Williamsville, N.Y. 
Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 2033: Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland, Ohio 
Aug. 26-31, 2034: Portland Golf Club, Portland, Ore. 
Aug. 25-30, 2035: Columbia Country Club, Chevy Chase, Md. 
Aug. 23-28, 2036: Belle Meade Country Club, Nashville, Tenn 
TBD 2038: Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale, N.Y.