Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2024 - 19

It's
no secret that Hazeltine
National Golf Club has
an iconic championship
pedigree. Only Pinehurst No. 2 in the
North Carolina sandhills,
site of this
year's U.S. Open, can also boast of hosting
the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open,
U.S. Senior Open, PGA Championship
and Ryder Cup matches. (Both Cherry
Hills in Colorado and Winged Foot in
Westchester County, New York, are only
missing the latter.)
And when the KPMG Women's PGA
Championship (2019) is added to the
equation, Hazeltine stands alone atop the
pantheon of these championship sites.
That was the modus operandi when the
club's founders, which included former
USGA president Totton P. Heffelfinger,
decided to turn 350 acres of
farmland
26 miles southwest of downtown
Minneapolis into a world-class venue that
had the capability to test the game's best
players (see page 24).
Renowned
architect Robert
Trent
Jones Sr., with some healthy revisions
over time, succeeded in creating a layout
that has been the site of two U.S. Opens
(1970, 1991), a pair of U.S. Women's
Opens (1966, 1977), a U.S. Senior Open
(1983), two PGA Championships (2002,
2009), a U.S. Amateur (2006) and a Ryder
Cup (2016).
Four years ago, Hazeltine was set to
host its seventh USGA championship-it
also was the site of the 1994 U.S. MidAmateur
and 2001 Men's State Team-
when a worldwide pandemic stepped in
and postponed the U.S. Junior Amateur.
But despite COVID-19 preventing that
competition from being played, the
membership didn't have to wait too long
for another USGA reunion.
Preparing for an Epic Return
This August, 312 of the world's premier
amateurs will descend on Hazeltine-
and nearby stroke-play co-host Chaska
Town Course-for the playing of the
124th U.S. Amateur Championship.
" At just short of 7,600 [yards], Hazeltine
will very much have the look and feel of a
mngolf.org
Bobby Jones won the 1927
U.S. Am at The Minikahda Club.
traditional U.S. Open golf course setup, "
says Ben Kimball,
the USGA's
senior
director of the U.S. Amateur. " We intend
this to be the toughest test of golf that
these elite amateurs will face all year, and
it will serve as a total examination of not
only one's playing ability but their mental
stability as well. "
The country's oldest and most prestigious
amateur competition boasts a
plethora of legendary champions
who have etched their
names on the Havemeyer
Trophy,
including
Bob
Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack
Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and
two Minnesotans-Jimmy
Johnston (1929) and John
Harris
(1993). Harris, a
former hockey and golf
standout at
the University
of Minnesota (he helped
the Gophers win the 1974
NCAA hockey title), was
a member of
four USA
Walker Cup Teams. He
remains the last mid-amateur
(25 years and older) to
claim the title.
Last year at Cherry Hills
Country Club outside of
Denver, Nick Dunlap, a
standout at
the University
of Alabama, joined Woods
Summer 2024 MINNESOTAGOLFER
19
as the only players to have won both the
U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur
titles. Five months later, Dunlap became
the first amateur in 33 years to win a
PGA Tour
event (American Express
Championship) and turned pro a week
later.
Two years ago, at The Ridgewood
Country Club in New Jersey, Carson
Herron, a Deephaven, Minnesota, resident,
made championship history by
becoming the first fourth-generation U.S.
Amateur competitor, joining his decorated
father, Tim, his grandfather and his
great-grandfather (both named Carson).
The younger Carson followed his dad to
the University of New Mexico, where he's
completing his junior season. His aunt,
Alissa, won the 1999 U.S. Women's MidAmateur,
with Tim on the bag.
The path for Herron to compete in
his home state was made slightly easier
when the USGA significantly altered the
qualifying process. Over time, the U.S.
Amateur has witnessed an evolution in
field makeup and, in some cases, format.
For an eight-year period from 1965-72,
the competition was conducted at 72
John Harris
PHOTO: USGA/ROBERT WALKER
(OPPOSITE) PETER WONG PHOTOGRAPHY
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2024

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