For the third time since it opened in 1963, The Country Club of North Carolina will host a USGA championship.
The 36-hole facility, located in the Village of Pinehurst, will host the 74th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship from July 19-24, 2021. CCNC will also become the 16th site to have hosted both the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior.
This will be the first time the U.S. Junior Amateur will be held in the Tar Heel State. “The Country Club of North Carolina is honored to host the 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and to be among the prestigious clubs to host this wonderful event,” said Tom Beddow, CCNC club president. “CCNC has a great history and tradition of supporting amateur golf and we have the experience, infrastructure and a committed staff and group of volunteers who will help make this a memorable championship.”
In April, the USGA had announced that the 2020 championship, with an expanded field from 156 to 264, at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., was canceled “as a result of continued uncertainty surrounding the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.” So, this means CCNC will be the first site to host the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship with the expanded field. Besides its two previous USGA championships, CCNC has also played host to the 1972 U.S. Professional Match-Play Championship (won by Jack Nicklaus), seven Southern Amateurs, four Carolinas Amateurs and seven North Carolina Amateurs.
The list of Southern Amateur champions includes Ben Crenshaw (1971), Len Mattiace (1985) and Webb Simpson (2007). Simpson, a North Carolina native, and 2012 U.S Open champion, is the honorary chairman of the 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. “As the honorary chairman, I’m glad to provide as much assistance to the players and CCNC as I can,” said Simpson, who competed in two U.S. Junior Amateurs and advanced to the quarterfinals in 2003.“The Simpson family is excited about the Junior Amateur coming to North Carolina and getting to know the players and their families. So glad we are next to host this great event.”
The 2021 Junior Amateur will be the 34th USGA championship in North Carolina. The event was first played in 1948. The championship is open to amateurs who have not reached their 19th birthday by the conclusion of the championship and who have a Handicap Index not exceeding 4.4. Tiger Woods (three times), Jordan Spieth (twice), Johnny Miller, David Duval and Hunter Mahan are among the notable U.S. Junior Amateur champions.
The Pinehurst Southern Pines Aberdeen Convention & Visitors Bureau The Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is the economic development agency responsible for travel and tourism promotion, product development, and visitor services for Moore County, NC. The CVB devises strategies to enhance the County’s tourism brand value and product to accommodate the next generation of visitors, thereby stimulating the local economy and enhancing the quality of life for residents and visitors alike.
In 2018, Moore County ranked as the eleventh largest tourism economy in North Carolina, generating $520 million annually in visitor spending, which supports the second largest employment sector in the county. About The Country Club of North Carolina The Country Club of North Carolina (CCNC), established in 1963, is a member-owned, gated residential community with 2,000 acres that features longleaf pines, three lakes and upscale tennis, fitness, swimming facilities and pickleball courts. The membership is local and national. Since 2003, it has been a certified member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. The Dogwood Course was designed by Ellis Maples and Willard Byrd and renovated by Kris Spence in 2016. The Cardinal Course, designed by Willard Byrd and Robert Trent Jones, Sr., completed a renovation by Arthur Hills in 2002.
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