The USGA delayed making the formal announcement to host the event at the Durham, N.C., property for about 10 months. The NBA, NCAA and ACC have moved events from the state as a result of the discriminatory provisions in the North Carolina General Assembly’s House Bill 2 that passed last March.
Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C., will host the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur, despite the discriminatory provisions in the North Carolina General Assembly’s House Bill 2 or HB2, that passed last March and caused the National Basketball Association, National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Atlantic Coast Conference to move events from the state, the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer reported.
C&RB reported on the initial announcement last year.
The NCAA has moved seven championship events from the state, the NBA will play its 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans rather than Charlotte, N.C., and the ACC will move its games as well.
“It has been part of our mission to support amateur golf since our founding in 2001, and on behalf of our membership, we are excited to welcome these distinguished competitors,” club president Allen Wilson said in a statement released by the USGA on Monday.
The formal announcement comes about 10 months after the club had originally hoped. A decision was expected for the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur at Old Chatham last March. Instead, the USGA put the decision on hold, the News & Observer reported.
The club was founded 16 years ago by a group of North Carolina businessmen including former USGA president Jim Hyler and former University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith. Hyler helped set up a meeting with the USGA in January 2015, to submit a formal invitation to host an amateur championship, the News & Observer reported.
The club has previously hosted several USGA amateur qualifiers and the 2009 N.C. Amateur. The 2019 Senior Amateur will be held August 24-29. Course designer Rees Jones completed a course renovation project in 2012 that replaced 45,000 acres of expensive, water-intensive turfgrass with native fescue, the News & Observer reported.
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