USGA plans to scrap both men’s, women’s public links tournaments

The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced that it will drop both the USGA Men’s and USGA Women’s Public Links Championships after the finish of the 2014 golf season.

The USGA also introduced two new championships, the first national championships to be added to the USGA’s competition roster in more than 25 years. The addition of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, which will be played annually between mid-March and late May with the inaugural events scheduled for 2015.

The last time the USGA added a national championship for individual golfers was in 1987 with the creation of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

The USGA also announced the retirement of the U.S. Amateur Public Links (APL) and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL) championships, following the completion of the 2014 competitions. The decision follows an internal review which determined that the APL and WAPL championships no longer serve their original mission because of the widespread accessibility public-course golfers today enjoy in USGA championships.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links was first played in 1922, and is the fourth-oldest championship conducted by the USGA. The APL was established to provide public golfers with access to a national championship because, at that time, the U.S. Amateur Championship was restricted to players from USGA Member Clubs. The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links was established in 1977, for the same reason as the APL. In 1979, however, the USGA modified the entry requirements for the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur championships to allow entry to public-course players.