Shoal Creek Club, Shoal Creek, Alabama: Host Site of 108th Alabama State Amateur ChampionshipHOOVER, AL (Dec. 7, 2023) – The Alabama Golf Association (AGA) announces significant updates and enhancements to the 2024 competition season, aimed at providing an enriched experience for members and fostering the growth of amateur golf in Alabama.
A slate of 24 championships and other playing opportunities for Alabama golfers of all ages and abilities is set for this coming year. Shoal Creek Club highlights the 2024 championship schedule as it plays host to the Alabama State Amateur Championship for the first time. The 108th Alabama State Amateur Championship is scheduled for June 5-8 at the renowned Jack Nicklaus design. Anniston Country Club will host multiple championships held concurrently over two time periods this summer including the 92nd Alabama Women’s State Amateur Championship that was last hosted there in 1993.
Significant updates and changes to the 2024 schedule are as follows:
State Amateur and Junior Champions Receive USGA Championship Exemptions
Starting this season, champions of the following four Alabama State championships will earn an exemption into their corresponding USGA championship:
● 2024 Alabama State Amateur Champion exempt into 2024 U.S. Amateur
● 2024 Alabama Women's State Amateur Champion exempt into 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur
● 2024 Alabama Girls State Junior Champion exempt into 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior
● 2024 Alabama Boys State Junior Champion exempt into 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur
This exciting development is part of a modernized USGA qualifying model that will begin to utilize State Amateur Championships that meet certain three-year rolling WAGR Power (field strength) thresholds with another pathway into certain national championships in addition to the traditional qualifying and exemption process. To ensure the current Alabama Boys State Junior Champion has the opportunity to compete in that year’s championship, the championship is moving forward on the summer calendar from its late July date to June 18-20.
Format Change for Alabama Women's Amateur Championship
After 91 years, the Alabama Women’s State Amateur Championship will change its format from match play to stroke play. Over the last several years, the Alabama Women’s Stroke Play Championship has played a stronger field versus the Women’s State Amateur match play format. As part of the USGA exemption opportunity, the stroke play format event met the WAGR Power threshold in order to be eligible for the exemption. The format change does not change the history of the Alabama Women’s State Amateur and this coming year will be the 92nd edition at Anniston Country Club. The Alabama Women’s Stroke Play Championship will be retired and its history retained in our records. The addition of a new Alabama Women’s State Match Play will continue to offer our members a match play format tournament. The Men’s State Amateur Championship made this format change in 1955 and now aligns the state amateur formats for both men and women in the state while providing an exemption into their respective USGA national championship.
Inaugural Alabama Women's Mid-Amateur Championship
The AGA is adding a new championship aimed at offering women ages 22 and up, who are not a member of a college golf team, with an additional opportunity to continue playing competitively. The Inaugural Alabama Women's Mid-Amateur Championship is a 54-hole stroke play WAGR ranked tournament that will be played concurrently with the Alabama Girls State Junior from June 3-5 at GlenLakes Golf Club in Foley.
Expanded Alabama State Parent-Child Championship
Responding to the overwhelming demand and to accommodate more participants at Highland Park Golf Course, the AGA is expanding the Alabama State Parent-Child Championship field. Based upon division, teams will be assigned to either Tuesday, June 25 or Wednesday, June 26 to compete in the 18 hole competition using a modified alternate shot format.
USGA Championship Qualifying
Alabama Golf Association will conduct nine USGA Championship qualifiers in 2024 starting with the 2024 U.S. Open Local Qualifying at RTJ Silver Lakes in Glencoe on May 9 and ending on September 5 with the 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying at Hoover Country Club.
● May 9 | U.S. Open Qualifying, RTJ Silver Lakes, Glencoe
● May 29 | U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying, The Country Club of Birmingham, Birmingham
● May 30 | U.S. Senior Open Qualifying, Wynlakes Golf & Country Club, Montgomery
● June 6 | U.S. Girls' Junior Qualifying, GlenLakes Golf Club, Foley
● July 3 | U.S. Amateur Qualifying, Burningtree Country Club, Decatur
● August 7 | U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying, Anniston Country Club, Anniston
● August 14 | U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying, Saugahatchee Country Club, Auburn
● August 14 | U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Qualifying, Saugahatchee Country Club, Auburn
● September 5 | 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying, Hoover Country Club, Hoover
2024 AGA Tournament Schedule
● March 4 | 2024 Ladies’ Spring Two-Person Scramble, Highland Park Golf Course, Birmingham
● May 2-5 | 42nd Alabama State Four-Ball Championship, Hoover Country Club, Hoover
● May 16 | Alabama State Amateur Qualifying, Riverchase Country Club, Birmingham
● May 17-19 | 27th Alabama State Senior Championship, Limestone Springs, Oneonta
● May 17-19 | 6th Alabama State Super-Senior Championship, Limestone Springs, Oneonta
● May 20 | Alabama State Amateur Qualifying, Limestone Springs, Oneonta
● May 21 | Alabama State Amateur Qualifying, Canebrake Club, Athens
● May 22 | Alabama State Amateur Qualifying, Azalea City Golf Course, Mobile
● May 28 | Alabama State Amateur Qualifying, RTJ at Capitol Hill (Senator), Prattville
● June 3-5 | 61st Alabama Girls State Junior Championship, GlenLakes Golf Club, Foley
● June 3-5 | 1st Alabama Women's State Mid-Amateur Championship, GlenLakes Golf Club, Foley
● June 5-8 | 108th Alabama State Amateur Championship, Shoal Creek Club, Shoal Creek
● June 18-20 | 79th Alabama Boys State Junior Championship, RTJ at Silver Lakes, Glencoe
● June 18-20 | 92nd Alabama Women's State Amateur Championship, Anniston Country Club, Anniston
● June 18-20 | 51st Alabama Women's State Senior Amateur Championship, Anniston Country Club, Anniston
● June 18-19 | 6th Alabama Women's State Super-Senior Amateur Championship, Anniston Country Club, Anniston
● June 25-26 | 7th Alabama State Parent-Child Championships, Highland Park Golf Course, Birmingham
● July 9-11 | 1st Alabama Women's State Match Play Championship, Auburn University Club, Auburn
● July 9-11 | 6th Alabama Women's State Senior Match Play Championship, Auburn University Club, Auburn
● July 23-24 | 5th Alabama State 13 & Under Junior Championships, Bent Brook Golf Club, Bessemer
● July 24-25 | 17th Alabama Women's State Four-Ball Championships, RTJ at Oxmoor Valley (Valley), Birmingham
● July 24-25 | 6th Alabama Women's State Senior Four-Ball Championships, RTJ at Oxmoor Valley (Valley), Birmingham
● July 30-31 | 12th Southern Junior Cup, RTJ at The Shoals, Muscle Shoals
● August TBD | 6th Women’s Southeastern Challenge Match, Site TBD, Florida Host
● August 8-11 | 23rd Alabama State Match Play Championship, Anniston Country Club, Anniston
● August 8-11 | 4th Alabama State Senior Match Play Championship, Anniston Country Club, Anniston
● August 23-25 | 6th Southeast Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship, Willow Point Golf & Country Club, Alexander City
● September 3 | 2024 Ladies' Fall Two-Person Scramble, RTJ at Grand National (Lake), Auburn
● September 13-15 | 36th Alabama State Mid-Amateur Championship, Indian Hills Country Club, Tuscaloosa
● October 11-13 | 30th Alabama State Senior Four-Ball Championship, Wynlakes Golf & Country Club, Montgomery
● October 11-13 | 6th Alabama State Super- Senior Four-Ball Championship, Wynlakes Golf & Country Club, Montgomery
● TBD | 2nd Alabama Cup (Amateurs vs. Professionals), Site TBD
2024 Junior Golf Alabama (JGA) Tour
● March 16-17 | Junior Golf Alabama Kickoff, Lakewood Golf Club (Dogwood), Point Clear, AL
● May 22-23 | Burningtree Junior Amateur, Burningtree Country Club, Decatur
● June 26-27 | Goose Pond Junior Amateur, Goose Pond Colony Resort (Lake), Scottsboro
● July 10-11 | Timberline Junior Amateur, Timberline Golf Club, Calera
● July 30-31 | Birmingham City Junior Amateur, Highland Park Golf Course, Birmingham
● Sept. 14-15 | Mobile Junior Amateur, Azalea City Golf Course, Mobile
● Oct. 12-13 | Hudson Junior Amateur, Musgrove Country Club, Jasper
● November 9-10 | JGA Tour Final Presented by Smylie Kaufman, Vestavia Country Club, Vestavia Hills
For more information about the Alabama Golf Association and the 2024 competition season, please visit www.alabamagolf.org.
About the Alabama Golf Association (AGA)
The Alabama Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1915 whose mission is to serve and promote amateur golf in Alabama. AGA membership consists of 120 member clubs represented by over 28,000 individuals. The activities and services of the Alabama Golf Association are governed by a Board of Directors consisting of Alabama golfers who wish to serve the game and the association through service. A full-time professional staff of seven individuals handles day-to-day activities.
Based in Hoover, the AGA is the USGA's Allied Golf Association in Alabama conducting national championship qualifying, administering the World Handicap System including the GHIN Handicap service, course & slope rating, and Rules of Golf & Handicapping education. The AGA annually conducts 24 championships; team match competitions for men, women, junior and seniors; AHSAA high school golf championship and the SEC Men's Golf Championship. The AGA manages the Junior Golf Alabama program that is a joint venture between the AGA and Alabama-NW Florida PGA Section.
In addition to competitions, the AGA administers the AGA Scholarship Fund through the Alabama Golf Foundation that is dedicated to assisting young golfers in higher education. Additionally, the Alabama Golf Foundation supports the Youth on Course Alabama program providing facility access to junior golfers and provides funding for the Alabama Turfgrass Research Foundation. In 2016, the AGA earned the Gold Tee Award for “Outstanding Tournament Operations – Small Association” by the International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA).
Since 1980, the AGA has managed the affairs of the Southern Golf Association which includes conducting the historic Southern Amateur Championship and Southern Junior Championship, in conjunction with the SGA Board of Directors. AGA staff also administers day-to-day operations of the Elite Amateur Golf Series.
For more information about the Alabama Golf Association, visit www.alabamagolf.org.
Media Contact:
Savannah Russo
Director of Media, Marketing & Communications
Alabama Golf Association
205-803-6524
savannah@alabamagolf.org
