FINALLY: The USGA Will Have An Event In Alaska

Perhaps the biggest goal for all golf organizations over the past few years has been to expand the reach of the game. While that has mostly been international outreach, the USGA has taken a nice step this week to finally bring official events to every state in the U.S.

To date, the USGA has officially sponsored events in 49 of the 50 states in the U.S., including the District of Columbia. And you could probably guess the one state where there hasn’t been an official event since that state has the most extreme changes of weather and sunlight in the entire country. If you were thinking that I’m describing Alaska, you would be correct. But now, even Alaska is getting in on the fun.

The USGA announced this week that Anchorage Golf Course, stationed in the Alaskan capital, will now be the host to the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 2022. It will be the 60th anniversary of the event and will be played during the Alaskan summer, July 30-Aug. 4. And for a state that only has about 5 or 6 18-hole courses, that’s a huge deal.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Anchorage Golf Course (@anchoragegolfcourse) on Aug 15, 2019 at 8:54am PDT

USGA CEO Mike Davis echoed that excitement in the USGA press release. “It’s a monumental occasion for us to bring a championship to Alaska, something that has been a long time coming,” Davis said. “Players from all over the country dream of becoming USGA champions, so it is important we bring our events to all corners of the United States to expose golfers and golf fans to the inspiration and competitiveness of our championships. We’re so thankful to Anchorage Golf Course for working with us to make this dream a reality.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by United States Golf Association (@usga) on Oct 7, 2020 at 11:43am PDT

While I’m not sure how many people are playing consistent golf in Alaska, there are a few benefits. Sure, the weather is basically unpredictable at all times but there is a small part of the summer where events can take place. Plus, during the Alaskan summers, it’s light outside for well over three-quarters of the day. So if you look at it this way, there wouldn’t be any fear of suspending play for lack of light.

It will be interesting to see how this first official USGA event goes in Alaska, even if it is an amateur tournament, just to see if it’s a plausible location for other events. And if it does prove to be a good location, maybe we’ll see some PGA TOUR players in the new frontier sooner than later.

Cover Image via Instagram