Fact Sheet—2011 U.S. Senior Open
July 28-31, 2011
Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio; (http://www.invernessclub.com)
PAR AND YARDAGE
Inverness Club will be set up at 7,143 yards and will play to a par of 37-34–71. At the 2003 U.S. Senior Open, par was 35-36 and the yardage was 6,903.
HOLE BY HOLE
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Par 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 5 4 37
Yds 395 308 170 511 480 465 405 566 413 3,785
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
Par 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 34
Yds 358 373 194 460 445 228 476 470 354 3,358
For the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, the hole routing at Inverness has been changed from the routing traditionally used for USGA championships in order to ease the movement of anticipated large galleries. The club’s third through seventh holes will comprise the championship’s 12th through 16th holes and the club’s 12th through 16th holes will play as the championship’s third through seventh holes.
ARCHITECT
Donald Ross designed Inverness, which originally opened in 1903. Ross completed his design of the current 18-hole layout in 1918. George and Tom Fazio (1978) and Arthur Hills (1999) supervised recent revisions to the course.
COURSE SETUP
The fairways, on average, will be 28 yards wide. On each side of the fairways of holes with shorter approach shots, an 8-foot-wide swath of primary rough will be set at 2½ inches. On holes with longer approach shots, the width of the 2½-inch rough will be 15 feet. The balance of the rough (secondary cut) will be 4 inches. Putting greens will measure 12-12½ feet on the Stimpmeter.
COURSE RATING AND SLOPE
Based on the course setup for the championship, the Course Rating is 75.6. Its Slope Rating is 145.
WHO CAN ENTER
The championship is open to any professional and amateur golfer who is 50 years of age as of July 28 with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 3.4. The deadline for entries was June 8.
ENTRIES
The USGA accepted 2,525 entries for the 2011 U.S. Senior Open. The record number of entries is 3,101 in 2002.
SECTIONAL QUALIFYING
Sectional qualifying, played over 18 holes, was held between June 20 and July 1 at 35 sites around the country.
CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
The starting field of 156 golfers will be cut after 36 holes to the low 60 scorers (and ties) and any player within 10 strokes of the leader.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Eighteen holes of stroke play are scheduled each day from Thursday, July 28 through Sunday, July 31. In the case of a tie after 72 holes, a three-hole aggregate playoff will be held immediately after the conclusion of the fourth round on July 31.
2010 CHAMPION
Bernhard Langer, 52, of Germany carded a bogey-free, 3-under-par 67 to earn a three-stroke victory over local favorite Fred Couples at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. Langer finished at 8-under 272 to claim his second Champions Tour major championship in as many weeks, having won the Senior British Open at Carnoustie in Scotland seven days earlier. For details, visit: http://www.ussenioropen.com/news/game82.html.
WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES
Among the benefits enjoyed by the U.S. Senior Open champion is a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Senior Open or an exemption through age 65, whichever yields the higher number of exemptions.
PURSE
The 2010 purse was $2.6 million and the winner earned $470,000.
TELEVISION COVERAGE
The U.S. Senior Open will receive at least 14 hours of live network coverage, with six of those hours on NBC. ESPN2 will air at least eight hours over the first two days of play.
SCHEDULE
Date Network Broadcast Hours ( EDT )
July 28 ESPN2 3-7 p.m.
July 29 ESPN2 3-7 p.m.
July 30 NBC 3-6 p.m.
July 31 NBC 3-6 p.m.
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2011 U.S. Senior Open Championship are available online at http://www.2011ussenioropen.com or at any Toledo-area Kroger Store. Grounds tickets are $125 (good for the week) and Upgrade tickets are $250 (good for the week and allow access to the S.P. Jermain Pavilion).
HISTORY
This is the 32nd U.S. Senior Open Championship. The first U.S. Senior Open, played in 1980, was conducted for golfers 55 and older. The next year, the USGA lowered the age minimum to 50. Miller Barber captured the first of his three Senior Open titles in 1982, later winning in 1984 and 1985. In its history, the U.S. Senior Open has had four two-time winners: Gary Player (1987-88); Jack Nicklaus (1991, 1993); Hale Irwin (1998, 2000); and Allen Doyle (2005, 2006). Doyle became the championship’s oldest winner in 2006 at the age of 58 years and 13 days.
Dale Douglass is the youngest champion, having won the championship on his first try, in 1986, at the age of 50 years, 3 months and 24 days.
IRON MAN
Dale Douglass is scheduled to make his 26th consecutive start in the championship, which would break Arnold Palmer’s mark of 25 consecutive starts from 1981-2005. Douglass, 75, the 1986 U.S. Senior Open champion, has made the cut 14 times and has three top-five finishes in his 24 U.S. Senior Open appearances.
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN OHIO
This will be the 36th USGA championship held in Ohio and the fifth U.S. Senior Open held in the state. The last Senior Open in Ohio was in 2005 at NCR Country Club in Dayton, which was won by Allen Doyle.
OTHER CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS AT INVERNESS
This will be the second U.S. Senior Open held at Inverness (Bruce Lietzke won the 2003 title) and seventh USGA championship conducted at the club. The four previous U.S. Opens at the club were won by Ted Ray (1920), Billy Burke (1931), Dick Mayer (1957) and Hale Irwin (1979). Bob Tway also won the 1986 PGA Championship at Inverness by holing out a bunker shot at the 72nd hole. Paul Azinger defeated Greg Norman in a playoff for the 1993 PGA Championship. The 2009 NCAA Division I Championship was also held at Inverness, with Texas A&M winning the national championship.
FUTURE SITES
July 12-15, 2012 – Indianwood Golf & Country Club, Lake Orion, Mich; July 11-14, 2013 – Omaha (Neb.) Country Club; July 10-13, 2014 – Oak Tree National, Edmond, Okla.
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