Less than .7 of one percent of courses get chance each year to hold first step toward national championship
HEATH, Texas and RENO, Nevada — Two courses designed by Austin, Texas-based golf course architect Roy Bechtol will be hosts for the local round of qualifying for the 2025 U.S. Open, the initial step toward earning a berth in America’s national championship of golf.
Heath Golf & Yacht Club, a Bechtol Signature Course set in the eastern Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex town of Heath on the east bank of Lake Ray Hubbard, will host U.S. Open qualifying for the first time. One hundred and 20 players will vie for seven spots at Heath on May 12 to advance to the final qualifying events that will be held May 19 and June 2 at 13 different courses.
Somersett Golf & Country Club, a splendid facility north of Reno that was designed by Bechtol in partnership with World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Kite and golf course architect Randy Russell, will also host on May 12, and have 47 players competing for just three spots.
It’s the second straight year that Somersett Golf & Country Club has hosted local qualifying. The course opened in 2004.
Only 110 courses among the more than 16,000 in the United States (less that .6 of one percent) are chosen each year to host local qualifying, the first of two stages leading up to earning a spot in the U.S. Open. Local qualifying began April 16 and will conclude May 19 on courses around the nation as well as in Mexico and Canada.
“It’s a true honor to have our courses chosen for this event and we are humbled to be asked to host, especially given all the really great golf courses that never get this chance,” Bechtol said. “The USGA picks courses for its qualifying events that bring out the best in those players looking to earn their way to the U.S. Open.”
Heath Golf & Yacht Club opened in 2020 and continues its move up the rankings of top golf courses in the D-FW Metroplex.
“As the golf course architect, I’m extremely proud and thankful to the USGA for this honor,” Bechtol said. “I salute Heath Golf & Yacht Club’s owners Rob Whittle and Randall Noe as well as club pro Larry Muskoff, superintendent Shane Hayes and their staff and all the wonderful members. Congratulation HGYC and may you shine and provide a fitting battleground for this prestigious honor.”
More than 10,000 hopefuls will compete across America at the local stage of qualifying for the U.S. Open. All the participants have the same dream: to advance to the grueling 36-hole Final Qualifying event and earn the chance be a part of the field at Oakmont Country Club for the U.S. Open.
To be eligible for the first stage of qualifying, an amateur must have a Handicap Index not exceeding 0.4 or be a professional.
“What makes the first stage qualifying so special is that it is where unknowns can start the process of being a champion,” Whittle said. “It’s where the unheard-of underdog starts the process of making a name for himself.”
Ken Venturi (1964) and Orville Moody (1969) are the only players to win the U.S. Open after qualifying through both local and final stages.
