Willow Ridge To Host Local US Open Qualifier

Itching to play with the big boys at the US Open at Merion this year? If so, your journey can begin at Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison. Anybody (almost) can take a shot at competing in the US Open--that's why it's called an "open" !  All you have to do is get through a local qualifier like the one at Willow Ridge, then a sectional qualifying tournament, and you're on your way to Pennsylvania.  Of course, you do need a USGA handicap index of 1.4 or better to get into the local qualifier, but if you start now.....

Willow Ridge CC. Photo courtesy of the club

Willow Ridge is a great, fun course with plenty of water and multiple-tiered greens to challenge your ambitions.  You can expect some gnarly rough, too, not mention narrower fairways for the qualifier. The event is scheduled for Monday, May 13.

Willow Ridge recently completed some major course improvements that include a few new tees and the re-thinking of the fifth hole, a 380-yard par four that now calls for a straight tee shot instead of a draw.  The trademark ninth and eighteenth holes still play uphill, though, and are bound to dash more than a few hopes for advancement to the sectional qualifier for many players.

The club has been upgrading facilities throughout the property over the last few years. The members invested in a new greens and turf maintenance facility and upgraded utilities along with a fine new practice area recently. The interior of the clubhouse was redone and a 300-person covered alfresco dining terrace overlooking the course was opened at the end of last season.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf