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Loading contentUSGA national championships, world amateur rankings, state ams, and the marquee invitationals that decide a U.S. amateur career. Pick a branch.
The 10 USGA-conducted national amateur championships. U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Am, U.S. Senior Am, Four-Ball, and more — the highest-stakes events in U.S. amateur golf.
WAGR (World Amateur Golf Ranking) and Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking — the numbers that drive invitations to The Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship.
Western Amateur, Sunnehanna, Northeast, Trans-Mississippi, Porter Cup, Pacific Coast Amateur, Jones Cup — the historic invitationals that define a top amateur career.
Every state golf association runs a State Amateur. The longest-running line on most adult amateur résumés before any USGA or marquee invitational.
Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, Eisenhower Trophy, Espirito Santo, Asia-Pacific Amateur, Latin America Amateur, The Amateur Championship, Arnold Palmer Cup — WAGR-relevant team and international events.
Top swing coaches and destination golf academies for adult amateurs — Butch Harmon, Leadbetter, Mark Blackburn, Sea Island, Pinehurst, IMG, TPI, GOLFTEC, and more.
Every upcoming amateur and mini-tour event we index — grouped by month with registration links, filterable by state and level.
Amateur golf in the United States runs on three rails: the USGA national championship ladder, the regional/state amateur ecosystem, and the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) maintained by The R&A and USGA. Winning a USGA national championship — particularly the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur, or U.S. Women's Amateur — earns invitations to the major championships and remains the most prestigious line on any amateur résumé.
Beyond the USGA, the historic invitationals — the Western Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur, Northeast Amateur, Porter Cup, and Trans-Mississippi — carry WAGR weight and field strength comparable to the U.S. Amateur in some years. State amateur championships round out the résumé.
GolfNexus is the index. Direct links to every event organizer for entry, qualifying, and results.
WAGR is a rolling 104-week (two-year) ranking jointly administered by The R&A and the USGA that scores every eligible amateur event by field strength and finish position. Only WAGR-recognized events count — that includes the USGA national championships, the Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, the major college tournaments, and selected state and international amateurs. The points-per-event vary with the strength of the field, so winning the U.S. Amateur is worth dramatically more than winning a small state event. WAGR drives invitations into The Masters (top 50 OWGR-equivalent amateurs and select WAGR exemptions), the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the Walker / Curtis Cup selection process.
The U.S. Amateur is open to any amateur with a USGA Handicap Index of 2.4 or better. Most players go through sectional qualifying — 36 holes at one of roughly 90 sites across the United States — to claim one of the spots in the 312-player championship field. Exemptions are given to the prior year's quarterfinalists, the current U.S. Mid-Am and U.S. Junior champions, the top 50 in WAGR at a set cutoff date, and a handful of other categories. The championship itself is 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying followed by single-elimination match play to the 36-hole final.
The U.S. Amateur is open to all amateurs regardless of age. The U.S. Mid-Amateur is restricted to amateurs 25 and older — it was created in 1981 specifically for career amateurs who never played professional golf, to give them a national championship that isn't dominated by college players preparing for the tour. Winning either earns an invitation to The Masters and the U.S. Open. The Mid-Am winner also gets an invite to The Players (since 2025 in some cycles, depending on rotation).
The Walker Cup is the biennial U.S. vs Great Britain & Ireland team match for male amateurs, played in odd years. The 10-man U.S. team is selected by the USGA International Team Selection Committee. Selection weights WAGR, current-year U.S. national-championship results, and recent Walker Cup / Arnold Palmer Cup form. A late-summer U.S. Amateur deep run is usually the cleanest way onto the team — historically the U.S. Amateur champion is an automatic captain's pick. The Curtis Cup is the women's equivalent, also biennial.
For top-end D1 recruiting the State Amateur is a secondary line — college coaches lead with AJGA Rolex Rankings, Junior Golf Scoreboard, and AJGA invitational results. But a State Amateur title — especially in a strong golf state like Florida, Texas, California, or the Carolinas — proves a player can win against adults over 72 holes, which is information AJGA results don't give. For mid-D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and NJCAA recruiting, a State Amateur finish moves the needle meaningfully. Full breakdown at golfnexususa.com/resources/recruiting.
The classic résumé ladder: win or contend in a competitive State Amateur to prove you can win 72-hole stroke-play events, use that result to build WAGR points and earn entry into a marquee invitational like the Western or Sunnehanna, qualify for the U.S. Amateur (handicap index 2.4 or better plus 36-hole sectional), make match play and ideally a deep run to put your name in front of the USGA selection committee, get picked for the Walker Cup or Arnold Palmer Cup, and use that platform to turn pro with status (sponsor exemptions, Korn Ferry Tour Q-School entry, or a college-to-PGA-Tour University pathway). The U.S. Amateur title remains the single highest-leverage line on any amateur résumé — Masters and U.S. Open invitations attach to it directly.