Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland will be the site of the U.S. Open men’s golf tournament in 2011 – the third time the club has hosted the event. The 2011 US Open will be the third time it has been held at Congressional. Ken Venturi won the event here in 1964 and Ernie Els was the champion in 1997.
The courses of Congressional are located in a residential neighborhood and most visitors to the tournament will have to park at satellite parking areas and use bus transportation to get to and from the golf course. The location also means that hotels closest to the 2011 US Open aren’t actually very close. The headquarters of the Marriott corporation are also in Bethesda, so it’s not surprising that there are several Marriott hotels near Congressional Country Club.
The “Blue Course” at Congressional has also been used for the 1976 PGA Championship (won by Dave Stockton) and the 1995 U.S. Senior Open (won by Tom Weiskopf). Regular PGA season tournaments held at the course have included the Kemper Open, the Booz Allen Classic and the AT&T National.
The course has changed a bit since the last Open held there in 1997. The original course design had a par 3 18th hole and that’s the way it was played in 1997. The United States Golf Association (USGA, the organization responsible for U.S. national golf championships) wasn’t fond of the idea of finishing a major tourney with a par 3 and the order of the holes was changed for the 1995 Senior Open so that the former 18th was played as the 10th hole. Since then a more permanent change has been made: The old 18th was reversed in direction and made the 10th hole. The old 17th hole is now a much more appropriate – and difficult – final hole.
The USGA schedules their events many years in advance, so those who like to plan ahead should know that the 2012 US Open will return to The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. The 2013 Open will be at the classic Merion Golf Club just outside of Philadelphia in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. The famous #2 course at Pinehurst Resort will be the site of the 2014 U.S. men’s championship – and the women’s championship the following week. Relative new course Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington will host the Open for the first time in 2015. Oakmont Country Club, just outside of Pittsburgh, has been selected for the 2016 and another first-timer, Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin – will be the site of the 2017 U.S. Open for men.
