Neshanic Valley Golf Course in Branchburg to host 2012 national women’s event

The Neshanic Valley Golf Course has been selected by the U.S. Golf Association to host a national women’s amateur tournament next year, officials announced Friday.

The 27-hole course, located at 2301 South Branch Road, will welcome the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship from June 18 to 23.

Bob Ransone, deputy director for the Somerset County Park Commission’s Golf Division, said the event “will be a source of great pride” for Somerset County.

“Neshanic is a relatively new course, so when you think that you’re able to be selected by the USGA, it just says an awful lot about the staff and the commissioners,” Ransone said. “We think the residents of Somerset County really deserve this.”

He said the event should be a boon for the course, but also for local restaurants, hotels and other segments of the economy.

“Since we’re going to host a national event, I really think it’s going to bring more play to the course, more notoriety,” Ransone said. “It’s going to be a plus for everybody.”

The course this year will host qualifying events for the U.S. Men’s Amateur Public Links and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links championships, according to a news release from Rich Reitman, a spokesman for the course. In recent years, the course has hosted regional tournaments and several sectional qualifying events.

Golfweek magazine has named Neshanic Valley the 36th best municipal golf course in the country.

County officials got the news about two months ago but had not been ready to make an announcement until Friday, Ransone said. A committee has been formed and will begin to meet in about two weeks to work on the next 16 months of preparation, he said.

As the tournament approaches, the course will be looking for volunteers to work during the event, Ransone said.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship was inaugurated in 1977 as an opportunity for public-course players to compete for a national championship, Reitman said. This year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship will be played at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore., from June 27 to July 2.

Source: www.mycentraljersey.com