One-hundred-fifty-six of the nation’s finest amateur golfers have been selected to participate in the 102nd Southwestern Amateur Golf Tournament beginning on Wednesday, June 14 and running through Saturday, June 17 at the Desert Mountain Club’s Geronimo and Cochise courses in northeast Scottsdale.

One of the country’s longest-running men’s amateur tournaments, the Southwestern Amateur is sponsored by the Southwestern Golf Association, a non-profit organization that promotes amateur golf throughout the region. 

The 72-hole tournament will begin on Wednesday and Thursday, June 14-15 with tee times from 7:30-9:20 a.m. on Desert Mountain’s Geronimo and Cochise courses. The field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties for the third and fourth rounds that will be contested on the Cochise Course Friday and Saturday beginning at 7:30 a.m. 

Showcasing players from colleges, universities, community colleges and a limited number of high school players, the Southwestern Amateur is recognized throughout the country as one of the country’s leading amateur events. Early entrants for the 2017 tournament include players from 32 states and Puerto Rico, 14 countries, and 101 colleges and universities, in addition to two community colleges. 

Past tournament winners include PGA stars Nick Watney, Mark O’Meara, Corey Pavin, Craig Stadler, Tom Pernice, Jr., Jay Haas, Ryan Palmer and Ted Purdy.  J. T. Poston, the 2013 champion, is one of the up and coming stars on the PGA Tour.

John Ranslem, president of the SWGA, said the tournament “has seen participation from some of the country’s finest young amateur players. We are extremely proud of the tournament’s history and our partnership with Desert Mountain in hosting one of the country’s finest amateur competitions.”

Over the years, the Southwestern Amateur has been played at a variety of sites throughout Arizona, California, Texas, Nevada and New Mexico on annual basis with the exception of a three-year hiatus from 1943-45 because of World War II. On four occasions the event has been played in Mexico. 

Since its founding in 1915 as a regional match play invitational tournament for private golf course members to compete against the nation’s best amateur players, the Southwestern Amateur has developed a stellar reputation as a high-quality competition for the nation’s top players. The tournament was changed to a stroke play event in 1966 to meet the growing demands of the tournament and the increased popularity of the game created during the Palmer-Nicklaus era.

Now in its fifth year at the Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, the Southwestern Amateur has been played on three of the six Jack Nicklaus-designed signature golf courses at the club over the past four years. 

Anyone interested in obtaining additional information on the tournament can visit www.swga.net.