US Open golf qualifying back in England for first time since 2019

A final US Open golf qualifying event will be staged in England this year for the first time since 2019 after a three-year hiatus for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US Golf Association announced qualifying venues on Monday with Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, to host the first final round qualifying event on 16 May.

Walton Heath, a site in 2005 when international qualifying began, has two courses designed by W. Herbert Fowler, the original architect of the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club, where this year's 123rd US Open will be staged from 15-18 June.

Other international final qualifying events will be staged on 22 May at Japan's Ibaraki Golf Club in Osaka prefecture and on June 5 at Toronto's Lambton Golf and Country Club in Canada.

Local qualifying will be staged in April and May at US and Canadian venues. Ten US sites will also be used for final qualifying events on 22 May and 5 June.

"The US Open provides thousands of professional and amateur golfers with diverse backgrounds from around the world the opportunity to earn a place in the championship through local and final qualifying," USGA chief championships officer John Bodenhamer said.

Player registration begins on 22 February and runs through 12 April. There were 9,265 entries for last year's event at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts — where England's Matthew Fitzpatrick won his first major title.

The record of 10,127 entries was set for the 2014 event at Pinehurst.

(Photo from Walton Heath Golf Club FB)