Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton, VA, which is owned and operated by the Fairfax County Park Authority, has been selected by the United States Golf Association to host the 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. The dates of the championship are July 15-20.

“It is a tremendous honor for the USGA to have selected Laurel Hill Golf Club to host this national championship,” said Peter Furey, director of golf for the Fairfax County Park Authority. “This selection speaks well for the vision of the Park Authority and Fairfax County in transforming a once desolate and underutilized property into a beautiful and challenging test of golf. A championship like this draws competitors from public-access courses and speaks well of the Park Authority’s mission in public golf.”

Designed by Bill Love and opened in 2005, Laurel Hill Golf Club is situated on rolling terrain that previously housed the District of Columbia Corrections facility at Lorton whose prisoners operated a dairy farm on the site.

The course hosted the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship sectional qualifier in 2009, a U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship sectional qualifier in 2010 and the Virginia State Golf Association Public Links Championship in 2008-2010. In 2011, Laurel Hill Golf Club will again be the site of sectional qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship was inaugurated in 1922 as an opportunity for public-course players to compete for a national championship. It is open to amateur golfers who are bona fide public-course players and who hold a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 4.4.

For more information about the USGA, visit www.usga.org.

For more information about Laurel Hill Golf Club, visit http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/golf/laurelhill/.