Calif. The U.S. Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association. Southern Hills will be hosting the U.S. Open for the third time, after serving as the site of the 1958 and 1977 championships. The National Golf Foundation's latest tracking report on golf course construction activity across the U.S. shows that 35 new golf courses came on line during the month of September. This brings to 408 the number of golf course construction projects that have been completed in 2000. We will be able to provide affordable, real course experiences to economically disadvantaged juniors, allowing our courses to be part of each child's foundation as a developing player, and ultimately getting more people to play golf.
Courses select the times and specify when players can access the course.
Players will have supervision from the local USGA program until the owner and the program operator agree that a player can access the course on his or her own. During the month of July, Ping ran a program that encouraged golfers to visit a Ping club fitting specialist for a dynamic club fitting. The First Tee received a donation for every participant in the campaign who underwent an iron, metal wood or putter fitting. We're thrilled that the promotion has resulted in such a significant contribution to The First Tee and we appreciate the association with Ping, which does so many good things to support the golf industry. The donation will be allocated to The First Tee's Life Skills Program, which aims to assist young golfers by instilling values that will help them to succeed both on and off the golf course.