England's Walton Heath and Japan's Kinojo Golf Club were named by the US Golf Association (USGA) on Wednesday as sectional qualifying sites for this year's US Open at Chambers Bay.
Walton Heath will host 36-hole sectional qualifying for the 11th consecutive year. Last year, American Brooks Koepka qualified at Walton Heath for the US Open and went on to finish joint fourth at Pinehurst.
The Asian sectional qualifier will be staged in Japan for the 11th year in a row. The European and Asian qualifiers will be played on May 25 while US sectional qualifying will be conducted at 10 sites on June 8.
"The US Open has worldwide appeal, so it is fitting that sectional qualifying will be conducted once again at international sites," said Diana Murphy, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman.
The 115th US Open will be played June 18-21 at Chambers Bay in Washington state, the first US Open staged in the northwestern US region.
Only six players have won the US Open after going through sectional qualifying, the most recent of them American Lucas Glover at Bethpage Black in 2009.
Entries began being accepted Wednesday and will be taken until April 29. The USGA had a record 10,127 entries for last year's tournament.
Source: AFP
