San Francisco City Championship<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s and Women\u2019s Senior divisions begin today at Lincoln Park<\/p>\n
The 2026 championship moves into a new phase on Friday, March 13, as stroke play qualifying determines the match-play brackets for the Women\u2019s Championship Flight, the Juli Inkster Flight, and the Women\u2019s Senior Championship Flight.<\/p>\n
Tournament Partners<\/p>\n
Fujikura \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Cobra \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 PUMA Golf<\/p>\n
The women now take the stage at one of the oldest and most meaningful events in municipal golf.<\/p>\n
On Friday, March 13, the Women\u2019s Championship and Women\u2019s Senior divisions of the San Francisco City Championship open with 18 holes of stroke play qualifying at Lincoln Park. By day\u2019s end, the championship brackets will be set, the seeds established, and the road to match play at TPC Harding Park will officially be underway.<\/p>\n
In the Women\u2019s Championship, the lowest 16 scorers advance to the main championship bracket, while players finishing 17th through 32nd move into the Juli Inkster Flight. In the Women\u2019s Senior division, open to players 50 and older, the low eight scores advance to their own match-play bracket. Seeding in all divisions is based on the morning\u2019s qualifying scores, making Friday one of the most important days of the entire championship.<\/p>\n
For some players, it is about chasing medalist honors. For others, it is about simply surviving into match play. But for everyone in the field, the challenge is the same: play well enough in one round to earn a place in a championship that still carries unusual weight more than a century after it began.<\/p>\n
Why today matters<\/p>\n
One round sets everything in motion<\/p>\n
Unlike the men\u2019s championship, which required a longer qualifying route, the women\u2019s divisions move quickly. There is no extra weekend to recover, no second stroke-play round to steady the scorecard. Friday\u2019s round at Lincoln Park determines who lands in the championship flight, who drops into the Inkster bracket, and who sees the week end before match play begins.<\/p>\n
That format gives the opening day a distinctive pressure. Players must balance aggression with caution, knowing that a handful of shots can dramatically change both seeding and destination. A round good enough for the top half of the field can shape an easier path. A late bogey or two can change the week entirely.<\/p>\n
Format and schedule<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Championship<\/p>\n
March 13\u201322, 2026<\/p>\n
Mar 13: Stroke play qualifying at Lincoln ParkTop 16: Advance to the Women\u2019s Championship Flight17\u201332: Seeded into the Juli Inkster FlightMar 14: First round of match play at Harding ParkMar 15: Quarterfinals at Harding ParkMar 21: Semifinals at Harding ParkMar 22: 36-hole championship final at Harding Park<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Senior Championship<\/p>\n
March 13\u201322, 2026<\/p>\n
Eligibility: Age 50 or older as of the first day of the tournamentMar 13: Stroke play qualifying at Lincoln ParkTop 8: Advance to the Women\u2019s Senior Championship FlightSeeding: Determined by qualifying scoresMar 22: 18-hole final at Harding Park<\/p>\n
While qualifying takes place at Lincoln Park, the championship atmosphere deepens once play shifts to TPC Harding Park. That two-course identity is part of what makes the San Francisco City Championship feel earned. Players must first handle the exposed, unsettled challenge of Lincoln, then survive the more complete championship examination at Harding.<\/p>\n
A women\u2019s championship with deep roots<\/p>\n
The San Francisco City Championship is not just another spring event. It is one of the foundational traditions of public-course golf in America.<\/p>\n
Inaugurated in 1916 with the opening of Lincoln Park and later associated closely with Harding Park after its opening in 1925, \u201cThe City\u201d has developed a reputation unlike any other municipal championship. It has long been described as the oldest consecutively played competition in the world, surviving the interruptions that halted many of golf\u2019s most famous championships during wartime.<\/p>\n
Although the men\u2019s championship traditionally draws the biggest galleries, women have always held an important place in the event\u2019s identity. The women\u2019s division has produced champions who went on to star nationally and professionally, and the list of winners reflects the Bay Area\u2019s deep connection to elite women\u2019s golf.<\/p>\n
The name that defines the bracket<\/p>\n
Before she became a World Golf Hall of Famer and a two-time U.S. Women\u2019s Open champion, Juli Inkster was a two-time San Francisco City champion. Her connection to the event remains so strong that the secondary women\u2019s flight now bears her name.<\/p>\n
That history is part of what makes Friday meaningful. The Women\u2019s Championship is not simply opening another bracket. It is adding another chapter to an event whose winners include local legends, LPGA standouts, and some of the most decorated amateur players the region has produced.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s championship score history and notable winners<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s side of the City has long rewarded players who can handle both the emotional demands of match play and the specific challenge of San Francisco\u2019s public-course rota. Past winners include local standouts, future professionals, and players who returned again and again to build their place in tournament history.<\/p>\n
Recent Women\u2019s Champions<\/p>\n
2025 \u2014 Lana Yamagata<\/p>\n
2024 \u2014 Nicola Kaminski<\/p>\n
2023 \u2014 Olivia Duan<\/p>\n
2022 \u2014 Adora Liu<\/p>\n
2021 \u2014 Kesaree Rojanapeansatith<\/p>\n
Beyond the recent winners, the deeper historical record is even more impressive. Juli Inkster won the title twice before her LPGA career took off. Jan Ferraris, later an LPGA player, won it four times. Shelley Hamlin, another LPGA standout, won it three times. Dorothy Delasin also appears among the event\u2019s notable champions, and former Curtis Cup player Pat Cornett-Iker captured the women\u2019s title three times.<\/p>\n
Above them all stands Sally Krueger, the most successful female competitor in championship history. Krueger won the women\u2019s title an astounding 10 times, a mark that remains one of the defining records of the San Francisco City Championship.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Senior adds another layer to championship week<\/p>\n
The Women\u2019s Senior division gives the championship another important dimension. Open to players 50 and older, it reflects the same spirit that has always defined \u201cThe City\u201d: broad participation, local pride, and a format that still makes players earn every round.<\/p>\n
The senior bracket is smaller, but that only heightens the urgency. With just eight players advancing out of qualifying, there is very little room for error. A player who gets off to a steady start can lock in a seed and begin thinking about match play. A player who stumbles early may find there is almost no time to recover.<\/p>\n
It also adds generational depth to the week. The same championship that once launched future stars and local icons now continues to create meaningful competition for senior players who still want the tension, structure, and prestige of match play at Harding Park.<\/p>\n
Lincoln Park starts it. Harding Park decides it.<\/p>\n
The City\u2019s character is inseparable from its courses.<\/p>\n
Lincoln Park: Friday\u2019s qualifying site, where wind, uneven lies, and exposed conditions can put pressure on every shot.TPC Harding Park: The championship stage, where the bracket tightens and match play feels bigger with each round.<\/p>\n
That progression matters. Qualifying at Lincoln Park demands control and patience. Match play at Harding Park demands nerve. Together, they give the championship its identity \u2014 one rooted not just in history, but in the public-golf idea that a great event should test every part of a player\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
Why this championship still matters<\/p>\n
Professional golf has passed through Harding Park at different moments, but it is amateur golf that has kept the course\u2019s legend alive. The City remains the event locals speak about with unusual reverence because it still feels connected to place, community, and golfing identity in a way many tournaments no longer do.<\/p>\n
That feeling carries into the women\u2019s divisions as much as any part of the championship. Today\u2019s qualifiers are competing for more than spots in a bracket. They are competing to join a line of champions that includes Hall of Famers, LPGA winners, regional greats, and the Bay Area players who made this event matter long before national tours ever arrived.<\/p>\n
As the women\u2019s and women\u2019s senior divisions begin, the test is straightforward: one round to earn a seed, then a week of match play to earn a title. The format is simple. The history behind it is anything but.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco City Championship Women\u2019s and Women\u2019s Senior divisions begin today at Lincoln Park The 2026 championship moves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[31856,31855,31853,101,94648,100127,94647,103,102,104,106,105,99664],"class_list":["post-219356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-amateur-golf-news","tag-amateurgolf-com","tag-california-golf-tournaments","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-california-golf","tag-san-francisco-city-2026-womens-championship","tag-san-francisco-golf-tournaments","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-tpc-harding-park-golf-course"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}