Doone, the USGA’s director of the U.S. Junior Amateur, previewed the 78th edition of the championship, set for July 20-25 at the Bethlehem club. The event will use both the Old Course and the Grace Course, with the Old Course serving as the primary test at 7,082 yards and a par of 71.<\/p>\n
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Doone said the championship experience extends well beyond the golfers themselves. “It’s a family package deal type of thing,” he said. “You obviously have these junior golfers that are competing at the highest level. Unbelievable talent. And then mom and dad and grandma and grandpa are coming too to watch them.”<\/p>\n Building that atmosphere for relatives who travel with competitors matters as much as the competition itself, according to Doone. “You’re creating that experience, not only the championship test of golf that they have to endure, but then also creating that off-course experience, not only for the players but their families too,” he said. He called it “a fun balance.”<\/p>\n Doone said he values sending junior competitors to historic Northeast courses they would not otherwise see.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I think anytime we can incorporate old school golf, especially old school Northeast golf, to all these junior amateur competitors is great because they’re coming in from all over the country,” he said. “You get kids from Texas and Florida and California coming to new places and being able to test their game on some of those great golf courses of the past.” He added that Saucon Valley’s Old Course, designed by Herbert Strong in 1922, “stands up to the test too.”<\/p>\n “This course is going to play tough for these players,” Doone said.<\/p>\n Any USGA event requires support from the community where it is held. Mike Wood, director of golf at Saucon Valley Country Club, said this event is no different. “We have almost 600 volunteers coming out. The Lehigh Valley, just as a community, is always a golf community. We’re excited to have them all here again, and it doesn’t go unnoticed,” Wood said.<\/p>\n Course setup for junior events typically requires organizers to adjust tee placements based on average driving distances among the field. Doone said Saucon Valley needed little of that adjustment.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The variety and hole length out here at Saucon Valley, especially on the old course, they’re getting every club in their bag dirty without me even moving around yardages,” he said. He described it as “a true championship golf course that makes my job easy, to be able to get every club in their bag dirty just the way it’s set up.”<\/p>\n The only player to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur three consecutive times.<\/p>\n One of the greatest amateur resumes of all time is forever enshrined \ud83d\udc05 pic.twitter.com\/iBotSg6k9k<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n USGA Junior Amateur Director Rob Doone Previews 2026 Championship at Saucon Valley’s Old Course in Bethlehem, Pa.
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