The Quicken Loans National, which has been played two weeks before the U.S. Open since 2009, will be played two weeks after the British Open next year when it shifts from Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va.
Such a change – the event will be held July 30 through Aug. 2 – is the result of a scheduling quirk created in 2011 when the British Open was announced for the third weekend of July. That weekend is exactly a month after the U.S. Open will be held; this year, and in the previous two, the two majors were held five weeks apart.
“The schedule, as you probably know, is made by the PGA Tour,” said tournament director Mike Antolini. “They’re still finalizing the 2015 schedule. Not exactly sure when they will announce the schedule at large, but we do expect the date to be later – late July. We’re very excited.”
A PGA Tour spokesman declined comment when asked about the placement of the event on next year’s schedule. The organization typically releases its upcoming year’s schedule in the fall, but has already announced the dates for the seven events taking place in October and November that will make up the early part of the 2015 season.
And while the U.S. Open and British Open will be held five weeks apart again in 2016, the Quicken Loans National is unlikely to return to its typical late-June spot on the calendar. According to one person familiar with the plans for the event, some Congressional members have been told it is tentatively slotted to be held Memorial Day weekend, wrapping up on May 29.
“The Tour hasn’t even finalized the ’15 schedule, so I don’t have any information on the 2016 schedule right now,” Antolini said.
The event, known for its first seven years at the AT&T National, has so far been insulated from the variation in the calendar that often changes the dates of the two majors. It was held during the first weekend in July in 2007 and 2008, putting it three weeks after the U.S. Open and two weeks before the British Open.
When the two majors were scheduled a month apart in 2009, the event remained two weeks before the British Open, and when the five-week gap returned in 2012, it kept its place two weeks after the U.S. Open.
Tournament organizers announced in March that the event would be held next year at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, which has hosted the Presidents Cup four times, last in 2005. Congressional, which hosted the event from 2007 through 2009 and again since 2012, will host it in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
Antolini said a venue still has not been chosen for the event in 2017 and in 2019, though it will “absolutely” remain in the metropolitan Washington area. That process will likely begin following the conclusion of play this weekend.
“I mean, this event really is a greater D.C. region event, a Mid-Atlantic event,” Antolini said. “We’re excited about the potential: The new crop of fans that may not have been exposed to the event here, or may not have come to this event this year for whatever reason. But we think that it’s going to be a great week.”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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