Selecting sites to host major championships well in advance of the actual playing year has become standard procedure for organizing associations. The USGA has booked the U.S. Open through 2042, the PGA of America’s next available spot to host a PGA Championship is not until 2031, and the Ryder Cup in the U.S. is secured through 2033. Officials say the efficiency of returning to historic courses where infrastructure investments can be made that will yield long-term benefits explains why these groups have been SO proactive in naming future host sites.

But what about an event like the U.S. Amateur, the USGA’s oldest championship and arguably the one closest to golf purists’ hearts? In fact, the USGA has been slowly but surely building a list of venues where it will take the Havemeyer Trophy over the next decade. The latest addition came this week when the USGA announced that Whistling Straits in Wisconsin will be the primary venue for the 2028 U.S. Amateur, the only gap in the USGA calendar for the event between now and 2034.

Suffice it to say that the list of courses being considered to host the U.S. Amateur is impressive. The vast majority of them are ranked in the top 50 on Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Best Golf Courses, and all have hosted either the U.S. Amateur or another men’s professional major in the past.

If you take a look at the list below, you may be wondering, as we are, whether you should practice even more to somehow get your handicap index below 2.4 and thus be eligible to participate.

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 35

Former US Amateurs: 1958 (Charlie Coe), 1981 (Nathanial Crosby), 2007 (Colt Knost)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 6

Former US Amateurs: 1916 (Chick Evans), 1924 (Bobby Jones), 1930 (Bobby Jones), 1966 (Gary Cowan), 1989 (Chris Patton), 2005 (Edoardo Molinari)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 22

Former US Amateurs: 1949 (Charlie Coe), 1998 (Hank Kuehne)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 26

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 58

Former US Amateurs: 1973 (Craig Stadler)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 148

Former US Amateurs: 2014 (Gunn Yang)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 31

Former US Amateurs: 1991 (Mitch Voges)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 40

Former US Amateurs: 2020 (Tyler Strafaci)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 125

Former US Amateurs: 2010 (Peter Uihlein)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 19

Former US Amateurs: 1910 (William C. Fownes Jr.), 1922 (Jess Sweetser), 1934 (Lawson Little), 1957 (Hillman Robbins), 1982 (Jay Sigel), 2013 (Matt Fitzpatrick)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 60

Former US Amateurs: 1968 (Bruce Fleischer)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 29

Former US Amateurs: 1962 (Labron Harris Jr.), 2008 (Danny Lee), 2019 (Andy Ogletree)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 40

Former US Amateurs: 2020 (Tyler Strafaci)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: 20

Former US Amateurs: 2002 (Ricky Barnes), 2016 (Curtis Luck)

Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s best golf courses: N/A

Former US Amateurs: 1951 (Billy Maxwell)