The Southwestern Amateur
Since 2013, The Southwestern Golf Association (SWGA) has partnered with Desert Mountain Club to host the Southwestern Amateur Championship annually on one of Desert Mountain Club’s award-winning seven championship golf courses. Developer Lyle Anderson and Jack Nicklaus partnered to design the world’s largest collection of Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses, more than any other private community in the world.
Desert Mountain is proud to be distinguished by the Platinum Clubs of America and currently ranks #10 in the country on the 2023-2024 list and is the highest ranking club in Arizona in the Country Club category.
Started in 1915 as a regional tournament for private club members to compete against the top amateurs from other southwestern golf clubs, the Southwestern Golf Association was organized in Douglas, Arizona. Pre-dating the Arizona Golf Association and the Sun Country Golf Association, the Southwestern Golf Association was the original organizing body for the clubs in the states of Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas.
Developed with volunteers from each member club, the Southwestern Golf Association’s original mission was to annually conduct the Southwestern Amateur Golf Championship and promote golf throughout the amateur communities in the desert southwest. Today, the volunteer Board of Directors continue to carry on this tradition.
Several of the original members of the association have histories longer than the states in which they reside. Original member clubs that hosted the Southwestern Amateur include Phoenix Country Club, Tucson Country Club, El Paso Country Club, Arizona Country Club and Yuma Country Club. Several of the original member clubs represented have now become resort facilities including the Biltmore, Wigwam and San Marcos.
As the longest running regional amateur tournament in the southwestern United States, the tournament has been played on an annual basis at a variety of sites within Arizona, California, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and in Juarez, Mexico.
E.C. Robinson won the inaugural tournament played in Douglas, Arizona. Club professional Scott Frisch won the championship three straight years (1987-1989) and noted Tucson amateur Dr. Ed Updegraff captured four titles in 1954-55, 1961 and 1969.
Several past Southwestern Amateur Champions have gone on to successful PGA TOUR careers including Craig Stadler (1975), Jay Haas (1976), Mark O’Meara (1980), Corey Pavin (1981), Tom Pernice, Jr. (1982), Ted Purdy (1993), Ryan Palmer (1999), Nick Watney (2002), Kevin Dougherty (2012) and J.T. Poston (2013).
The tournament format was originally match-play between competitors and included a team competition. Earlier tournament history shows the team competition was conducted as early as 1908, before the association of golf clubs was formally developed. The earliest competitions included only 30 to 40 players.
In 1966, the tournament format was changed from match play to stroke play. Due to the popularity of PGA Tour Players Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, golf was extremely popular and interest in the sport grew across the United Sates. To make the tournament accessible to more players and many of the top-ranked amateur players from around the country, the field size increased to 90 players and in later years to more than 144 players.
As demand from top-ranked amateur players has increased, the Southwestern Amateur tournament committee issues invitations annually to players to participate in the championship. Players not exempt or on the invitation list are welcome and encouraged to apply during the enrollment period from January 1 through April 30 every year.
As the championship’s popularity continues to grow, the Tournament Committee had to limit the field size. The tournament currently utilizes an exemption list of players that meet certain qualifications or those who have obtained national ranking, status or reputation from their results in other top amateur tournaments.
With the addition of a women’s championship in 2021, both the men’s and women’s championship field are limited to 72 players in each championship.
Since 2013, The Southwestern Golf Association (SWGA) has partnered with Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Arizona to host the Southwestern Amateur Championship annually on one of Desert Mountain Club’s award-winning seven championship courses. Desert Mountain Club hosted the PGA TOUR Champions The Tradition, on the Cochise Course for 12 years from 1989 to 2001. The Charles Schwab Cup Championship – the final event on the PGA TOUR Champions schedule was played on the Cochise course for four years (2012 and again from 2014 to 2016).
In 1999, Desert Mountain hosted the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur and in 2026 will host the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship followed by the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2029.
With the continued growth and international popularity of the game, especially with women, the Board created a Women’s Championship in 2019. Unfortunately, the 2020 championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural playing of the Women’s Championship took place in 2021 on Desert Mountain Club’s Outlaw course with a full field of 72 women. The World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) tournament power ranking placed the Women’s championship in the Top 10 for women’s tournaments open “to all ages.”
Each year since, the Men’s Championship has continued to be ranked by WAGR tournament power rankings in the Top 20 of US tournaments open “to all ages” while the Women’s Championship ranks in the Top 10. The fields for both the Men’s and Women’s Championships feature players from all over the US and many other countries.
In 2024, the Southwestern Women’s Amateur Championship was named as an inaugural member of the Women’s Elite Amateur Golf Series (WEAGS), created as part of a mission to align the top competitive amateur events in the United States. There are currently five amateur women’s championships that are part of the Women’s Elite Amateur Golf Series.
In appreciation to long-time Southwestern Amateur Director and Executive Director John Ranslem, the Women’s Championship perpetual trophy was recently named the John Ranslem Trophy.
Philip Mahoney
President
Rich Grant
Vice President
Franklin Roth
Treasurer
Doug Seery
Secretary
Phil Hannaford
Past President
Le Ann Finger
Executive Director
Marty Babst
Jim Balaschak
Tina Barrett
Chris Brauner
Alejandro Gonzalez
Alejandro Gonzalez II
Ray Korte
Scott McNevin
Jim Moriarty
John Ranslem
Logan Rasmussen
John Reis
Brenda Williams
Warren Wilson
Jeff Zieky
Founded in 1983, the Junior Golf Association of Arizona (JGAA) is a non-profit organization that introduces Arizona’s youth to the game of golf and helps junior golfers develop golf and life skills through competitive programs and tournaments. In addition to developing programs at schools and assisting Arizona golf courses with their junior programs, the JGAA conducts more than 100 programs and activities, including etiquette clinics, tournaments, and college prep seminars throughout Arizona each year. Our mission is to educate, motivate and inspire future leaders through the game of golf.
Future Golf Champions was founded in 2003 by Chris Smeal, PGA teaching professional, to inspire junior golfers in the most positive and fun environment, by hosting the highest quality tournaments at the most affordable prices.
