The Next Generation: Charlie Woods’ Golfing Journey
Charlie Woods came onto the golf scene in 2021 playing with his father in the PNC Championship when he was just 12 years old.
Golf fans in metro Detroit will have a rare treat starting Monday: A chance to watch the next generation of top golfers up close.
The U.S. Junior Amateur Championship takes place at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township from Monday-Saturday to crown the top golfer under the age of 19. There are 264 players, most notably Tiger Woods’ son Charlie Woods, competing in a week combining stroke play, then match play on both of Oakland Hills’ North and South courses.
The week of golf will be free to attend for fans interested in getting an early look at the next generation of top golfers as they take on one of the toughest courses in the sport fresh off the restorations to the South course in 2021.
Here is everything you need to know about U.S. Junior Amateur tickets, parking and more.
How to watch and attend 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills
- There will be no live TV coverage of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club, but there will be livestreaming on Peacock, beginning Friday for the semifinal matches. Peacock will stream from 2-4 p.m. Friday, and Golf Channel will broadcast on tape delay at 10:30 p.m. Peacock will stream 2-4 p.m. Saturday during the championship match (Golf Channel tape delay begins at 10 p.m.).
- The U.S. Junior Amateur is free to attend at Oakland Hills Country Club. There are no tickets or limit on number of attendees.
- U.S. Junior Amateur parking is free but there is no on-site spectator parking at Oakland Hills Country Club. There are three lots for parking: Bloomfield Hills High School and two lots in Southfield (20500 Civic Center Dr and 25800 Northwestern Hwy). A free shuttle service will take fans to the course, beginning at 6 a.m. Ride share services and passenger drop off will be at Lot C at 3856 W. Maple road, a 5-minute walk from the spectator entrance. Bike racks are also located at Lot C. There are also SMART bus stops along Maple road adjacent to Oakland Hills’ property.
- Spectator movement: There will be a “minimal ropes experience” for spectators, mostly around tee boxes and greens, allowing guests a chance to more closely follow action however they please on either course.
- There will be a pro shop and concessions available on the course even though Oakland Hills’ historic clubhouse is currently being rebuilt after it burned down in 2022.
U.S. Junior Amateur tee times at Oakland Hills, live leaderboard scoring
Tee times for the first two rounds were released Friday, and scoring will be kept in real-time on the USGA mobile app and webpage for the tournament at https://championships.usga.org/usjunioramateur.html. You can download the app for iOS and Android.
TRENDING: Charlie Woods ready for his US Junior Am debut at Oakland Hills. Just ask his coach.
U.S. Junior Amateur tournament format at Oakland Hills
The U.S. Junior Amateur field is made up of 264 players who made it through qualifying tournaments or due to rankings in Amateur World Golf rankings. One of the qualifiers is Charlie Woods, who won a tournament in Florida to make the field. Charlie tees off Monday on the North Course at 8:28 a.m. and Tuesday on the South Course at 1:48 p.m.
- Monday-Tuesday, first and second round: first two days of play at Oakland Hills consists of all players experiencing two rounds of stroke play, one on the North Course and one on the South Course. Play begins daily at 7 a.m. from both courses from both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The top 64 players after stroke play will advance to match play, beginning Wednesday. If required, a playoff will settle final match play spots at 7 a.m. on the North Course.
- Wednesday match play, Round of 64: There will be 32 head-to-head matches, with play beginning at 8 a.m. from No. 1 tee on the South Course. Matches are scheduled for 18 holes, though they can end early if a player is up by more than the amount of holes remaining.
- Thursday match play, Round of 32 and Round of 16: The Round of 32 starts at 7 a.m. off No. 1 on the South Course. The Round of 16 will begin at 1 p.m. off No. 1 on the South Course.
- Friday match play, quarterfinals and semifinals: Quarterfinal matches begin at 7 a.m. off No. 1 on the South Course. Winners advance to the semifinal matches, starting at 1 p.m. off No. 1 on the South Course.
- Saturday match play, final: The 36-hole match begins at 8 a.m. off No. 1 tee on the South Course. After a short break following 18 holes, it will continue approximately at 1:30 p.m. off No. 1 on the South Course.
U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills bag and camera policy
All guests will go through security screening at Oakland Hills. The tournament lists a plethora of items that are prohibited, including no cameras (point and shoot, film, or DSLR) or video cameras, no backpacks, purses or bags larger than 6″ W x 6″ H x 6″ D. (Clear plastic hand and shoulder bags no larger than 12″ W x 12″ H x 6″ D are permitted.) No food or beverages, including water, except for medical or infants. Empty plastic water bottles are allowed in.
Photography, video, and audio recording on a phone is permitted, so long as content is not used for commercial purposes. However, livestreaming video is is not allowed, nor is publishing shot-by-shot information of a player (with or without video).
Find more fan information at oaklandhillscc.com/usjunioramateur/attend.