How to qualify for the 2023 US Open at Los Angeles Country Club

Any golfer with the required handicap anywhere in the world can try to qualify for the U.S. Open. We look at how they do so.

By Grace McDermott Jun 5, 2023, 3:00am PDT

122nd U.S. Open Championship - Final Round

The 123rd U.S. Open will take place at the Los Angeles Country Club from Thursday, June 15 through Sunday, June 18. In 2023 Jon Rahm took home the green jacket at Augusta, and Brooks Koepka won his third Wanamaker Trophy, so here we’ll take a look at the field hoping to capture the U.S. Open Trophy.

Last year’s winner, Matt Fitzpatrick, will return to the field, as will Koepka, Rahm, and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. And since this is an open tournament, anyone across the world can play. But how can you qualify to be one of the last 156 at Los Angeles Country Club? Let’s take a look.

How to qualify for the U.S. Open

There are several ways to qualify for the U.S. Open. Past winners are invited back for 10 years after their win without needing another exemption, and the previous year’s top 10 finishers (plus ties) are invited back the following year.

The winners of the U.S. Amateur, the US Junior Amateur, the US Mid-Amateur, and the U.S. Senior Open Championship receive spots, as does the runner-up of the Amateur. There are several other championships and tournaments that offer winners an automatic bid to the same year’s U.S. Open field, including the BMW PGA Championship, the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship, and the Latin America Amateur Championship.

Winning a different major gives you a five-year exemption into the other three majors, and winning THE PLAYERS gives you a three-year exemption. The 60 top-ranked golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings get invitations, as do the top five players in the FedEx Cup standings.

But perhaps the most unique and interesting way to qualify for the U.S. Open is through the regional qualifiers that happen in the weeks leading up to the event. This year, over 10,000 golfers entered the qualifying field — to do so, one must have a handicap index of 1.4 or lower, or be a professional.

How do the regional qualifiers work?

There are local 18-hole qualifying tournaments across the nation to begin, and the top players from those tournaments then play at the 13 final qualifiers, 10 of which are in the United States. A total of 10,187 entries were taken for this year’s event.

The final qualifiers are made up of 36 holes in a single day, and generally have 500 to 1,000 golfers in total participating across the 13 tournaments. The size and difficulty of the field determine how many golfers then advance to the U.S. Open.

Here’s the full list of regional qualifiers in 2023, including the players that have made the event out of each regional:

International

Tuesday, May 16

Europe - Walton Heath Golf Club (New and Old Courses), Surrey, England

Deon Germishuys, 134
David Horsey, 135
Wilco Nienaber, 135
Ross Fisher, 135
Matthieu Pavon, 136
Jens Dantorp, 136
Alejandro Del Rey, 136
Alternate-Jordan Gumberg, 137
Alternate-Tom McKibbin, 137

Monday, May 22

Ibaraki Golf Club (West Course), Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

Gunn Charoenkul, 130
Ryutaro Nagano, 133
Ryo Ishikawa, 136
Alternate-Takumi Kanaya, 137
Alternate-Taisei Shumizu, 137

Monday, June 5

Lambton Golf & Country Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

United States

Monday, May 22

Bent Tree Country Club & Northwood Club, Dallas, Texas

Carson Young, Anderson, SC., 125
Austin Eckroat, Edmond, OK., 130
Brent Grant, Honolulu, HI, 131
Paul Haley II, Dallas, TX, 132
Sergio Garcia, Spain, 132
Roger Sloan, Canada, 132
Jacob Solomon, Auburn, AL., 133
Hank Lebioda, Orlando, FL, 133
Alternate-Michael Kim, South Korea, 133
Alternate-Brian Stark, Kingsburn, CA., 133

Monday, June 5

Hillcrest Country Club, Los Angeles, Calif.
Pine Tree Golf Club, Boynton Beach, Fla.
Hawks Ridge Golf Club, Ball Ground, Ga.
Woodmont Country Club (North Course), Rockville, Md.
Canoe Brook Country Club (North & South Courses), Summit, N.J.
Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham, N.C.
Brookside Golf & Country Club & The Lakes Golf & Country Club, Columbus, Ohio
Springfield (Ohio) Country Club
Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood, Wash.

For Full Swing fans, this was how Joel Dahmen qualified for the 2022 U.S. Open. Professionals who have not received an exemption are not required to play in the regional rounds and get a bye to the final qualifiers. Just two golfers in history have won the U.S. Open after playing in both qualifying rounds.