Each year, the USGA conducts 15 national championships. The youngest in terms of history is the Four-Ball. The men’s and women’s editions were announced on February 11, 2013, and they debuted in 2015. They were the first additions to the USGA roster of national championships since 1987, when the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur began.
For the USGA, it was an easy decision. By 2012, four-ball had become a wildly popular format for state and regional golf associations. That year, according to the USGA, more than 150 championships, either strictly four-ball or as part of a competition format, were conducted nationwide. Four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Nathan Smith and his partner Todd White won the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in 2015, held at the Olympic Club’s fabled Lake Course in San Francisco. Among the sides they beat that week were Bryson DeChambeau and his SMU teammate, Austin Smotherman in the round of 16 and future Ryder Cup participant Sam Burns and partner Austin Connelly in the semis. Smith, who returned to Northern California in September 2025 as Captain of the victorious U.S. Walker Cup team at Cypress Point, expressed fond memories of his winning week at Olympic.
“We had such a fun week together at the inaugural Four-Ball,” recalled Smith. “We both played great and we were lucky enough to get it done. The first one is kind of forever, special. I think the event has had an impact on everyone because it’s a fun event. USGA courses are always so tough, but it’s fun where you can go spend the week with your partner, bunk up, share the expense, share the experience. Winning the Four-Ball at the Olympic Club was incredible.”
Desert Mountain’s Four-Ball Journey
Chris Storbeck and Le Ann Finger are confident that Desert Mountain will provide a similarly welcoming and exciting event for competitors in 2026. Storbeck is Championship Chairman for the Four-Ball. A Club Member for 22 years, he served six years on the Board and has logged many hours on multiple committees, including Chair of the House and Golf Committees. Storbeck explained why the Club took on the challenge of hosting a USGA national championship.
“We initiated the process about five years ago and brought it to the Golf Committee. We outlined what would be involved and how it would impact the Club. We wanted to give back to the game, but we wanted to ensure minimal disruption to the Club. We chose the USGA because of its emphasis on amateur golf. We also wanted to highlight the assets of our Club and help raise the prestige of Desert Mountain even more.”
Storbeck’s role revolves around promoting the event within the Membership and outside the gates. Complementing Storbeck’s duties is Le Ann Finger, Championship Director. In Finger’s two years at Desert Mountain, she held Assistant Head Professional positions at Chiricahua and Renegade and in August began a new role in the Tournament Department as Assistant Tournament Director. That appointment dovetailed perfectly with her stint at AZ Golf as Tournament Director, running men’s and women’s championships and USGA qualifiers for six years. One of only 13 women nationwide who is a certified PGA Master Professional, Finger also has an extensive background with player development. In June 2025, she was elected as the first female president of the Southwest Section of the PGA. Her Four-Ball role is primarily liaison between Desert Mountain and the USGA. From the standpoint of administration and governance of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, Desert Mountain is well-positioned.
How does a club attract a USGA national championship? It can’t possibly start with a cold call, could it? Sometimes, that’s exactly how the process begins.
“We knew the USGA was looking to find other western sites to host their biggest events,” said Storbeck. “Hats off to the team we have in place — both the professional golf staff and senior management here — with the relationships they have in the golf industry. They reached out to the USGA, engaged in that conversation and we were awarded this in a fairly fast process. The USGA came out several times to meet with us. With the uniqueness of our six golf courses and the support they felt from the Club — from the management side, the Board side and the Membership side — we got it done. These are big commitments both from the USGA and on our part. It’s been a long road, but very satisfying.”
Choosing Cochise
Once the Four-Ball championships were green-lighted by the USGA Executive Committee in 2013, the primary challenge was locating venues that resonated with golfers. John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s Chief Championships Officer, called it the “wow factor.” Impressive venues signed up quickly, including the Olympic Club and Winged Foot Golf Club. In the years since, a plethora of storied private clubs enlisted, including Florida’s Jupiter Hills Club, Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Cricket Club and New Jersey’s Plainfield Country Club. Desert Mountain fits seamlessly among that company.
Cochise will serve as the official tournament host course. Outlaw, which earned consideration for the role, will serve as co-host for the two stroke-play qualifying rounds ahead of match play, but Cochise’s advantages as the first Desert Mountain course to hold a national championship were too numerous to dismiss.
Cochise just completed an acclaimed restoration in 2024, was named Best Modern Private Course Restoration by Sports Illustrated and enjoys excellent conditions. All of that deserves to be on display. Storbeck and Finger pointed out several other benefits of shining the spotlight on Cochise.
“The C/G Clubhouse provides a better player experience with the large locker room, Sunset Terrace, and a bigger area to host player events.” said Finger. “The other thing is a nice tie is our tournament history with the Tradition and the Schwab events at Cochise,” added Storbeck. “From a Membership standpoint, it’s easy to get behind that knowing the famous names that have walked and competed and won.”
Certainly, Cochise will provide a superb match play test, due to the profusion of risk/reward holes that call for thoughtful decision making and precise execution. All the par 5s will yield their share of excitement, and so will holes 6, a drivable par 4 and 10, where a daring drive could possibly find the green, or wind up in the wash or in the boulders. The Four-Ball format — each of the two players on a side plays his own ball until holed or conceded — lends itself to fun and drama.
“The beauty of the Four-Ball is that you have both players grinding, playing as hard as they can, but if one person hits a bad shot or has a high number, you’re not out of it entirely,” said Finger. “There are definitely holes and opportunities where you could see different strategies from the two Four-Ball partners, where one player lays up and the other partner can go for it.”
A Sporting Host
The USGA will handle the course setup, in conjunction with Todd Bohn and Desert Mountain’s Agronomy team. Bohn and his crew have been making subtle agronomic enhancements to align with the USGA’s intention of presenting a challenging but fair test to the players. There is no thought to growing U.S. Open-caliber rough for this event.
“You never know who’s going to come out here and qualify and compete, and 20 or 30 years from now, this might be the community they’re seeking and they discovered it by competing on this golf course. It’s always a prospecting opportunity. We want players to enjoy the experience,” observed Finger.
The field for the 2026 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will consist of previously exempt golfers and those who qualified from 27 sites around the country. Each competitor must have a handicap of 2.4 or less to enter. Contestants range from nationally ranked juniors, exceptional seniors and everybody in between. On May 15 and 16, 2026, 256 golfers (128 sides) will compete at two rounds of stroke play — one on Cochise, one on Outlaw. From that initial group, 64 players (32 sides) will advance to the match play portion.
As Finger noted, you never know who’s going to be entered. In recent years, low-handicap athletes from other sports have descended on the Four-Ball, among them Dallas Cowboys quarterback-turned broadcaster Tony Romo, six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kyle Williams, who played 13 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, and former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver. In the 2025 event at Plainfield, competitors included Sam Bradford, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and the first overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams and former NFL running back Danny Woodhead, who played in Super Bowl XLV for the New England Patriots.
If the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball sounds like the most fun anyone can have in a golf national championship, make plans to attend — or watch close up as a volunteer. Even the U.S. Open relies on a cadre of club volunteers to assist with administration of the event. If there’s interest, contact Le Ann Finger.
One final takeaway: Desert Mountain’s USGA debut doesn’t end on May 20, 2026. “It’s unique that we were able to put two championships together at one time with the USGA,” said Storbeck. “We have the men next year and then we will host the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in 2029. It allows us to do better planning and to engage further in the partnership we’re building with the USGA. That’s pretty special.”
Click here for further information on the Championship details and event schedule.
This story was originally written by Joe Passov, a Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) award-winning journalist. Read the article in the Fall 2025 issue of Inside Desert Magazine.
