Ritz-Carlton secures big golf event

SARASOTA — The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota Golf Club, in east Manatee County, is one of 11 sites nationwide, and the only in Florida, chosen to host sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open.

The qualifying round, conducted over 36 holes, will be held June 3, according to a statement from the hotel. This is the first time the hotel's course will host a sectional qualifying round, though it previously held two U.S. Open local qualifiers.

The hotel's golf course, ranked in several publications as a top course in Florida and the country, is a private club in Lakewood Ranch. Guests at the hotel, which is 15 miles away in downtown Sarasota, can play at the course and so too can members of The Ritz-Carlton Members Club.

The course will be open to spectators on the day of the sectional qualifying. Plus, the Golf Channel will be on the course that day, according to the hotel, doing live filming of “Golf's Longest Day,” a show about all the sectional qualifying sites. The U.S. Open will be held June 10-16 at the Merion Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia.