The United States Golf Association has chosen Bandon Dunes  to be the first facility to host both the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at the same time.

The resort will be the site of the two tournaments from June 27-July 2 in 2011.

The public links tournaments will mark the third time Bandon Dunes has attracted USGA events. The resort previously hosted the 2006 Curtis Cup and the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.

Bandon Dunes does not receive any direct benefit from hosting the USGA events. The resort will close at least two of its courses for the event during the middle of the summer. On the other hand, the resort will gain exposure from coverage of the event.

"It's going to displace regular business," said Hank Hickox, the general manager at the resort. "It's an investment in the long term."

He also hopes it will have a positive impact on the economy.

"There will be a lot of people coming here and spending money," Hickox said, referring to area hotels and restaurants.

The public links events also show Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser's commitment to public golf, said Josh Lesnik, president of Kemper Sports, which manages the resort.

"Mike Keiser's vision for Bandon Dunes was to build golf courses that would compare to some of the top private clubs in America, yet remain open to the public," Lesnik said in a USGA press release.

The tournaments are part of a big three-year stretch for the resort, Hickox said.

Next week, Bandon Dunes hosts the 100th Oregon Amateur, the state's most prestigious amateur event for men and women (see related story on Page B1). Next year, the resort will open its fourth course, Old Macdonald.

"Look at the sequence," Hickox said. "The 100th anniversary of the Oregon Am, the opening of Old Macdonald, and then off we go with the APLs. It doesn't get any better."

Old Macdonald is a tribute to Charles Blair Macdonald, widely regarded as the father of golf course architecture in the United States. The first 10 holes, seeded in 2008, have been opened for preview rounds this spring.

"The feedback is overwhelmingly positive," Hickox said. "The people like everything about it.

"They like the track. They like the historical perspective."

The upcoming tournaments also could be a stepping stone toward hosting even larger events, such as the U.S. Amateur, Hickox said.

"The APLs are all part of the evolution," he said. "We've certainly earned our stripes. The Curtis Cup had huge protocol and logistics issues. The Mid-Am was a large field of players.

"It's not like we haven't proven we can do it."

Hickox said Lesnik and a USGA official will select the specific courses that will be used for the Public Links tournaments in the fall. All three existing courses - Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails - are highly rated layouts, and all indications are that Old Macdonald will receive similar acclaim.

The public links championships are for amateurs who are primarily public course players and have a handicap of 4.4 or lower for men and 18.4 or lower for women.

The first U.S. Amateur Public Links championship was held in 1922 as a way to give public course players an opportunity to compete for a national championship. The women's event was first held in 1977.

Last year, more than 6,000 golfers tried to qualify for the men's tournament, which has a final field of 156 players. The winner gets an exemption into the U.S. Amateur and also usually is invited to The Masters. That golfer also advances directly to sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open for three years.

The winner of the women's tournament, which also has 156 players, gets an automatic exemption into the U.S. Women's Amateur for two years.

Winners of both tournaments qualify for the respective men's and women's public links tournaments for the following 10 years, as well as the mid-amateur for the following year.