Poll: Age Minimum To Enter National Championships?

Before the actual play takes center stage at Pinehurst for the U.S. Women's Open, the subject of Lucy Li and 11-year-old's playing on the biggest stage has started to get some much needed attention. As adorable as the Drive, Chip and Putt grad is and so clearly talented, there should be concerns about the youth push in golf.

In particular, the women's game sees uber-young prodigies presumably because women mature at an earlier age than men. But we're seeing our fair share of youth on both sides and as tennis can tell us, pushing young athletes to excel rarely turns out well.

Steve DiMeglio reports on Li's big debut Thursday and World No. 1 Stacy Lewis's concerns in USA Today.

"I'm not a big fan of it. She qualified, so we can't say anything about that," Lewis said. "But I like to see kids be successful at every level before they come out here. I just like to see kids learn how to win before they come get beat up out here. … When I found out she qualified, I said, well where does she go from here? You qualify for an Open at 11, what do you do next? If it was my kid, I wouldn't let her play in the U.S. Open qualifier at 11, but that's just me."

Even Li's instructor, Jim McLean, sounds mildly concerned.

"I know she's intelligent and learns so quickly. I talked with her on Sunday and she is having a phenomenal time," he said. "She has that great child personality. But she gets so focused and so determined and she gets so quiet, so that could hurt her. But I think she'll love being there."

I know, it's un-American to turn anyone away in the our national championships. But even the AJGA doesn't allow anyone to compete until the age of 13 and I wonder why we can't have a similar rule for the US Open(s)?

Anyway, curious what you think...