MGA Begins 2009 Season With Senior Amateur Championship

April 27, 2009 — The 2009 MGA tournament season officially begins with the 82nd MGA Senior Amateur Championship on Monday and Tuesday, May 4 and 5, at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne, N.J. Defending champion Ron Vannelli will lead a competitive field of 184 players, including 2007 Senior Amateur champion Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge (N.J.), 2006 and 2001 Senior Amateur champion Shawn McLoughlin of Ridgewood (Conn.), and 2004 champion Doug Vergith of St. George’s (L.I.).

The MGA Senior Amateur field always attracts an impressive field that includes many past winners of MGA events. Among this year’s top entrants

Joe Sommers finished 2nd At the 2008 Senior Amateur.

is two-time MGA Senior Amateur winner Steve Rose (2003 and ’05) of Fresh Meadow (L.I.), along with Dick Siderowf of Century, the 1996 Senior Amateur champion and five-time Met Amateur champion. Other notable competitors are Ned Steiner of Mountain Ridge (N.J.), the 2000 Senior Amateur champion; former Ike and six-time NJSGA Amateur champion Bob Housen of Manasquan River (N.J.); last year’s low amateur at the MGA Senior Open Jim Graham of Winged Foot (N.Y.); and last year’s runner-up, Joe Sommers (right) of Winged Foot (N.Y.). Former WGA Amateur champion Tom Yellin of Stanwich (Conn.), Knickerbocker’s (N.J.) Dennis Slezak, the 1991 Met Amateur champion, and Peter Van Ingen of Deepdale, the 1981 Met Amateur champion, are all looking for their first MGA Senior Amateur title. David Kessler and Patrick Mucci will represent Preakness Hills in the championship, and both players are intimately familiar with the tight, tree-lined fairways and challenging par threes that characterize the layout.

The 15th hole at Preakness Hills.

Preakness Hills Country Club, one of New Jersey’s premier golf courses, has a history of hosting first-class events, including the 1993 Ike championship and the 1993 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur. Eleven-time MGA major champion George Zahringer III of Deepdale (L.I.) captured the Ike title in 1993 with a spectacular performance that included a course record-tying 65 in the first round. The MGA returned to Preakness Hills in 1998 and 2003 for the Senior Open Championship, won by Russ Helwig of Essex Fells (N.J.) and Darrell Kestner of Deepdale, respectively.

The MGA Senior Amateur is open to players 55 years of age or older with USGA Handicap Indexes of 9.0 or lower. The field will play 18 holes of stroke play on Monday, May 4, after which a cut will be made and the low 30 scores and ties will advance to the second round. Prizes will also be awarded to winners in each of four age categories. The championship will conclude with 18 holes of stroke play on Tuesday, May 5.

Complete coverage of the MGA Senior Amateur is available at www.mgagolf.org, where you can also find live scoring for the final round. For more information on the MGA Senior Amateur please contact Bob Nielsen (bnielsen@mgagolf.org) or Greg Midland (gmidland@mgagolf.org) at 914-347-4653.

About the MGA: The Metropolitan Golf Association is an organization made up of more than 500 member clubs in the metropolitan New York area, encompassing Fairfield County in Connecticut, Westchester County, Long Island, New York City and the Hudson Valley in New York, and the northern half of New Jersey. The MGA conducts 17 championships each season as well as qualifying for all USGA championships, including local and sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open. The MGA also administers USGA Handicap Indexes for more than 120,000 golfers in the Metropolitan Area.